LinuxQuestions.org
Share your knowledge at the LQ Wiki.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General
User Name
Password
Linux - General This Linux forum is for general Linux questions and discussion.
If it is Linux Related and doesn't seem to fit in any other forum then this is the place.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 07-26-2004, 05:05 PM   #1
esteeven
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Bristol UK
Distribution: Arch Slackware Ubuntu
Posts: 1,082

Rep: Reputation: 52
Angry mental blip causes deletion of /var


Oh dear. I can't believe that I just did that. I deleted /var --- yes everything inside it. My stupidity missed nothing ....now I can clearly see the importance of the contents of /var. Is there any way, short of a reinstall, of getting the contents of /var back?? This is on a minimal Debian Woody install.
{I have grounded myself, stopped my pocket money and have sent myself to my room. I know I have been bad.}
 
Old 07-26-2004, 06:25 PM   #2
frob23
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Roughly 29.467N / 81.206W
Distribution: OpenBSD, Debian, FreeBSD
Posts: 1,450

Rep: Reputation: 48
Do you have another installation of Linux that you can access?

If you do... then you can recreate the directory with the permissions etc on your machine. That should clear up most things -- but not all. You could try and copy it from one system to the other but that would also create a huge mess.

You are going to have to massage this system in just the right ways to get this back to where you want it. But it can be done. Attention to detail is the key (and access to a populated /var directory).
 
Old 01-03-2023, 06:32 AM   #3
Lucasss
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Oct 2022
Posts: 2

Rep: Reputation: 0
For myself, I use the technique of not going crazy right away, but postponing the problem for a while, in this way I manage to find a more suitable solution.
 
Old 01-03-2023, 06:44 AM   #4
esteeven
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Bristol UK
Distribution: Arch Slackware Ubuntu
Posts: 1,082

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucasss View Post
For myself, I use the technique of not going crazy right away, but postponing the problem for a while, in this way I manage to find a more suitable solution.

Exactly. So much time has passed.
 
Old 01-03-2023, 11:01 PM   #5
chrism01
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Sydney
Distribution: Rocky 9.2
Posts: 18,348

Rep: Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749Reputation: 2749
Here is a list of possible tools to help : https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...recovery-tools.
Photorec and Testdisk tend to get recommended here at LQ, but have a read.

The most important thing though, is how soon after it happened (not when you discovered it) did you stop using the machine entirely(!)?
Linux will have started using those 'now available' disk blocks ...

You need to make a copy of the relevant disk partition and work on the copy, not the original - that way you can have several goes, possibly with different tools, and merge the results.
 
Old 01-04-2023, 05:58 AM   #6
esteeven
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Bristol UK
Distribution: Arch Slackware Ubuntu
Posts: 1,082

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 52
Seeing as how my original post was made in 2004, I think it's high time that I marked this thread as solved. If I remember correctly, the simplest solution was to do a fresh install. I also made a promise to myself to never ever delete without thinking.

Quote:
originally posted by chrism01

Here is a list of possible tools to help : https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...recovery-tools.
Photorec and Testdisk tend to get recommended here at LQ, but have a read.
I have used both Photorec and Testdisk to rescue data from failed drives with great success in the years since my post and they are superb tools.
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
mozplugger only playing a blip of audio - no video scuzzman Linux - Software 5 11-29-2004 07:41 PM
gDesklets problems. Help needed, I am about to suffer a mental brakedown Icetec Linux - General 4 11-14-2004 06:17 AM
What's the command to see what services are running (mental blank) Jestrik Linux - Software 1 01-19-2004 01:03 PM
kernel recompiling and mental blocks salparadise Mandriva 5 11-09-2003 07:53 AM
Going mental here!!! n00dles Linux - General 2 10-18-2002 12:39 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:23 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration