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When a minor incident turns into a major problem.

Whereas the absence of a comma in a text can totally change the meaning of a sentence, a small technical incident can shut down an entire system in an unexpected way. Yet again, the Savoir-faire Linux Support Center has witnessed such an event.

A few weeks ago, during the night, Savoir-faire Linux’s surveillance system issued an alert revealing that one of our clients’ Web sites was down. The same night, after entering the client’s system, one of our experts noticed that the system couldn’t operate due to the presence of two configuration files – not one, as should have been the case – on the server.

You’re probably wondering how such a problem could occur. The two principal causes are neglecting to close the editor used to modify a configuration file, or closing the same editor improperly.

In both of these cases, the backup file that’s automatically created upon opening the editor remains present, and when log rotation occurs (a normal maintenance operation that often takes place overnight), the system can’t tell which configuration file is the right one. Not knowing how to react, it acts like a stubborn donkey: it freezes… Fortunately, after a few seconds of analysis, Savoir-faire Linux’s consultant identified the cause of the problem and fixed it. As for the client, he slept serenely, learning the next day that his system had had a breakdown during the night. In his case, he had forgotten to close his editor…

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