Rescue a broken system with chroot from a live USB

Boot a live USB, mount the installed system and chroot into it so repairs (grub, packages, fstab) run against the real system.

LinuxchrootbootfilesystemtroubleshootingHigh risk

Boot a live USB, mount the broken system's root partition to /mnt, bind-mount /dev, /proc and /sys, then run sudo chroot /mnt — you are now working inside the installed OS.

01Command

Command

$ sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt && sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev && sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc && sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys && sudo chroot /mnt

02What it does

chroot changes the root directory a shell sees, letting you run the installed distribution's own tools even though you booted from a live USB. This is the standard way to reinstall GRUB, rebuild the initramfs, fix a bad fstab entry or reset a forgotten root password. The bind mounts are essential: package managers and grub-install need access to /dev, /proc and /sys of the running kernel.

03Risk

RiskHigh risk

RequirementsA live Linux USB; root access; know your root partition (lsblk -f). EFI systems also mount the ESP at /mnt/boot/efi.

!Warning: Everything inside the chroot writes to your real system — mistakes here persist. Mount the correct partition (check lsblk -f) and unmount cleanly with umount -R /mnt before rebooting. On UEFI systems also mount the ESP under /mnt/boot/efi before running grub-install.

04Undo

Undo

$ exit && sudo umount -R /mnt

05Sources

chroot(8) - run command or interactive shell with special root directory
man7.org · community · 2026-09-17
Evidence: chroot runs a command with a specified directory as root; the shell inside sees the target filesystem as /.
Chroot - ArchWiki
Arch Wiki · community · 2026-09-17
Evidence: Rescue procedure: mount the root partition, bind-mount /dev /proc /sys, then chroot to repair bootloaders, packages or passwords.

Last verified: 2026-09-18 · Category: Security & Privacy

06Related solutions

Show IP addresses in a compact table with `ip -br a`

Linuxifconfignetworktroubleshooting

One command that prints every interface with its state and IPv4/IPv6 addresses in a short table — the modern, memorable replacement for digging through `ifconfig` or the verbose `ip addr` output.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17

View the routing table and default gateway with `ip route show`

Linuxroutinggatewaytroubleshooting

The routing table is the first thing to check when traffic leaves the wrong interface or the gateway seems dead — and `ip route show` is the quick, modern way to read it.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17

Check if a remote port is open with `nc -zv`

Linuxncportnetcat

The fastest way to answer 'is the firewall blocking me?' — netcat in scan mode attempts one TCP connection and prints whether it succeeded.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17