Linode Unreachable After Reboot, Maintenance or Firewall Change

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Confirm status and use Lish

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   1. In Cloud Manager confirm the Linode is Running; boot it if it is off
   2. Open Lish and look for a login prompt
   3. If you forgot the password, reset the root password
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. No login prompt: use Rescue Mode

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   1. Reboot into Rescue Mode (Finnix); no password needed in Lish
   2. Run a filesystem check on the unmounted disk
   3. If errors are fixed, reboot with your normal configuration profile
   4. On Ubuntu or Debian, chroot and run dpkg --configure -a, then reboot
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Check the route with MTR

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   1. Run mtr -rwbzc 100 -i 0.2 -rw 198.51.100.0 YOUR_LINODE_IP (replace with your IP)
   2. Loss starting at a hop and continuing to the end: open a support ticket with the report
   3. Loss only at the last hop: your Linode network configuration is likely at fault
   4. Repeat in Rescue Mode: if loss disappears, the problem is your configuration
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Fix network configuration

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   1. Enable Network Helper for the configuration profile, then reboot
   2. If you upgraded inline to Ubuntu 18.04+, enable systemd-networkd and reboot
   3. Review firewall rules with sudo iptables -L and sudo ufw status; as a test only, back up rules with iptables-save and set policies to ACCEPT, then restore a corrected ruleset
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Ping and SSH time out, websites are down, but Cloud Manager shows the Linode as Running. Sometimes no login prompt appears in Lish.

Why it happens

• A distribution upgrade or large update broke system components
• Host maintenance followed by a boot or network problem
• Firewall rules (iptables, UFW, FirewallD, Cloud Firewall) blocking everything including ping
• Network configuration problem on the Linode, or an interface renamed (ensp0 instead of eth0)
• Filesystem corruption or a failed boot
• Route problems between you and the Linode

This guide also covers

• linode unreachable after reboot
• linode not responding after maintenance
• linode firewall blocking ssh
• linode down

Other Linode errors

• Can't SSH Into Linode: Connection Refused or Timed Out
• Linode SSH Permission Denied (publickey)
• Linode Lish Console Not Working or Login Fails
• Linode Outbound Email Blocked: Ports 25, 465 and 587
• Linode Out of Memory: OOM Killer Kills MySQL, Apache or Node
• Linode Account Pending, Verification Required or Limit Reached
• Linode Still Charging After Powering Off: You Must Delete It
• How to Cancel Linode (Akamai Cloud) Account and Stop Billing