Fix Ubuntu: EXT4 Aborted Journal → Read-Only & Boot-UUID Hang (Initramfs/Emergency) – Step-by-Step




Linux • EXT4 • LVM

Fix Ubuntu “EXT4-fs: Detected aborted journal → read-only” & Boot-UUID Hang

Recovery for servers stuck in read-only, initramfs/emergency, or “A start job is running for /dev/disk/by-uuid/…”. Includes copy-paste recovery, hardening, real logs, infographic.

Symptoms

Kernel

EXT4-fs: aborted journal → remount ro

Boot hang

A start job is running for /dev/disk/by-uuid/…

Emergency shell

You are in emergency mode.

Read-only

touch: Read-only file system

Root causes

  • Unclean shutdown / power cut → ext4 journal abort
  • Heavy write load (logs, containers, backups)
  • Missing disk in /etc/fstab
  • Disk pressure (root fills, e.g. /var/local/enhance)
  • Unreliable VPS storage

Quick recovery

SSH

sudo touch /forcefsck && sudo reboot

Initramfs

lvm vgchange -ay
fsck.ext4 -fy /dev/dm-0
reboot

Boot hang

mount -o remount,rw /
sed -i '/UUID-xxxx/s/^/#/' /etc/fstab
reboot -f

Free space

find /var/log -type f -exec truncate -s 0 {} \;

Hardening

  1. Weekly log cleanup (cron)
  2. Daily container usage log
  3. Force fsck on reboot
  4. Keep backups off root
  5. Avoid hard resets

Real log

  1. Kernel → journal abort → root ro
  2. Initramfs → LVM activate
  3. fsck fixed inodes
  4. fstab edited → missing UUID commented
  5. Boot rw → cron added

FAQ

Why read-only? ext4 found inconsistent journal → remounted ro. Fix with fsck.

Device not found? Run lvm vgchange -ay and fsck.ext4 -fy /dev/dm-0.

UUID hang? Comment missing disk line in /etc/fstab.

Free space fast? Truncate logs, move backups off root.

Support

Emergency Fix

Stuck in initramfs? Get live remote help.

Prevention

Audits, log rotation, fsck policy, disk alerts.


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