Solaris Common Messages and Troubleshooting Guide

INIT: Cannot create /var/adm/utmpx

Cause

This console message indicates that init(1M) cannot write in the /var directory, which is usually part of the / (root) file system. Some other messages follow, and the system usually comes up single-user. The problem is often that / or /var is mounted read-only. Sometimes a brief power outage leaves the system believing that many file systems are still mounted.

Action

If /var is a separate file system on the machine and is not yet mounted, mount it now. If the file system containing /var is mounted read-only, remount it read-write with a command similar to this:


# mount -o rw,remount /
Then type Control-D and try to bring up the system multi-user. If that fails, the root file system is probably corrupted. Run fsck(1M) on the root file system, halt the machine, power cycle the CPU, and wait for the system to reboot. Should this problem still occur, restore the root file system from backup tapes, or re-install the system from net or CD-ROM to replace the root file system.