NAME

emergency — repair a system whose init keeps dying

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

When process 1 ends, the kernel records why and starts it again. If it ends three times within 30 seconds, the kernel stops restarting it and runs emergency as process 1 instead.

emergency lists each recorded end of process 1 — its time, and its exit status or the signal that killed it, with the faulting address — and offers two choices: a root shell to repair the system, or restarting the computer. When the shell exits, emergency exits too, and the kernel starts init(8) again, in recovery mode.

If the console is marked insecure in ttys(5), the shell requires root's password, unless root has none.

The kernel runs emergency from a copy built into the kernel, so it works even if /sbin is damaged.

FILES

/proc/initdeaths

the kernel's record of process 1's ends, one per line: seconds exit status, or seconds signal number [ip address [addr address]]

SEE ALSO

ttys(5), init(8)

HISTORY

The emergency program first appeared in OxideBSD. Other BSDs halt the system when process 1 exits.