Note: This article pertains to Mac OS X Server versions 1.x, which were released prior to May 2001.
In certain circumstances you may want to restore your NetInfo database from a backup copy or from the default templates that are installed with the server software. For instance, you might want to replace a corrupted NetInfo database or undo unwanted changes.
Warning: Creating a new NetInfo database from the default templates will erase all changes that you have made to NetInfo since installation. If you have invested a lot of time configuring a NetInfo database, you probably want to rebuild it from scratch only as a last resort. If possible, it is generally easier to restore the
/etc/hostconfig file and the contents of
/etc/netinfo from backups made when the network was functioning properly.
In either case, you should start up the server computer into single-user mode before replacing the NetInfo database. For information on how to start up into single-user mode see:
Article 30837: "
Mac OS Server: Starting Up Into Single-User Mode."
When Mac OS X Server is starts up into Single-User Mode, the file system is mounted as read only. To carry out either of the procedures outlined below, you must mount it as read-write.
First, for safety, run fsck:
#fsck -f -y
fsck will then run. At the next command prompt (#), mount the file system:
#/sbin/mount -uw /
Restoring from backup
A backup of your NetInfo database is made every night (assuming your server computer is on overnight) into the
/var/backups directory. In the event that you just did something catastrophic to your NetInfo configuration, you can restore yesterday's version.
1. Start up the server computer into single-user mode
2. At the # prompt, enter the following commands to rename the current NetInfo database and replace it with the archived copy:
mv /etc/netinfo /etc/netinfo.old
cd /var/backups
pax -rw netinfo /etc
3. Restart the server computer.
Restoring from defaults
You need to do three things: obtain a default NetInfo database, an original hostconfig file, and an original hosts file.
1. Start up the server computer into single-user mode
2. At the # prompt, enter the following commands to rename the current files:
cd /etc
mv netinfo netinfo.old
mv hostconfig hostconfig.old
mv hosts hosts.old
3. Enter the following commands to copy the default files back to the
/etc directory:
cp -rp /usr/template/client/etc/netinfo /etc
cp -p /usr/template/client/etc/hostconfig /etc
cp -p /usr/template/client/etc/hosts /etc
reboot
This sets your server computer back to a default NetInfo configuration, as it was when you first installed Mac OS X Server. When the computer is finished starting up the Setup Assistant will run.