"reboot" or "shutdown -r now": what restart command is safer?
We have in our organization around ~500 RedHat Linux machines.
On all the machines we installed applications and services under /etc/init.d
, and oracle RAC servers. We intend to perform yum updates on all machines and after that take a reboot.
So I was wondering what command is safer:
reboot
or
shutdown -r now
Solution 1:
For Red Hat systems, there is no functional difference between reboot
and shutdown -r now
.
Do whatever is easier for you.
Solution 2:
Shutdown is preferable because it allows you to specify the reason for the drastic action -- something you should always do. The message will be recorded in the log(s) for posterity. For example:
shutdown -r now 'Kernel upgrade requires reboot'
You can also perform a scheduled reboot -- by specifying something other than now
as the reboot time:
shutdown -r 22:00 'Work around kernel memory leak'
Then your users will get periodic reminders to get out and so on -- the process will be more orderly and professional.
Solution 3:
Using reboot
is safer.
Using reboot
your intent is clear and there is no way to mistype it for something else like shutdown -t now
which could leads to a few headache if you are using on a remote server with limited control.