Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #87793

Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes

Show all headers | View raw

>On Wed, 10 Jun 2026 04:13:01 -0400, c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> 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 <thelastsysop@dev.null>
"I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."

Back to comp.os.linux.misc | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:28 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 22:47 +0200
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 20:52 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2026-06-10 08:33 +1000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:54 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:13 +0100
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:50 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-09 23:27 +0200
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-09 22:07 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-10 02:24 +0200
          Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
            Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 01:06 +0000
              Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 01:10 +0000
              Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes 🇵🇱Jacek Marcin Jaworski🇵🇱 <jmj@energokod.gda.pl> - 2026-06-11 16:46 +0200
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-10 00:26 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 00:39 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-06-10 09:11 +0100
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:16 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-10 04:13 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 08:17 +0000
  Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-10 10:07 -0400
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 14:10 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-06-10 19:55 +0000
        Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes TheLastSysop <thelastsysop@dev.null> - 2026-06-10 20:18 +0000
    Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-06-11 03:19 +0000
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-06-11 01:49 -0400
      Re: A small pre-fix checklist for sick Linux boxes rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-06-11 06:51 +0000

csiph-web