RHL cannot boot from my HDD

[Osasuyi]

Good day,

I experinced an incidence in my server which got me worried. I am still learning RHEL. I have a server installed with RHEL 6.1. While the server was running, the power went out, my UPS was faulty also, so the server shut down forcefully. A few seconds later, power was restored, however, the OS (RHEL 6.1) could not boot when I turned on the server. The server  boot process stops at the point "Attempting Boot from Hard Drive (C:)" then nothing happens.

So, I have some very important files on the disk which I do not want to lose because I lack a backup copy. What installation option can I choose to ensure that the HDD is not formatted but only the directory of the old OS istallation is replaced by the new OS I want to install? The old OS has the root, /boot, /var and /etc directory. My files are saved in the /var directory. Will my files be preserved when I install a new OS?

I sincerely hope to get help on this item. I will honestly appreciate any response.

Thank you in advance.

[Fran_Garcia · Accepted solution]

You can boot from the RHEL 6.1 cdrom media in "rescue mode". This will allow to troubleshoot your system without reinstalling an operating system and possibly rescue your data if you are able to mount your disks and copy them elsewhere (eg, via scp).

https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/6/html/installation_guide/ap-...

However, a couple of notes:

- Make sure your hard disk wasn't damaged/shortcircuted by the power outage. If there was a power spike, the disk itself might not be working at all.

- RHEL 6.1 is several years old now, if you reinstall the system have a look at newer RHEL major versions, such as RHEL 8 (if your hardware is compatible).