OCI: Unable to SSH to the instance Following Deletion of Critical System Directory /usr/bin on OL8 — Cloud Customer Connect
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OCI: Unable to SSH to the instance Following Deletion of Critical System Directory /usr/bin on OL8

edited Jul 2, 2025 4:18AM in Linux

Applies To:

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure - Version N/A and later
Linux x86-64 on Oracle Public Cloud

Symptoms:

In this scenario the system critical directory /usr/bin is accidentally removed on an OL8 instance. Attempts to establish an SSH connection to the instance result in a 'connection timed out' error.
The system enters into dracut shell environment as observed via the OCI serial console.

[ OK  ] Started Setup Virtual Console.

Starting Dracut Emergency Shell...
dracut#


Cause:

The deletion of a critical system directory /usr/bin resulted in the instance becoming inaccessible.


Solution:

Perform below steps to copy the /usr/bin directory from a test OL8 instance to the broken instance:

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