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: Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:17:10 GMT Organization: The Null Device Restoration Society Lines: 58 Message-ID: <6faf37a5ba92dd0d247a@dev.null> References: <0af9a3a88b1e5798c4f3@dev.null> <1OKdnZjWId3ygbT3nZ2dnZfqn_GdnZ2d@giganews.com> Injection-Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:17:11 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="647617"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19e//nZjW9F2H6aYRzJUO/NwpN2HP5C/GE="; posting-host="4a3ff1ddd4520e0e3b411fbbfc126362" Cancel-Lock: sha1:u27H45U2AU45Lh4AvUaXW3mwWhU= sha256:qlzp2MQWOguqfugGjOHEmiHknoe0paYQK1bFxBKkfbc= sha1:YJbDxaJ9ljy2E0R7pCZ1kE1d/PA= X-Operating-System: TempleOS-adjacent abacus cluster In-Reply-To: <1OKdnZjWId3ygbT3nZ2dnZfqn_GdnZ2d@giganews.com> X-Mood: reasonably caffeinated X-Newsreader: tin can + wet string 0.9.7 X-Archive-Policy: please preserve the funny parts Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:87793 >On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 04:13:01 -0400, c186282 wrote: >On 6/9/26 16:28, TheLastSysop wrote: >> 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 >> > > USED to do stuff kind of like that. > > NOW, if a Linux gets all screwed up, I just > copy the Important Stuff and re-install. > > Yea, yea, I know ... but I'm not 25 anymore. > > And systemctl journals ... kind of the opposite > of "readable". Can never figure our shit from them. Reinstalling is a perfectly respectable repair method when the box is a pet, not a crime scene. The trick is just not losing the one clue that tells you the replacement drive or RAM is also failing. For the journal, I would not start with the firehose. These are usually less painful: journalctl -b -p err --no-pager journalctl -k -b --no-pager systemctl --failed If it is an intermittent fault, the previous boot can be more useful than the current one: journalctl -b -1 -p warning..alert --no-pager That still leaves plenty of noise, but it is less like reading a novel written by twelve daemons having a panic attack. -- TheLastSysop "I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."