How to Boot a System Interactively

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If the original boot file is damaged, boot the system interactively. Then you can choose to boot from a different /etc/system file or boot environment.

Before You Begin

Ensure that your role has the appropriate rights profiles to perform this procedure. See Using Rights Profiles to Administer Boot Features.

Make backup copies of the /etc/system and boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk files.

$ cp /etc/system /etc/system.bak
$ cp /boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk /boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk.orig

Add the etc/system.bak file name to the /boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk file.
```
$ echo "etc/system.bak" >> /boot/solaris/filelist.ramdisk
```
Depending on the platform, do one of the following:
- For SPARC platforms, issue the following command from the ok prompt.
```
ok boot -a
```
- For x86 platforms:
  1. Reboot the system to display the GRUB menu.
```
$ reboot -p
```
  2. Edit the boot entry by adding –a at the end of the $multiboot line.
  3. Press the appropriate keys to continue booting.
At the Name of system file prompt, specify the backup file that you created.
For example:
```
Name of system file [etc/system]: /etc/system.bak
```
At the Retire store prompt, press Return to bypass.
Note - The /etc/devices/retire_store file is the backing store for devices that are retired by the Fault Management Architecture (FMA). The system no longer uses these devices. However, for recovery purposes, simply press Enter to bypass this file.
After the system has booted, fix the original /etc/system file.
If necessary, reboot the system using the fixed file.

Example 17 SPARC: Booting a System Interactively

In the following example, the screen output is truncated to show only relevant parts in bold.

$ init 0
.
ok boot -a
.
Name of system file [/etc/system]:  /etc/system.bak
.
Retire store [/etc/devices/retire_store] (/dev/null to bypass): Press Enter
.
system-28 console login:

Example 18 x86: Booting a System Interactively

In the following example, Oracle Solaris 11.3 is edited to boot interactively.

The sample screen output is truncated to show only the parts related to the steps.

$ reboot -p
.
(After some messages, the menu appears.)

 ****************************************************************************
 *Oracle Solaris 11.3                                                       *
 *                                                                          *
 *                                                                          *
 ****************************************************************************

You would select Oracle Solaris 11.3 and type e to edit it. The edit is shown in bold.

 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 | setparams 'Oracle Solaris 11.3'                                          |
 | .                                                                        |
 | .                                                                        |
 | $multiboot /ROOT/s11.3/@/$kern $kern -B $zfs_bootfs -a                   |
 | .                                                                        |
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

After editing, you would press the appropriate keys to continue with the boot process. Additional prompts appear.

Name of system file [/etc/system]:  /etc/system.bak
.
Retire store [/etc/devices/retire_store] (/dev/null to bypass): Press Enter 
.
system-04 console login: