## Single User Mode

If your system has damaged or missing files, you may need to boot into single user mode to repair the operating system. This is described in the [OpenBSD FAQ](/https://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq10.html#LostPW).

Here's how you do it if you have a virtual machine running inside OpenBSD's VMM. First, login to the host machine:

    $ ssh username@host.example.com


Once logged in, stop and restart the virtual machine:

    $ vmctl stop username
    stopping vm user: requested to shutdown vm 11
    $ vmctl start -c username
    Connected to /dev/ttypa (speed 115200)
    Using drive 0, partition 3.
    Loading......
    probing: pc0 com0 mem[638K 510M a20=on]
    disk: hd0+
    >> OpenBSD/amd64 BOOT 3.52
    /
    com0: 115200 baud
    switching console to com0
    >> OpenBSD/amd64 BOOT 3.52


You must quickly boot into single user mode before automatic booting begins.  Type `boot -s`:

    boot> boot -s
    ...
    com0: console
    vscsi0 at root
    scsibus3 at vscsi0: 256 targets
    softraid0 at root
    scsibus4 at softraid0: 256 targets
    root on sd0a (6dd62d70bdd3bab6.a) swap on sd0b dump on sd0b
    Enter pathname of shell or RETURN for sh:


Press enter to continue:

    # mount -rw /
    # mount /usr
    # export TERM=xterm


Here we are mounting the root partition as read-write (previously it was read-only). Then, we mount /usr in order to have access to basic system utilities. Finally, we set the terminal type.

After any necessary repairs have been performed, you can reboot and login as usual:

    # shutdown -r now