Unable to umount

Harlin · 09-20-2005, 07:33 AM

I have /var mounted from a separate partition. I was wanting to run fsck on it but tried to umount it first. I kept getting /dev/hda5 busy messages -- this was after I went into single user mode (init 1). Any clues as to how I can umount it cleanly?

Thanks,

Harlin Serittt

Bruce Hill · 09-20-2005, 07:49 AM

Boot with a LiveCD. I assume it's under / now.

TruckStuff · 09-20-2005, 08:47 AM

You would probably have to shutdown all logging facilities and anything that looks for PID files. /var/log is where most systems log everything and lots of daemons look for PID files in /var/lock/subsys and the like. As long as those things are active, you won't be able to unmount /var.

Like Chinaman said: your best bet is to boot off of a LiveCD.

Lobais · 12-19-2005, 04:49 AM

You can use the fuser program to see which prosesses are using a device/folder/file.

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# fuser ~
/root:                3502c
[root@localhost ~]# pgrep -lu root |grep 3502
3502 bash

Harlin · 12-19-2005, 04:53 AM

Have been using Linux intensively for about 5 years now and have never heard of 'fuser' til this morning

. Thanks for putting this here! :-)