[HOWTO] Simulate a restart for testing purposes

[alligatorTim]

huh. that might be good info to find ..

as for the reboot/shutdown ... i'm not sure about os x, but in other bsd's (freeBSD, openBSD) if you try a "reboot -n" it will shut down your computer without unmounting the drives, and then you have to mount them again from single user (total pain in the culo) before it will boot again. so i stick to using shutdown .. i mean it's not that much more typing.

[gatorparrots]

Shutdown Commands
This will shut down your system in five minutes:
sudo shutdown +5

This will reboot your system in five minutes:
sudo shutdown -r +5

This will reboot your system now:
sudo shutdown -r now
or
sudo reboot

This will reboot your system in five minutes and pass on a warning message to all logged in shell users and then reboot into OS 9:
sudo shutdown -r +5 'need Mac OS 9' ; bless -folder9 '/System Folder' -setOF

[gatorparrots]

Two other options
You can also restart individual daemons with this syntax:
sudo kill -HUP `cat /var/run/lookupd.pid`
(This example shows how to restart lookupd.)
This type of command will work for any of the processes listed in /var/run/:

AppleFileServer.pid
autodiskmount.pid
automount.pid
configd.pid
cron.pid
davlocks
httpd.pid
inetd.pid
lookupd.pid
mDNSResponder.pid
netinfo_local.pid
ntpd.pid
sshd.pid
syslog.pid
xinetd.pid

Also, /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/ contains graceful methods for restarting the listed services. They are largely just "nicer" versions of a sudo kill -HUP `cat /var/run/whatever.pid`. Still, they are more elegant and have better error handling routines, so it may be the preferred methodology for restarting those processes in the list.

/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Kicker.bundle/Resources/
total 32k
drwxr-xr-x   10 root     wheel         340 Jul 27 01:39 .
drwxr-xr-x    4 root     wheel         136 Jul 27 01:39 ..
-rw-r--r--    1 root     wheel         787 Jul 17 21:30 Info-macos.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root     wheel        2.2k Jul 11 19:07 Kicker.xml
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     wheel         503 Jun 25 20:39 enable-network

-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     wheel        2.7k May 12  2002 restart-AppleTalk

-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     wheel        2.3k Feb 22  2002 restart-NetInfo

-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     wheel         725 Mar 29  2001 restart-lookupd

-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     wheel        1.1k Jul 17 17:32 set-hostname
-rw-r--r--    1 root     wheel         429 Jul 27 01:39 version.plist

SystemStarter is an alternative method for restarting specific processes, but can be used for a blanket restart command. (Your mileage may vary however, on whether the daemons will respond well or at all to the restart command.) One very good use for SystemStarter: it is handy for testing StartupItems or is an option for those whose uptime is the paramount concern [servers or otherwise]. Like any tool, it has its place and time for use.

[Jasoco]

Originally posted by gatorparrots
Shutdown Commands
This will shut down your system in five minutes:
sudo shutdown +5

This will reboot your system in five minutes:
sudo shutdown -r +5

This will reboot your system now:
sudo shutdown -r now
or
sudo reboot

This will reboot your system in five minutes and pass on a warning message to all logged in shell users and then reboot into OS 9:
sudo shutdown -r +5 'need Mac OS 9' ; bless -folder9 '/System Folder' -setOF

So, if you make them negative numbers, will the computer shut down or reboot 5 minutes ago?