What Should I Do If the "Read-only file system" Error Message Is Displayed When I Attempt to Delete a File on a Linux ECS?

Symptom

When you attempt to delete or modify a file on a Linux ECS, the message Read-only file system is displayed.

Possible Causes

The possible causes are as follows:

• A file system error caused the file system to be read-only.
• The file system is mounted as read-only.
• The hardware is faulty, for example, the disk contains bad sectors or the RAID controller card is faulty.

Precautions

• Repairing file systems may cause data loss. Back up data in advance.
• If the issue you encountered does not fall into either of the following scenarios, check whether the hardware is faulty.

Scenario 1: File System Mounted as Read-only

1. Run the following command to check how the directory containing the to-be-deleted file is mounted:

   # mount |grep Mount point

   If ro is displayed in the output, the directory is mounted as read-only. Then go to step 2.

   If rw is displayed in the output, the directory is mounted as read/write. Then perform procedures described in scenario 2 to check whether the file system contains errors.

2. Run the following command to remount the file system as read/write. There is no need to restart the system.

   # mount -o remount,rw Mount point

   

   To mount the file system as read/write upon the next startup, modify the parameters in the fourth column in the /etc/fstab file.

Scenario 2: File System Error Occurred

1. Run the following command to check the file system information in the kernel:

   # dmesg |egrep "ext[2..4]|xfs"

   If the output contains "I/O error... inode", the file system goes into the read-only mode due to an error.

   

   Back up data before repairing the file system. Since file systems cannot be repaired when they are in use, switch to the single-user mode to unmount all file systems and then repair the file systems.

2. Restart the system and switch to the single-user mode.
3. Query all available devices and file systems.

   # blkid

4. Check the file systems on device vdb1.
   • For Ext file systems, run the following command:

     # fsck -n /dev/vdb1

   • For XFS file systems, run the following command:

     # xfs_check /dev/vdb1

   

   If the output indicates that the file systems are mounted, unmount these file systems.

   1. Run the following command to query the file systems mounted on the device:

      # mount

   2. Run the following command to unmount these file systems:

      # Umount Mount point

5. Repair the file systems on device vdb1.
   • For Ext file systems, run the following command:

     # fsck /dev/vdb1

   • For XFS file systems, run the following command:

     # xfs_repair /dev/vdb1