Enable recovery mode on a node

Recovery mode boots a Linux node from a small rescue disk instead of its own, so you can reach its files without starting its normal system. Use it to:

• Reset a lost or forgotten root password.
• Free up space on a disk so full that SSH stopped responding. See Troubleshooting node performance and resources for the disk-space steps once you are in.
• Undo a firewall or network change that has cut off your only way in.
• Fix anything else stopping the node from starting on its own.

Recovery mode is for Linux nodes. Windows nodes, FortiGate or spot nodes, and nodes on the older Xen hypervisor do not offer it. You need the node Powered off first.

If the node runs Windows, use the in-portal password change instead of recovery mode: see Change a node’s password.

Turn on recovery mode

1. Power the node off, if it is not already: open Actions and click Power Off. The node stops running; recovery mode needs it off before it can attach the rescue disk.
2. Open Actions, then Security, and click Enable Recovery Mode, then confirm in the dialog that opens. Turning it on attaches a small rescue disk matched to the node’s OS and region.
3. Open Actions and click Start to boot the node again. The node boots from the rescue disk, and its status still reads as normal rather than showing recovery mode.

From there, open Access Console to reach the rescue environment. Access Console is the in-browser view of a node’s screen, like VNC, used when SSH or RDP will not connect. It is disabled for the few seconds recovery mode is still starting up, so if an action asks you to retry in a few seconds, wait a moment and try again. If recovery mode itself is still shown as in progress after a few minutes, contact support rather than continuing to retry.

The rescue environment can show its own boot menu before it drops you at a command line. If it does, pick the rescue or repair option, not a fresh installation: starting an install from there would wipe the node the same way reinstalling it does.

Once it is on, the same menu entry reads Disable Recovery Mode; that is how you can tell recovery mode is on.

Reset a lost root password

Inside the rescue console, you can mount the node’s own disk without needing its password to reach it. On startup, the rescue environment asks how to mount it. Choose option 1, the default mount: it puts the node’s disk at /mnt/sysroot, where the next steps expect it.

1. Change into the node’s disk, so every later command runs against it instead of the rescue disk you booted from:

   chroot /mnt/sysroot

   This runs the next steps as the node’s root user. Check that the prompt shows root@. If it does not, become root first:

   sudo -i

   Then check the prompt again before you continue.

2. Set the new password:

   passwd

Exit the chroot once the password is set.

Turn recovery mode off

When you are ready to boot the node normally again, power it off, then open Actions, then Security, and click Disable Recovery Mode: this detaches the rescue disk. Open Actions and click Start to boot from the node’s own disk again, with the new password.

When the node reads Running, connect as usual and sign in with the password you set; see Connect to a Linux node. If recovery mode will not turn on or off, see Troubleshooting node security and access.