trying to recover deleted /etc/fstab

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 12:16 PM

hi ,

I have deleted /etc/fstab file in RHEL5
tried to boot the system in single user mode and emergency mode
unable to edit the file and the file is missing , cannot create it, as i am loggged in as read only mode ,

tried to run mount -o remount,rw /dev/sda
but issue is not resolved
please suggest

adamk75 · 09-22-2009, 12:37 PM

/dev/sda is the entire disk. Do you know the specific partition that is / ?

Adam

camorri · 09-22-2009, 12:42 PM

Have you got a live CD you can boo the system with? If not, I would suggest you get a copy of Knoppix. It will boot most systems. The partitions on the drives will show up as icons on the desktop. They can be mounted, at first that will be read only mode. You can change that to read write mode.

Then you can create a new fstab file to get you started.

You can create entries like this...

Quote:

/dev/sda1 / ext3 relatime 1 1
/dev/sda5 /home ext3 relatime 1 2

I don't know your partitioning information, or what file systems you have. Edit the ext3 file to the correct file system. I think you only need the root and home partitions to boot.

A live bootable CD should save your system.

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 12:50 PM

thanks for the replies
my boot partition is on sda3 and i do not have the live cd
i wanted to edit the fstab file while logging on to single user mode is this possible , without a cd .

j_jerry · 09-22-2009, 01:10 PM

you need permissions; try sudo

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 01:18 PM

i am already running as root by using su -

j_jerry · 09-22-2009, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miteshpant

i am already running as root by using su -

Are you running on the same distro whose fstab is lost ?

Can't you create an /etc/fstab? Tell us how you've tried

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 02:18 PM

yes iam on the same distro
first i tried to edit /etc/fstab in single user mode
it denied doing coz of read only mode
then i tried to run mount -o remount,rw /
it give me the following error
warning : can't open /etc/fstab : No such file or directory
mount: can't find / in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab

i am running these commands after running su -

j_jerry · 09-22-2009, 02:29 PM

first be root by su root , then create an /etc/fstab file

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 02:34 PM

i am already root

j_jerry · 09-22-2009, 02:39 PM

did you try to create an /etc/fstab ?

This is an example of fstab, edit it

Code:

/dev/hda2  	/  	ext2  	defaults  	1 1
/dev/hdb1 	/home 	ext2 	defaults 	1 2
/dev/cdrom 	/media/cdrom 	auto 	ro,noauto,user,exec 	0 0
/dev/fd0 	/media/floppy 	auto 	rw,noauto,user,sync 	0 0
proc 	/proc 	proc 	defaults 	0 0
/dev/hda1 	swap 	swap 	pri=42 	0 0

Quakeboy02 · 09-22-2009, 02:39 PM

Try remounting the root drive as read/write instead of read only.

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 02:43 PM

thaty is what i am trying to do , iam trying to mount rw , passed the arguments from kernel ,

still not sucessfull
jerry i have already run te commands
but unable to edit the file

Quakeboy02 · 09-22-2009, 02:44 PM

What command did you run, and what was the response? It would probably be this one:

Code:

mount -n -o remount,rw /

miteshpant · 09-22-2009, 02:47 PM

still
warning : can't open /etc/fstab : No such file or directory
mount: can't find / in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab