Accidentally did "mv /* ../" what should I do now?

Fritz

Guys... I accidentally put that command as root on one of my boxes.

What should must I do now? Any suggestion?

Can I restore the files? The server is now dead I believe.

Any thoughts/ idea is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rhys

Reinstall and restore from backups and if you don't have backups, sucks to be you.

m3gf

mv ../* /root/

Xei

Is this really fixable? I'd guess not and restore from backup is required.

Fritz

@m3gf said:
mv ../* /root/

SSH service is down, all commands are not recognized either.

I'll try to contact my provider first.

Is there anything else I can do?

wwabbit

Which folder did you run this command in?

yokowasis

Is that command even possible. Doesn't "/" refer to the root vps directory. I don't think there is anything beyond root directory.

Rhys

@yokowasis said:
Is that command even possible. Doesn't "/" refer to the root vps directory. I don't think there is anything beyond root directory.

translates to move everything in / to one directory back from $PWD, which will work.

pike

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/17428/moved-bin-and-other-folders-how-to-get-them-back

If your ssh doesnt work and have no backups you've fucked up.
Next time create some backups and be fine, it's easy to automate this.

Fritz

@Rhys said:

@yokowasis said:
Is that command even possible. Doesn't "/" refer to the root vps directory. I don't think there is anything beyond root directory.

translates to move everything in / to one directory back from $PWD, which will work.

Does it mean the files can be restored?

Xei

What folder did you enter the command in?

Gamma17

If it is a VPS and if it does not have encrypted FS provider can help, if he wishes to.
Disk image can be mounted and accesed from outside, and if it is simfs/openvz it is even simplier.

AnthonySmith

Boot the vps in to sysrescue run testdisk or gparted find the data, backup what you need, restore.

If it is OpenVZ.. ask your host for help

If you really need the data and have no idea how to recover it and would rather wait until Wednesday than lose it give me a shout I will try and recover it for you.

nullnothere

As @AnthonySmith clarified, if this is OpenVZ, best to ask the host for help. The files aren't lost - they're just in the wrong place and so your VPS can't be used "directly". Most probably "vzctl enter" will also fail as it will not be able to find bash/sh in the VM in the correct location but that can easily be fixed by the host.

You should probably also tell your host WHERE you ran the command (assuming you remember, because relative to that folder is where the mv has moved the files).

For KVM it's easier and self-doable. Use any rescue disk (or live cd) and just mount your disk/root fs and rerun the mv to move things back to the correct location and you should be all set. Again, you'll need to know/find out where you ran the command to know the new location of all the files.

The original command probably failed at some point because of either the pseudo fs's or some other related errors - so you may well find that only some of the original / paths were moved.

Hope this helps and good luck.

trewq

If you really need the data you might be able to slide the host a tenner for the VPS image file.

GenjiSwitchPls

@trewq said:
If you really need the data you might be able to slide the host a tenner for the VPS image file.

Tenner? I was going to offer them a fiver and A FAKING SHOEY MATE

GamerTech24

if your VPS provider has a recovery mode try that as a last resort, see if anything is still on the disk

doghouch

@Fritz said:

@Rhys said:

@yokowasis said:
Is that command even possible. Doesn't "/" refer to the root vps directory. I don't think there is anything beyond root directory.

translates to move everything in / to one directory back from $PWD, which will work.

Does it mean the files can be restored?

If it's KVM, mount a recovery ISO and move everything back.

raindog308

wwabbit said: Which folder did you run this command in?

Xei said: What folder did you enter the command in?

He used an absolute path for the source, but a relative path for the destination:

mv /* ../

So "move all root entries to the directory about me".

If you did...

# mkdir -p /tmp/one/two
# cd /tmp/one/two
# mv /* ../

...then this might recoverable but I'm guessing the parent directory is either above his root fs (does OvZ really allow this!?!? Isn't that a massive security hole?) or somewhere else inconvenient.

Also, @jarland I am amazed that this conversation with all of its slashes and paths is not CloudFlare'd.

Fritz

@AnthonySmith

I'll try to solve this together with my hoster first, I'll definitely contact you if he can't solve this.

@raindog308

Unfortunately, the SSH is also down (together with the "bin" folder) and atm no serial console can be used. I guess the only way is I have to ask for a help to my host and yes it is OpenVZ.

Thanks guys for all your help.

angstrom

@Fritz said: Any thoughts/ idea is greatly appreciated.

Use fewer slashes/ slashes.

On a more serious note, using a file manager (e.g., mc) can help to prevent such mistakes.

AnthonySmith

Fritz said: I have to ask for a help to my host and yes it is OpenVZ.

yep, I can't help remotely if it is openvz sorry, but the good news is it should be incredibly simple for your host to recover.

brueggus

AnthonySmith said: but the good news is it should be incredibly simple for your host to recover.

...at least if his knowledge goes beyond installing WHMCS and SolusVM on a rented dedi.

AnthonySmith

brueggus said: ...at least if his knowledge goes beyond installing WHMCS and SolusVM on a rented dedi.

It's not quite summer yet so hopefully it will be fine

Fritz

Hopefully he is able to do that. He is a well known LET hoster here.

Fritz

Hi,

@AnthonySmith
@raindog308

My host has put back all the files into a folder in /home/user/*

There are all files and folders, including bin, etc, opt, home folder etc.

They also put similar folder in "/" (root) directory so that my box is able to run again.

The question is, can I just move all the files in /home/user/* and overwrite all folders in the root folder ("/")?

Many thanks

nullnothere

@Fritz said: The question is, can I just move all the files in /home/user/* and overwrite all folders in the root folder ("/")?

I suggest you check using rsync with the "-n" option to see if anything is missing and only sync those as opposed to a blind mv.

Here's a rough rsync command (see man for more details/other options for your needs):

rsync -niavPHXASc /home/user/ / --exclude /home/user/ --exclude /dev --exclude /proc --exclude /sys

the --delete option may also be handy.

The c option may be a bit heavy CPU wise and you may also benefit by using options like --no-time and/or --numeric-ids

Also beware about files in /etc (like interfaces).

Playing around a bit with the rsync options will give you a very good idea if anything has changed and then you can decide what you want to do about it.

Hope this helps.

brueggus

My recommendation would be:

• Backup all files you still need
• Reinstall

tranzmedia

@nullnothere said:

@Fritz said: The question is, can I just move all the files in /home/user/* and overwrite all folders in the root folder

("/")?

I suggest you check using rsync with the "-n" option to see if anything is missing and only sync those as opposed to a blind mv.

Here's a rough rsync command (see man for more details/other options for your needs):

rsync -niavPHXASc /home/user/ / --exclude /home/user/ --exclude /dev --exclude /proc --exclude /sys

the --delete option may also be handy.

The c option may be a bit heavy CPU wise and you may also benefit by using options like --no-time and/or --numeric-ids

Also beware about files in /etc (like interfaces).

Playing around a bit with the rsync options will give you a very good idea if anything has changed and then you can decide what you want to do about it.

Hope this helps.

Take a backup before rsync because if any thing happen wrong all the things will mess up

Fritz

@nullnothere said:

@Fritz said: The question is, can I just move all the files in /home/user/* and overwrite all folders in the root folder ("/")?

I suggest you check using rsync with the "-n" option to see if anything is missing and only sync those as opposed to a blind mv.

Here's a rough rsync command (see man for more details/other options for your needs):

rsync -niavPHXASc /home/user/ / --exclude /home/user/ --exclude /dev --exclude /proc --exclude /sys

the --delete option may also be handy.

The c option may be a bit heavy CPU wise and you may also benefit by using options like --no-time and/or --numeric-ids

Also beware about files in /etc (like interfaces).

Playing around a bit with the rsync options will give you a very good idea if anything has changed and then you can decide what you want to do about it.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

Will that rSync the file permission too?
I got weird result,

rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (201608 bytes received so far) [sender] rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at io.c(600) [sender=3.0.6]

Fritz

Some updates:

1. The server has been reinstalled and configured using old data (rsync does not work in this case)
2. Everything went very smooth and successfully
3. My Host helped me a lot, thanks to @cociu