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From: wally@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Brian S Walden)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Editing inittab?
Message-ID: <401@cbnewsl.ATT.COM>
Date: 7 Apr 89 02:29:47 GMT
References: <1166@westmark.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 22

In article <1166@westmark.UUCP>, dave@westmark.UUCP (Dave Levenson) writes:
> When is it ever safe to edit /etc/inittab when UNIX is running?

This works for me:
	# cp /etc/inittab /etc/Ninittab
	# ed /etc/Ninittab
	# ln /etc/inittab /etc/Oinittab
	# mv /etc/Ninittab /etc/inittab
	# init q

The only time /etc/inittab might not be found is in the mv (not too
likely), and you have a backup of your old one.

Questions about it killing children when inittab is not found:
if /etc/inittab is not found by init, nothing should happen to any of it's
children (but will spew out to the console that /etc/inittab is not found).
When /etc/inittab reappears, it will bump off all your users. (This is
true with SVR2)
-- 
Brian S Walden
AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
att!attbl!brian.s.walden