Unable to restore /etc/fstab

ragatinavin · 10-13-2011, 08:28 AM

HI Team,

I'm facing a problem in restoring my /etc/fstab file in the server i have a backup in /etc/fstab. bak but when i try to boot the server in emergency mode and give the command

cat /etc/fstab.bak > /etc/fstab
it says read only file.

I'm not able to restore it i tired even remounting the filesystem using the command

mount -o remount,rw /

It says /etc/fstab not found..

can any 1 help me out with this.???

thanks in advance!!!!!!!

phaemon · 10-13-2011, 08:52 AM

Hi there,

Could you try:

Code:

mount -n -o remount,rw /

Or you might need:

Code:

mount -n -o remount -t ext2 /dev/sda1 /

..or whatever instead of sda1.

The important thing being the "-n" option.

ragatinavin · 10-13-2011, 08:58 AM

hi...i tried the command suggested by you but there is no success

the following message is getting displayed

waring cannot open file no file or directory

druuna · 10-13-2011, 08:58 AM

Hi,

If (re)mounting doesn't work for you: Boot from a liveCD and fix the problem that way.

- boot from liveCD
- mount partition that holds /etc/fstab.bak
- copy /etc/fstab.bak to /etc/fstab
- reboot (do eject the liveCD

).

Hope this helps.

phaemon · 10-13-2011, 09:08 AM

If you have a livecd, then I'd go with that option. Just remember that it's the "etc/fstab" on the mounted drive you'll be replacing, not /etc/fstab (which will be the one on the livecd itself).

If not, repost and we'll try something else. The second command I gave you shouldn't have looked for an fstab so I'm not sure why it didn't work. Are the partition names correct?

ragatinavin · 10-13-2011, 09:51 AM

Hi mate the second command has worked successfully...thanks

madams · 10-13-2011, 02:21 PM

We have had to use the liveCD method before in situations like this and it's worked perfectly. Quite a lifesaver.