UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

very important. can someone tell me the best command to issue on a sun box to bring the system down for a cpu replacement.

i dont know if single user mode is right or completely shuttign down the box as in init 0 or something like that.

and bringing the box back up would involved physically pushing the button the box right??

yeah uh you do not want to mess with the internals while the system is connected to power at all. use whatever comman you would usually use to halt the system
eg: shutdown -h now

once that happens make sure you unplug it and make sure you are grounded. i have no idea if sun boxen have hot swappable cpus or not. if you cant find out the safest way is to do it while its OFF.

Some of the bigger boxes have hot pluggable cpu's.. what kind of box is it?

/peter

Hi,

For Sun you have multiple solutions to get the box down.
A normal one is "init 0" This brings your server safely in the "ok"prompt. By turning the power switch off you've done the right thing and start doing maintenance.
Normaly you choose for init 0 as you are able to find your machine back. The light is colored orange instead of green blinking and you know you have hit the right system. However if you make a mistake it's easier to bring the system back online by typing boot.

A faster way is "init 5" This will not only bring the system to the ok prompt, but immediatly after will shut down power of the system. You have to manualy power up the system again now. You probably understand why I would not choose for this option when you work in a large datacenter.

When having troubles in getting the machine down as it's hanging due to problems in the OS, there is only one beautifull command that always gets your server in the ok prompt :

uadmin 0 2 (or 2 0, can't remember, one just gives an error)

This will kick the server to the ok-prompt, it only syncs data and than leaves the OS behind
Mind that you use this option only in emergencies !!!


Regs David