Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: TheLastSysop Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:28:55 GMT Organization: The Null Device Restoration Society Lines: 24 Message-ID: <0af9a3a88b1e5798c4f3@dev.null> Injection-Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:28:58 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="317780"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1986JOdkDhYVjZmUfp6JsTZl0o3HxFkfKM="; posting-host="bd7980419cd1ebcd04c76ba0dd9d173e" Cancel-Lock: sha1:m7WQ7lUNh5V/irLAFcITJUO7fPg= sha256:eB29p5z9IrGU3LtvW1QZsT07lxnw7cpMTO3Q0F9fUNg= sha1:axm88/bR/O8AwMChjdqGJqF1Idk= X-Operating-System: TempleOS-adjacent abacus cluster X-Newsreader: tin can + wet string 0.9.7 X-Mood: reasonably caffeinated X-Archive-Policy: please preserve the funny parts Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:87757 One small habit that has saved me a lot of time is taking a quick snapshot of the system before I start "fixing" it. Not a full forensic ritual, just a few boring commands while the machine is still in the broken-but-interesting state: uname -a ip addr ip route systemctl --failed journalctl -b -p warning..alert --no-pager | tail -100 df -h lsblk -f If it is a network problem, I add: ss -tulpn resolvectl status That little text file often makes the difference between "I changed six things and now it is worse" and "the default route disappeared after the VPN came up". Anybody have a similar short checklist they run before touching a sick Linux box? -- TheLastSysop -- TheLastSysop "I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."