solaris8 & 10 emergency repair

Solaris8 SPARC/x86 booting system for emergency mode (via install CD media)

* Boot from Solaris8 Install CD #1
* At Solaris Device Configuration Assistant, Press F2 key
* Press ENTER key twice
* At 'Identified Devices' screen, Press F2 key
* At 'Boot Solaris' screen, select CD to boot system

System will now ask about "Select the type of Installation"

type argument b –s and press Enter key to boot system into 'Single User Maintenance Mode'.

Do the following:

# TERM=ansi ---> VT100 is not your friend
# export TERM
# mount /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0 /a
# cd /a

Do stuff and then get out.

# cd /
# umount /a
# init 6

Solaris10 SPARC/x86 booting system for emergency mode (via install CD media)

* Get to an OpenPROM prompt (Stop-A is a good means of getting there) and then...

ok> boot cdrom -s

The system should boot into single user mode.  To work on the filesystem or do other emergency tasks, 
mount the system drive.

Sometimes, if the system has jackrabbitted, you'll need to first fsck the disk prior to mounting.

# TERM=vt100
# export TERM
# fsck -y /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0

# mount /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0 /a
# cd /a

Do stuff and then get out.

# cd /
# umount /a
# init 6