diff --git a/modules/services/system/nscd.nix b/modules/services/system/nscd.nix
index 63fa36b94227..11aa48720b27 100644
--- a/modules/services/system/nscd.nix
+++ b/modules/services/system/nscd.nix
@@ -17,31 +17,24 @@ in
         description = "Name service cache daemon user";
       };
 
-    jobs = singleton {
-      name = "nscd";
+    jobs = singleton
+      { name = "nscd";
+
+        description = "Name Service Cache Daemon";
+
+        startOn = "startup";
+        stopOn = "shutdown";
+
+        environment = { LD_LIBRARY_PATH = nssModulesPath; };
         
-      job = ''
-        description \"Name Service Cache Daemon\"
-
-        start on startup
-        stop on shutdown
-
-        env LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${nssModulesPath}
-
-        start script
-
+        preStart =
+          ''
             mkdir -m 0755 -p /var/run/nscd
             mkdir -m 0755 -p /var/db/nscd
+          '';
 
-            rm -f /var/db/nscd/* # for testing
-
-        end script
-
-        # !!! -d turns on debug info which probably makes nscd slower
-        # 2>/dev/null is to make it shut up
-        respawn ${pkgs.glibc}/sbin/nscd -f ${./nscd.conf} -d 2> /dev/null
-      '';
-    };
+        exec = "${pkgs.glibc}/sbin/nscd -f ${./nscd.conf} -d 2> /dev/null";
+      };
 
   };
 }
diff --git a/modules/system/upstart/upstart.nix b/modules/system/upstart/upstart.nix
index 1c304233e847..6933b71c027c 100644
--- a/modules/system/upstart/upstart.nix
+++ b/modules/system/upstart/upstart.nix
@@ -1,20 +1,44 @@
 {config, pkgs, ...}:
 
+with pkgs.lib;
+
 let
 
-  inherit (pkgs.lib) mkOption mergeListOption types;
-  
-  makeJob =
-    {name, job, buildHook ? "true", passthru ? null}:
-    
-    pkgs.runCommand ("upstart-" + name)
-      { inherit buildHook job; }
-      ''
-        eval "$buildHook"
-        ensureDir $out/etc/event.d
-        echo "$job" > $out/etc/event.d/${name}
-      '';
+  # From a job description, generate an Upstart job file.
+  makeJob = job@{buildHook ? "", ...}:
 
+    let
+
+      jobText = if job.job != "" then job.job else
+        ''
+          description "${job.description}"
+
+          ${if job.startOn != "" then "start on ${job.startOn}" else ""}
+          ${if job.stopOn != "" then "start on ${job.stopOn}" else ""}
+
+          ${concatMapStrings (n: "env ${n}=${getAttr n job.environment}\n") (attrNames job.environment)}
+          
+          ${if job.preStart != "" then ''
+            start script
+              ${job.preStart}
+            end script
+          '' else ""}
+          
+          ${if job.exec != "" then ''
+            exec ${job.exec}
+          '' else ""}
+        '';
+
+    in
+      pkgs.runCommand ("upstart-" + job.name)
+        { inherit buildHook; inherit jobText; }
+        ''
+          eval "$buildHook"
+          ensureDir $out/etc/event.d
+          echo "$jobText" > $out/etc/event.d/${job.name}
+        '';
+
+        
   jobs =
     [pkgs.upstart] # for the built-in logd job
     ++ map makeJob (config.jobs ++ config.services.extraJobs);
@@ -63,6 +87,7 @@ in
         };
 
         job = mkOption {
+          default = "";
           type = types.string;
           example =
             ''
@@ -88,6 +113,57 @@ in
           '';
         };
 
+        description = mkOption {
+          type = types.string;
+          default = "(no description given)";
+          description = ''
+            A short description of this job.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        startOn = mkOption {
+          type = types.string;
+          default = "";
+          description = ''
+            The Upstart event that triggers this job to be started.
+            If empty, the job will not start automatically.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        stopOn = mkOption {
+          type = types.string;
+          default = "";
+          description = ''
+            The Upstart event that triggers this job to be stopped.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        preStart = mkOption {
+          type = types.string;
+          default = "";
+          description = ''
+            Shell commands executed before the job is started
+            (i.e. before the <varname>exec</varname> command is run).
+          '';
+        };
+
+        exec = mkOption {
+          type = types.string;
+          default = "";
+          description = ''
+            Command to start the job.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        environment = mkOption {
+          type = types.attrs;
+          default = {};
+          example = { PATH = "/foo/bar/bin"; LANG = "nl_NL.UTF-8"; };
+          description = ''
+            Environment variables passed to the job's processes.
+          '';
+        };
+
       };
       
     };