Removing a bad directory

[bob at SU-SHASTA.ARPA]

The standard way to remove a bad directory is:

1. Take the system down to single-user mode (killing all user processes if
   System III/V).
2. Attempt to recover files from the bad directory by LSing it and moving the
   files elsewhere. If corruption is severe this may not be possible. Also,
   there may not be anything to move.
3. Determine the inode of the directory. If the directory was restored by
   fsck then the name (less any "#") is the inode number. A "ls -li" on
   the parent directory will list the inode number at the start of the
   line.
4. Determine the device name of the file system.
5. As root give the command "clri <FSdevice> <inode number>". This zaps the
   inode into oblivion.
6. Run "sync".
7. Run "fsck" on the file system.

This works on Version 7, System III/V, and BSD*.

Bob Toxen
Silicon Graphics
ucbvax!olympus!bob