> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.onetsolutions.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Start your VPS in rescue mode

> Restart your VPS on a troubleshooting system to repair it when it no longer boots

Rescue mode restarts your VPS on [SystemRescue](https://www.system-rescue.org/), a Linux troubleshooting system that runs in memory. Your own system does not start: its disks stay untouched and reachable, so you can repair a server that no longer boots, recover files or fix a configuration.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Prerequisites**
>
> * A VPS at OnetSolutions (Linux or Windows)
> * A role that can read the instance's credentials (owner or editor)

## Enter rescue mode

**1. Open the Rescue mode tab**

On your VPS page, click **Rescue mode**, under **Console**.

**2. Restart in rescue mode**

Click **Restart in rescue mode**, read the warnings and confirm. The VPS restarts on the rescue system within one or two minutes.

**3. Open the console**

Click **Open the console**. You land straight in a root session, without a password: `[root@sysrescue ~]#`.

## Reach your disks

Your VPS's disks are attached but not mounted. To list them, then mount your system's partition:

```bash theme={null}
lsblk -f
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
```

The partition name may differ: `lsblk -f` shows the file system of each one. A few common uses:

* **Check a file system**: `fsck -f /dev/sda1`, with the partition unmounted.
* **Fix a file that stops the boot** (`/etc/fstab`, a network configuration): edit it under `/mnt`.
* **Work inside your system** as if it had booted:
  ```bash theme={null}
  for d in dev proc sys; do mount --bind /$d /mnt/$d; done
  chroot /mnt
  ```

Windows (NTFS) disks mount the same way.

## Leave rescue mode

Click **Leave rescue mode** in the **Rescue mode** tab. The VPS restarts on its own system.

> [!WARNING]
>
> * The VPS **restarts** when entering and leaving rescue mode: your services are stopped in between.
> * Rescue mode **ends by itself after 4 hours**: the VPS then restarts on its own system. Unmount your disks (`umount /mnt`) before then so nothing is lost.
> * While in rescue mode, the password change and the reinstall are unavailable.

If you only need to get back into your server, [changing the password](https://help.onetsolutions.net/vps/reset-password.md) from the console is often simpler.


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