UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi

I'd like to know if to reboot a work station I need the root permission.
If not what is the procedure ( commands or steps ) to reboot a work station.

Cheers
Mohsen

Yes, you do need to be the root or superuser to reboot a workstation. And the syntax is as follows:

shutdown -r now

-r for reboot
-h for halt
you can also specify a time period instead of using "now"

If you're running Linux then you should be able to press "ctrl-alt-delete" from a virtual console.
For ctrl-alt-delete to work it needs there needs to be an entry in the /ec/inittab file something like:
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

Also if your workstation has the sudo package you may be able to perform a shutdown/reoot with out being root, aslong as you're listed in the /etc/sudoers file.


Andy Hibbins

if you are using a sun system you can press the STOP key on the left hand side of the key board and then press A this action will bring you down to the Prom Monitor state. from there you can type reboot ....you can also give reboot the -s option to bring it to the single user mode. remember you should press the STOP and A keys simultaneously or else kir shoody...
this will only work on the sun keyboard...

Be aware that Stop-A does not sync your disks or do a clean shutdown...should be used as a last resort.

In Solaris u have also the option as
shutdown -y -g <time in sec> -i6
This is a clean shutdown and reboot procedure