How to recover a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 system if /etc/inittab is corrupted or missing?

Solution Unverified - Updated -

Issue

  • The boot process stops with the prompt, "Enter runlevel:", but no matter what number is typed it says, "INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel" [Jump to answer]
  • The /etc/inittab file was deleted or corrupted. What is the procedure to get it back when the system hasn't yet been rebooted? [Jump to answer]

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

Subscriber exclusive content

A Red Hat subscription provides unlimited access to our knowledgebase, tools, and much more.

Current Customers and Partners

Log in for full access

Log In

New to Red Hat?

Learn more about Red Hat subscriptions

Using a Red Hat product through a public cloud?

How to access this content