Written by Milan Potrok (IGEL COMMUNITY MEMBER OF THE YEAR) and Jeff Long, IGEL COMMUNITY MEMBER & Insider
Introduction
Ever faced a situation where your IGEL device becomes unresponsive and standard reboot methods fail? Well, this shouldn't happen at all and it will never happen again but recently, we encountered a scenario where a device couldn't be rebooted via the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) or any other usual methods. Physical access, SSH, and shadowing were all out of the question. What saved the day was an unconventional method using a file upload through UMS.
Step by step
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to perform an emergency reboot:
Upload the Attached File to UMS:
Create a text file named b.txt containing a single character b.
Upload this file to UMS Files.
Send the File to the Device:
Select the target device in UMS.
Go to the device menu and choose File UMS -> Device.
Send the b.txt file to the device.
Save the File to /proc/sysrq-trigger:
The file will be saved to the /proc/sysrq-trigger directory on the device.
Profit! 🙂
Immediately upon successful file transfer, the device should reboot.
Thoughts
This method was discovered during a troubleshooting session where normal reboot methods were ineffective. Jeff's device was still taking UMS profile changes but was unresponsive to reboot commands and other actions. After trying several approaches, this method succeeded in rebooting the device using UMS File transfer.
Note: This method is not recommended for regular use as it does not perform a clean reboot process. It's a desperate measure for desperate times. Assigning the file to the device as an assigned object did not seem effective and isn’t a recommended approach.
Background: The situation that prompted this method was a device that could not be accessed physically or via standard remote methods. Despite these challenges, the device was still accepting profile changes from UMS. The emergency reboot method was a collaborative effort and resulted in a successful reboot using the following approach:
File "b.txt" Creation: A text file containing the single character 'b'.
File Upload to UMS: Uploading the file to UMS and configuring it appropriately.
Command Execution: Sending the file to the device via UMS and triggering an immediate reboot.
This method illustrates that even with limited tools, innovative solutions can be found to resolve technical issues.
Conclusion
When traditional methods fail, sometimes all you need is a partially broken hammer to fix the problem—or make it worse. Always use caution with such emergency methods and consult with your team or support when in doubt.
Thank you for reading, and special thanks to Jeff for the insightful discussion and collaboration. We’re glad to have found a working solution!: https://igelcommunity.slack.com/archives/C05MNSV04LB/p1705720524499089?thread_ts=1705720524.499089&cid=C05MNSV04LB
Disclaimer
The content of this post is provided without any warranty or support by IGEL Technology. This information is derived from the IGEL Community, and not IGEL Technology. IGEL Technology will not provide any packages, instructions, or support for processes, scripts, or other content contained in this post. Use at your own risk!
Hope it works well, please let me know if you have some questions or comments!
