root partition was full and problem start

Applications Filesystems, Disks and Memory
1

We have SunOS 5.7 m/c. Following is the situation and problem what we are facing -

  • The root partition was full.
  • No login was possible on server (not from console also)
  • M/c was power swithced off
  • After this only console login is possible. FTP is possible. No telnet is possible.

I want to know what could be the probable reasons. Also what files I have to check on the server to see that they are in normal state.

Regards,
Rahul

2

Your full file system is the problem. You must check for what happened to fill it up and then decide what to do about it so it will not happen again.

Check your /var/adm/messages file for possible clues - if you have access to SunSolve, search for "filesystem full" or "/ full no login"- It gives different possible problems - one may be this:

This is caused by a full file system and the system has no space
to write its utmpx (login info) entry.

To get around this condition the system must be booted up
into single user mode. Then clear (do not delete) the files:

/var/adm/utmp
/var/adm/utmpx

This can be done by typing:

\#cat /dev/null > filename

This command will zero out the file but keep it there with
the correct permissions.

In some cases after removing these files your /var filesystem may
still be full. In this case type:

du -askd /var |sort -nr |more

This will give you a listing of the files from largest to smallest
on the /var filesystem.

In order to create space you may zero out the following files:

/var/cron/log
/var/spool/lp/logs
/var/adm/messages

You may also check the following for any large files that can be deleted:

/.wastebasket 
/lost\+found

----------------------------------------------------
Subsequent logins should work fine after this.

Keywords: var, umptx, wtmpx, utmp, wtmp

full file system

changing a flat filesystem

3

Thanx for the ans. The null writting over utmp and wtmp has already done. Also the space has been made on the root file system. Still the problem persist.

Regards,
Rahul

4

How are your partitions laid out? Does the server boot to multiuser mode? What processes are starting automatically that could be opening up or grabbing space (check /etc/rc2.d, /etc/rc3.d, and cron jobs)?

If you only have a / partition, it will be harder to find what is causing the problem. If you can't use the server, then start looking for the problem - boot the server into single user mode. Check to see if the problem exist. If not, then something is starting up in multiuser mode. Check your startup scripts and cron jobs. Maybe someone made a change and didn't realize they caused a problem.

Post back the partitions and any software you might be using for mirroring etc..