I'm running a Vmware vCenter Server Appliance virtual machine that has locked me out of the shell.
The web interface has failed.
I can view the main screen but when I press F2 to get into the settings it spews error messages imposed behind the login promt.
The relevant one seems to be
"IOError: [Errno 28] No space left on device]"
From some googling this appears to be an issue that can afflict this server when log files fill up one of the availible drives, but the solutions I've found all involve logging in to the shell and clearing some space.
Unfortunately the shell is disabled and when I try to enable it nothing happens and it kicks me back to the main screen with the same spew of buggy errors
I can switch to the console view but it doesn't allow me to enter the shell.
I can connect through a remote terminal but the shell is also locked out from there.
Are there any other approaches I can try to gain access to the system and/or clear enough space for the server to run normally?
Best Answer
Thanks to a quick reply from Brend26 over on the vmware forums:
The solution to boot into a root shell is
reboot, from the GRUB bootloader type p to access boot options. Enter the password (probably your root password or "vmware" if not set)
Edit the vmware vCenter Server Appliance entry with "e" Choose the kernel boot parameters, (second item) "e" to edit again
Append
init=/bin/bash
to the end of the line.
Press enter
Reboot the system and it boots into a root shell.
the logs can then safely be deleted allowing a normal boot.
Relevant vmware help articles:
6.0
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2069041
6.5 & 6.7
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147144