Just curious, if I need to reboot a Linode, e.g. adding an IP address, is running a restart on the Linux command line, the same as using the Reboot in the Linode manager?

I wondered if the Linode Manager reboot is some sort of higher level reboot that reboots something else linked to the node, or if it just reboots the OS.

Reason is if I need to reboot a Linode, e.g. assign a new IP, then I can schedule a reboot in the middle of the night on the Linux command link, rather than manually having to do it in the Linode dashboard (because I cant see how to schedule this in the Linode manager).

Thanks

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It is if you have Lassie enabled; otherwise it transforms into a shutdown:

https://blog.linode.com/2007/10/26/lassie-the-shutdown-watchdog/

You could set something up using the API, but at that point you could just use reboot instead. However, you should be around when it occurs anyway, in case something doesn't come up properly.

-Doug

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Disclaimer: I am no longer employed by Linode; opinions are my own alone.

I have Lassie enabled, but I can restart the OS from the command line, so dont need Lassie to restart it, just wondered if that restart was the same as Reboot in the linode manager.

I have an alert system sent to me via SMS so can configure it to SMS me after a set period of time, so if a reboot fails and Lassie fails, I can then configure SMS notifications to alert me.

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`reboot` from the OS is actually a shutdown as far as our platform is concerned. Lassie then kicks in and boots your Linode back up, making it look like a reboot (though there can be a delay of up to a minute to a minute and a half before the boot job completes). The only negative side effect of this is `halt` doesn't result in a halt, but a reboot.

-Doug

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Disclaimer: I am no longer employed by Linode; opinions are my own alone.

So does that mean "shutdown -r" shuts it down and Lassie reboots it (so the r flag is pointless in Linodes case)? And does not actually do a restart as on a standalone box for example?

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Correct. Regardless of -r, your Linode will power back on, as a result of Lassie. If you need to shut down your Linode, you can do that from the LISH shell, the Linode Manager, or via the API. You could easily make an alias 'realshutdown' that logs into LISH and issues a shutdown job, like so:

ssh $linodeManagerUsername@lish-$datacenter.linode.com $linodeLabel shutdown

-Doug

Ok interesting, thanks. I thought it was restarting due to this command and not Lassie. Come to think of it I did get some Lassie notifications now.

So one last question which is if I wanted to schedule a reboot, I use "shutdown -r" on the command line (no need for -r), I can use "at" to schedule it. So would this still be a suitable way to issue a reboot, i.e. relying on Lassie to reboot it? Because you cant schedule it from within the Linode Manager.

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Web Development Agency in South Wales

You can also specify the time on the shutdown command line, in place of 'now':

NAME
       shutdown - bring the system down

SYNOPSIS
       shutdown [OPTION]...  TIME [MESSAGE]

DESCRIPTION
       shutdown  arranges for the system to be brought down in a safe way.  All logged-in users are notified that the system is going
       down and, within the last five minutes of TIME, new logins are prevented.

       TIME may have different formats, the most common is simply the word 'now' which will bring the system down immediately.  Other
       valid formats are +m, where m is the number of minutes to wait until shutting down and hh:mm which specifies the time on the
       24hr clock.

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The only issue with that is that shutdown just sits there and twiddles its thumbs until that time, so you'd need to background it in order to be able to log out or do anything else with that terminal. Random bit: it's also slightly weird when you have 6 or so open ptys and they all beep at once because shutdown sends a wall when you run it.

-Doug

Oh yeah thats fine, had that issue the other day, I used screen to open a session that I can exit out of and carry on, its always there if I need to resume the screen to cancel it for some reason. That seemed to work OK.

Thanks

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Web Development Agency in South Wales