Repairing File Systems with fsck in AIX V4 (LED 518)

Contents

About this document
Recovery procedure

About this document

This document covers the use of the fsck (file system check) command in Maintenance mode to repair inconsistencies in file systems. The procedure described is useful when file system corruption in the primary root file systems is suspected or, in many cases, to correct an IPL hang at LED value 518 or LED value 555.

This document applies to AIX V4.

Recovery procedure

  1. Boot your system into a limited function maintenance shell (Service, or Maintenance mode) from AIX bootable media to perform file system checks on your root file systems.

    Please refer to your system user's or installation and service guide for specific IPL procedures related to your type and model of hardware. You can also refer to the document titled "Booting in Service Mode," available at http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/rs6k/techbrowse/.

  2. With bootable media of the same version and level as the system, boot the system. The bootable media can be any ONE of the following:

    Follow the screen prompts to the following menu: 

       Welcome to Base Operating System 
   Installation and Maintenance
  3. Choose Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery (Option 3).

    The next screen displays the Maintenance menu.

  4. Choose Access a Root Volume Group (Option 1).

    The next screen displays a warning that indicates you will not be able to return to the Base OS menu without rebooting.

  5. Choose 0 continue.

    The next screen displays information about all volume groups on the system.

  6. Select the root volume group by number.

  7. Choose Access this volume group and start a shell before mounting file systems (Option 2).

    If you get errors from the preceding option, do not continue with the rest of this procedure. Correct the problem causing the error. If you need assistance correcting the problem causing the error, contact one of the following:

    If no errors occur, proceed with the following steps.

  8. Run the following commands to check and repair file systems.

    NOTE: The -y option gives fsck permission to repair file system corruption when necessary. This flag can be used to avoid having to manually answer multiple confirmation prompts, however, use of this flag can cause permanent, unnecessary data loss in some situations. 

    	fsck /dev/hd4 
	fsck /dev/hd2 
	fsck /dev/hd3 
	fsck /dev/hd9var 
	fsck /dev/hd1
  9. To format the default jfslog for the rootvg Journaled File System (JFS) file systems, run the following command: 
    	/usr/sbin/logform /dev/hd8

    Answer yes when asked if you want to destroy the log.

  10. If your system is hanging at LED 518 during a Normal mode boot, it is possible the /etc/filesystems file is corrupt or missing. To temporarily replace the disk-based /etc/filesystems file, run the following commands: 
    	mount /dev/hd4 /mnt
	mv /mnt/etc/filesystems /mnt/etc/filesystems.[MMDDYY]
	cp /etc/filesystems /mnt/etc/filesystems
	umount /mnt

    MMDDYY represents the current two-digit representation of the Month, Day and Year, respectively.

  11. Type exit to exit from the shell. The file systems should automatically mount after you type exit. If you receive error messages, reboot into a limited function maintenance shell again to attempt to address the failure causes.

  12. If you have user-created file systems in the rootvg volume group, run fsck on them now. Enter: 
    	fsck /dev/[LVname]

    LVname is the name of your user-defined logical volume.

  13. If you used the preceding procedure to temporarily replace the /etc/filesystems file, and you have user-created file systems in the rootvg volume group, you must also run the following command: 
    	imfs -l /dev/[LVname]

  14. If you have file systems in a volume group other than rootvg, run fsck on them now. Enter: 
    	varyonvg [VGname]
	fsck /dev/[LVname]

    VGname is the name of your user-defined volume group.

  15. If you used the preceding procedure to temporarily replace the /etc/filesystems file, also run the following command: 
    	imfs [VGname]

    The preceding commands can be repeated for each user-defined volume group on the system.

  16. If your system was hanging at LED 518 and you are unable to activate non-rootvg volume groups in Service mode, you can manually edit the /etc/filesystems file and add the appropriate entries.

    The file /etc/filesystems.MMDDYY saved in the preceding steps may be used as a reference if it is readable. However, the imfs method is preferred since it uses information stored in the logical volume control block to re-populate the /etc/filesystems file.

  17. If your system has a mode select key, turn it to the Normal position.

  18. Reboot the system into Normal mode using the following command: 
    	sync;sync;sync;reboot

    If your system still halts at the LED 518 display, in many cases, it is faster and more cost-effective to reinstall from a recent system backup. Attempting to isolate the cause of the problem can be very time-consuming and often results in the determination that a reinstall is required to correct the problem anyway.

    If you need assistance correcting the problem causing the halt, contact one of the following:




[ Doc Ref: 90605188914738     Publish Date: Nov. 06, 2000     4FAX Ref: 2535 ]