up vote 1 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I've got a remote appliance, and its disk IO seems to have locked up, trying to run anything that isn't already loaded results in errors like this:

$ sudo shutdown -r 0
sudo: Can't open /var/lib/sudo/<machine_name>/0: Read-only file system
sudo: unable to execute /sbin/shutdown: Input/output error

I have SSH access to the appliance. I'm hoping that restarting the box will fix this (if not I have to go replace the box), but trying to restart it yields the above output.

Anyone have any ideas???

link|improve this question
50% accept rate
sudo is refusing to run because it can't write its timestamp. I am not aware of any way to fix this. You may need have someone with physical access reboot the system for you. – Zoredache Jan 28 '11 at 23:25
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

I don't mean for this to be trite, but are you able to su -? Sudo's a wonderful tool, but when things are b0rked, it can get in the way; and that's an appropriate time to genuinely switch user to root, fix what needs fixing and get back to a normal operating state where you can again rely upon sudo.

Alternatively, do you have remote KVM access to the console? If things are really broken and you can't even start a shell for root, then you're probably looking at a physical hard reset.

I hope this helps; good luck!

link|improve this answer
I agree. This is a good time to use su or ssh root@machinename to get direct root access. Otherwise it's hard reboot time. – egorgry Mar 20 '11 at 19:53
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.