Delete all

[Martin Rosenthal]

Hi everyone,

I have a HP-UX server which has been sold, and I need to confirm that ALL DATA has been removed (including operating system if necessary / easier). I presume I could use the rm* command, but will that delete everything? or is there a procedure to delete certain areas first?

[kish_1]

i think you need to worry about the data, that volume you can remove through sam,

[Stefan Farrelly]

run mediainit on all your drives - this is the easiest way to ensure theyre wiped clean (it does a low level format and blanks everything)

[Clemens van Everdingen]

Hi,

There are lot's of ways, but to be really secure use rm -Rf * from /
Then remove the disc and trash it.

C.

[Pete Randall]

Martin,

Assuming your system was set up with separate VG's (other than vg00) for data, it's relatively easy to overwrite the data in the non-vg00 vg's, then rm -Rf /* and watch it die.

Check these threads for suggestions on wiping the data disks:
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x9e06543254bfd611abdb0090277a778c,00.html
and
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x24b53a7b3682d611abdb0090277a778c,00.html

HTH,
Pete

[harry d brown jr]

Good luck trying to run mediainit on the root volume group. You will probably need to move the root volume group disks to another machine and perform mediainit there.

live free or die
harry

[Victor_5]

Try

rm -f -r *

[Martin Johnson]

A degausser is easier and quicker - just don't use it next to a machine you don't want to erase.

Marty

[Vicente Sanchez_3]

Hi,

Make what all in some moment wanted to make

rm - Rf /*

Then remove the disk(s) and put it under a road roller.

Regards, Vicente.

[Wodisch]

Hi Martin,

if you boot from the install-CDROM you can use "medianinit(1M)" as already mentioned.
Or you could boot into single-user mode, and run something like
yes lalala > /dev/dsk/cXtYtZ

That will take a while (hours/days) but should be safe enough (as long as your disk is not delivered to the CIA/FBI/NSA).
We have a thread about *really* wiping a disk some months back:
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x24b53a7b3682d611abdb0090277a778c,00.html

HTH,
Wodisch

[John Poff]

Hi,

Here is a funny way NOT to do it, from yesterday's Shark Tank column at ComputerWorld:

http://www.computerworld.com/departments/opinions/sharktank/0,4885,76027,00.html

JP