Single-User Mode

It is occasionally necessary to boot HP-UX into single-user mode to diagnose issues with networking or other components.

	NOTE: Although you can boot a virtual partition into single-user mode to diagnosis an OS problem, once you are in single-user mode, you should not use vpar* commands in single-user mode. Reboot the target virtual partition and return to multi-user mode before using the vpar* commands.

On a non-vPars server, you would boot a system in to single-user mode by using the -is option at the ISL prompt:

ISL> hpux -is

On a vPars server, you can boot a virtual partition into single-user mode either at the vPars Monitor prompt or at the HP-UX shell prompt of a running partition.

For example, if we wanted to boot winona2 into single user mode:

From MON>

From the vPars Monitor prompt, specify the -is option as an argument to vparload.

MON> vparload -p winona2 -o "-is"

From HP-UX shell prompt

From the HP-UX shell prompt of another virtual partition, specify the -o option with the vparboot command:

winona1# vparboot -p winona2 -o "-is"

Example: A Hung Partition

If you wish to boot a virtual partition using vparboot into single-user mode, it must be in the down state. If you find a virtual partition is instead in the hung state, perform the following before executing the vparboot:

1. Turn off autoboot for the target partition:

   winona1# vparmodify -p winona2 -B manual

2. Attempt to reset the target partition with the -t option (soft reset):

   winona1# vparreset -p winona2 -t

3. If it still appears to be hung, reset it with the -h option (hard reset):

   winona1# vparreset -p winona2 -h

4. Continue verifying the state until vparstatus shows that winona2 is in the down state:

   winona1# vparstatus -p winona2 -v | grep -E "Name|State" Name: winona2 State: down

5. Because the virtual partition is now in the down state, you can boot the virtual partition into single-user mode using vparboot:

   winona1# vparboot -p winona2 -o “-is”

	NOTE: After you have finished with single-user mode and if you want to turn autoboot back on, the command is:winona1# vparmodify -p winona2 -B auto For information on using vparreset, see “Resetting a Virtual Partition”.