INIT: Cannot create /var/adm/utmp or /var/adm/utmpx

Cause

This console message indicates that init(1M) cannot write in the /var directory, which is usually part of the / (root) filesystem. 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 filesystems are still mounted.

Action

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

# mount -o rw,remount /