How to Rescue a CentOS System: Essential Recovery Techniques
Understanding Rescue Scenarios
Critical system failures in CentOS typically fall into three categories:
- Bootloader corruption (GRUB2 errors)
- Filesystem inconsistencies
- Critical package removal or misconfiguration
Accessing Rescue Environment
- Boot from CentOS installation media
- Select
Troubleshooting
>Rescue a CentOS system
- Choose mounting options for existing installations
Filesystem Repair Workflow
# Identify mounted partitions
lsblk
# Check filesystem integrity
fsck -y /dev/sda1
# Remount with write permissions
mount -o remount,rw /sysroot
# Access native environment
chroot /sysroot
GRUB2 Bootloader Restoration
Execute in chroot environment:
grub2-install /dev/sda
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Kernel Image Recovery
dnf reinstall kernel-core
dracut --regenerate-all --force
Critical System Validation
- Verify boot partition mounting in
/etc/fstab
- Check SELinux context consistency
- Validate systemd unit file configurations
Post-Recovery Actions
- Exit chroot environment:
exit
- Unmount partitions:
umount -a
- Reboot system:
systemctl reboot
Preventive Measures
- Maintain regular system backups
- Monitor disk SMART status
- Implement RAID configurations
- Test recovery procedures periodically