Guidelines for Booting an x86 Based System

Keep the following guidelines in mind when booting a system:

After an x86 based system is shut down, it is booted by selecting an operating system in the GRUB menu. If no operating system is selected, the system boots the default operating system that is specified in the menu.lst file.

A system can be rebooted by turning the power off and then back on.

Caution - This method is not considered a clean shutdown, unless you have an x86 based system that is running a release that supports this shutdown method. Use this shutdown method only as an alternative in emergency situations. Because system services and processes are terminated abruptly, file system damage is likely to occur. The work required to repair this type of damage could be substantial and might require the restoration of various user and system files from backup copies.

Reasons to Boot a System

The following table lists reasons that you might need to boot an x86 based system. The system administration tasks and the corresponding boot option that is used to complete the task is also described.

Table 1-2 Booting a System

Reason for System Reboot	Appropriate Boot Option	For More Information
Turn off system power due to anticipated power outage.	Turn system power back on	Chapter 3, Shutting Down a System (Tasks)
Change kernel parameters in the `/etc/system` file.	Reboot the system to a multiuser state (run level 3 with NFS resources shared)	Booting an x86 Based System to a Multiuser State (Run Level 3)
Perform file system maintenance, such as backing up or restoring system data.	Press Control-D from a single-user state (run level S) to bring the system back to a multiuser state (run level 3)	Booting an x86 Based System to a Single-User State (Run Level S)
Repair a system configuration file such as `/etc/system`.	Interactive boot	Booting an x86 Based System Interactively
Add or remove hardware from the system.	Reconfiguration boot (turn on system power after adding or removing devices, if devices are not hot-pluggable)	Setting Up Disks for ZFS File Systems (Task Map) in Oracle Solaris Administration: Devices and File Systems
Recover from a hung system and force a crash dump.	Recovery boot	How to Force a Crash Dump and Reboot of the System
Boot the system by using the kernel debugger (`kmdb`) to track down a system problem.	Booting `kmdb`	How to Boot a System With the Kernel Debugger Enabled (`kmdb`)

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