Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 11:46:44 -0500 From: "Jack L. Stone" <jackstone@sage-one.net> To: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: dumpdev Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.20020908114644.00fbeac8@mail.sage-one.net> In-Reply-To: <20020908162746.GA6669@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophi> References: <3.0.5.32.20020908105055.00fbeac8@mail.sage-one.net> <3.0.5.32.20020908105055.00fbeac8@mail.sage-one.net>
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At 05:27 PM 9.8.2002 +0100, Matthew Seaman wrote: >On Sun, Sep 08, 2002 at 10:50:55AM -0500, Jack L. Stone wrote: >> Running 4.5-RELEASE >> >> I've got a server that crashes on a weekly basis and am trying to find out >> why. >> >> I noticed in the /etc/defaults/rc.conf file there is a setting for crash >> dumps: >> dumpdev="NO" # Device name to crashdump to (or NO) >> dumpdir="/var/crash" # Directory where crash dumps are to be stored >> >> But, I'm not sure what the "dumpdev" is supposed to be.... >> Any tips appreciated for what may be a real dumb question.... > >Dumpdev is usually the same as your swap device, so /dev/ad0s1b or >/dev/da0s1b would be common choices. You need to have a swap area >that's at least slightly larger than the amount of RAM in your machine >for that to succeed. As the system is panicing, it doesn't have time >for such niceties as files, so the memory image just gets scribbled >over the end of the specified device. > >Therefore, when you reboot after a crash, fairly early on, the >savecore(8) process is used to copy the crash image out of the dumpdev >into some files under the dumpdir for later consideration. That means >you need plenty of space in your dumpdir too. > > Cheers, > > Matthew > >-- >Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks > Savill Way Ah... thought it would be something like that, but unsure and couldn't locate docs on it. Many thanks! Best regards, Jack L. Stone, Administrator SageOne Net http://www.sage-one.net jackstone@sage-one.net To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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