Starting sshd from the ISO rescue mode

This document (000020651) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Systems

Situation

In case of severe system malfunctions it may be necessary to boot from the ISO into rescue mode to be able to repair the system.
However, the console in the rescue shell may suffer from some restrictions, e.g. strange keyboard mappings, copy and paste not possible and so on.
Furthermore there is no network configuration, which makes it difficult to backup important data.

Resolution

The recent SUSE Linux Enterprise installation media will start systemd when booting into the rescue mode.
To be able to use the already configured network of the original system please perform the following steps:

- lsblk : find the root file system (e.g. /dev/sda2 )
- mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
- mount -o bind /mnt/etc /etc
- rcwicked restart
- /usr/sbin/sshd

From here you should be able to login to the system via ssh as usual.
If sshd login is configured to work with keys only, please make sure the user home directory is mounted the same way
as above, e.g. "mount -o bind /mnt/home/[USER] /home/[USER]"

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.