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If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner] .TH dumpadm 1M "10 Apr 2008" "SunOS 5.11" "System Administration Commands" .SH NAME dumpadm \- configure operating system crash dump .SH SYNOPSIS .LP .nf \fB/usr/sbin/dumpadm\fR [\fB-nuy\fR] [\fB-c\fR \fIcontent-type\fR] [\fB-d\fR \fIdump-device\fR] [\fB-m\fR \fImin\fRk | \fImin\fRm | \fImin\fR%] [\fB-s\fR \fIsavecore-dir\fR] [\fB-r\fR \fIroot-dir\fR] .fi .SH DESCRIPTION .sp .LP The \fBdumpadm\fR program is an administrative command that manages the configuration of the operating system crash dump facility. A crash dump is a disk copy of the physical memory of the computer at the time of a fatal system error. When a fatal operating system error occurs, a message describing the error is printed to the console. The operating system then generates a crash dump by writing the contents of physical memory to a predetermined dump device, which is typically a local disk partition. The dump device can be configured by way of \fBdumpadm\fR. Once the crash dump has been written to the dump device, the system will reboot. .sp .LP Fatal operating system errors can be caused by bugs in the operating system, its associated device drivers and loadable modules, or by faulty hardware. Whatever the cause, the crash dump itself provides invaluable information to your support engineer to aid in diagnosing the problem. As such, it is vital that the crash dump be retrieved and given to your support provider. Following an operating system crash, the \fBsavecore\fR(1M) utility is executed automatically during boot to retrieve the crash dump from the dump device, and write it to a pair of files in your file system named \fIunix.X\fR and \fIvmcore.X\fR, where X is an integer identifying the dump. Together, these data files form the \fIsaved crash dump\fR. The directory in which the crash dump is saved on reboot can also be configured using \fBdumpadm\fR. .sp .LP For systems with a UFS root file system, the default dump device is configured to be an appropriate swap partition. Swap partitions are disk partitions reserved as virtual memory backing store for the operating system. Thus, no permanent information resides in swap to be overwritten by the dump. See \fBswap\fR(1M). For systems with a ZFS root file system, dedicated ZFS volumes are used for swap and dump areas. For further information about setting up a dump area with ZFS, see the \fIZFS Administration Guide\fR. To view the current dump configuration, use the \fBdumpadm\fR command with no arguments: .sp .in +2 .nf example# \fBdumpadm\fR Dump content: kernel pages Dump device: /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 (swap) Savecore directory: /var/crash/saturn Savecore enabled: yes .fi .in -2 .sp .sp .LP When no options are specified, \fBdumpadm\fR prints the current crash dump configuration. The example shows the set of default values: the dump content is set to kernel memory pages only, the dump device is a swap disk partition, the directory for \fBsavecore\fR files is set to \fB/var/crash/\fR\fBhostname\fR\fB,\fR and \fBsavecore\fR is set to run automatically on reboot. .sp .LP When one or more options are specified, \fBdumpadm\fR verifies that your changes are valid, and if so, reconfigures the crash dump parameters and displays the resulting configuration. You must be \fBroot\fR to view or change dump parameters. .SH OPTIONS .sp .LP The following options are supported: .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-c\fR \fIcontent-type\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Modify the dump configuration so that the crash dump consists of the specified dump content. The content should be one of the following: .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBkernel\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Kernel memory pages only. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBall\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n All memory pages. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBcurproc\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Kernel memory pages, and the memory pages of the process whose thread was currently executing on the CPU on which the crash dump was initiated. If the thread executing on that CPU is a kernel thread not associated with any user process, only kernel pages will be dumped. .RE .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-d\fR \fIdump-device\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Modify the dump configuration to use the specified dump device. The dump device may one of the following: .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fIdump-device\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n A specific dump device specified as an absolute pathname, such as \fB/dev/dsk/\fR\fIcNtNdNsN\fR when the system is running a UFS root file system. Or, specify a ZFS volume, such as \fB/dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/dump\fR, when the system is running a ZFS root file system. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBswap\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n If the special token \fBswap\fR is specified as the dump device, \fBdumpadm\fR examines the active swap entries and selects the most appropriate entry to configure as the dump device. See \fBswap\fR(1M). Refer to the \fBNOTES\fR below for details of the algorithm used to select an appropriate swap entry. When the system is first installed with a UFS root file system, \fBdumpadm\fR uses the value for \fBswap\fR to determine the initial dump device setting. A given ZFS volume cannot be configured for both the swap area and the dump device. .RE .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-m\fR \fImin\fR\fBk\fR | \fImin\fR\fBm\fR | \fImin\fR\fB%\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Create a \fBminfree\fR file in the current savecore directory indicating that \fBsavecore\fR should maintain at least the specified amount of free space in the file system where the savecore directory is located. The \fBmin\fR argument can be one of the following: .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBk\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n A positive integer suffixed with the unit \fBk\fR specifying kilobytes. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fBm\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n A positive integer suffixed with the unit \fBm\fR specifying megabytes. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB%\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n A % symbol, indicating that the \fBminfree\fR value should be computed as the specified percentage of the total current size of the file system containing the savecore directory. .RE The \fBsavecore\fR command will consult the \fBminfree\fR file, if present, prior to writing the dump files. If the size of these files would decrease the amount of free disk space below the \fBminfree\fR threshold, no dump files are written and an error message is logged. The administrator should immediately clean up the savecore directory to provide adequate free space, and re-execute the \fBsavecore\fR command manually. The administrator can also specify an alternate directory on the \fBsavecore\fR command-line. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-n\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Modify the dump configuration to not run \fBsavecore\fR automatically on reboot. This is not the recommended system configuration; if the dump device is a swap partition, the dump data will be overwritten as the system begins to swap. If \fBsavecore\fR is not executed shortly after boot, crash dump retrieval may not be possible. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-r\fR \fIroot-dir\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Specify an alternate root directory relative to which \fBdumpadm\fR should create files. If no \fB-r\fR argument is specified, the default root directory \fB/\fR is used. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-s\fR \fIsavecore-dir\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Modify the dump configuration to use the specified directory to save files written by \fBsavecore\fR. The directory should be an absolute path and exist on the system. If upon reboot the directory does not exist, it will be created prior to the execution of \fBsavecore\fR. See the \fBNOTES\fR section below for a discussion of security issues relating to access to the savecore directory. The default savecore directory is \fB/var/crash/\fIhostname\fR\fR where \fIhostname\fR is the output of the \fB-n\fR option to the \fBuname\fR(1) command. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-u\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Forcibly update the kernel dump configuration based on the contents of \fB/etc/dumpadm.conf\fR. Normally this option is used only on reboot when starting \fBsvc:/system/dumpadm:default\fR, when the \fBdumpadm\fR settings from the previous boot must be restored. Your dump configuration is saved in the configuration file for this purpose. If the configuration file is missing or contains invalid values for any dump properties, the default values are substituted. Following the update, the configuration file is resynchronized with the kernel dump configuration. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB-y\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Modify the dump configuration to automatically run \fBsavecore\fR on reboot. This is the default for this dump setting. .RE .SH EXAMPLES .LP \fBExample 1 \fRReconfiguring The Dump Device To A Dedicated Dump Device: .sp .LP The following command reconfigures the dump device to a dedicated dump device: .sp .in +2 .nf example# dumpadm -d /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 Dump content: kernel pages Dump device: /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 (dedicated) Savecore directory: /var/crash/saturn Savecore enabled: yes .fi .in -2 .sp .SH EXIT STATUS .sp .LP The following exit values are returned: .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB0\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Dump configuration is valid and the specified modifications, if any, were made successfully. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB1\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n A fatal error occurred in either obtaining or modifying the dump configuration. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB2\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Invalid command line options were specified. .RE .SH FILES .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB/dev/dump\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Dump device. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fB/etc/dumpadm.conf\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Contains configuration parameters for \fBdumpadm\fR. Modifiable only through that command. .RE .sp .ne 2 .mk .na \fB\fIsavecore-directory\fR\fB/minfree\fR\fR .ad .sp .6 .RS 4n Contains minimum amount of free space for \fIsavecore-directory\fR. See \fBsavecore\fR(1M). .RE .SH SEE ALSO .sp .LP \fBsvcs\fR(1), \fBuname\fR(1), \fBsavecore\fR(1M), \fBsvcadm\fR(1M), \fBswap\fR(1M), \fBattributes\fR(5), \fBsmf\fR(5) .SH NOTES .sp .LP The system crash dump service is managed by the service management facility, \fBsmf\fR(5), under the service identifier: .sp .in +2 .nf svc:/system/dumpadm:default .fi .in -2 .sp .sp .LP Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed using \fBsvcadm\fR(1M). The service's status can be queried using the \fBsvcs\fR(1) command. .SS "Dump Device Selection" .sp .LP When the special \fBswap\fR token is specified as the argument to \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-d\fR the utility will attempt to configure the most appropriate swap device as the dump device. \fBdumpadm\fR configures the largest swap block device as the dump device; if no block devices are available for swap, the largest swap entry is configured as the dump device. If no swap entries are present, or none can be configured as the dump device, a warning message will be displayed. While local and remote swap files can be configured as the dump device, this is not recommended. .SS "Dump Device/Swap Device Interaction (UFS File Systems Only)" .sp .LP In the event that the dump device is also a swap device, and the swap device is deleted by the administrator using the \fBswap\fR \fB-d\fR command, the \fBswap\fR command will automatically invoke \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-d\fR \fBswap\fR in order to attempt to configure another appropriate swap device as the dump device. If no swap devices remain or none can be configured as the dump device, the crash dump will be disabled and a warning message will be displayed. Similarly, if the crash dump is disabled and the administrator adds a new swap device using the \fBswap\fR \fB-a\fR command, \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-d\fR \fBswap\fR will be invoked to re-enable the crash dump using the new swap device. .sp .LP Once \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-d\fR \fBswap\fR has been issued, the new dump device is stored in the configuration file for subsequent reboots. If a larger or more appropriate swap device is added by the administrator, the dump device is not changed; the administrator must re-execute \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-d\fR \fBswap\fR to reselect the most appropriate device fom the new list of swap devices. .SS "Minimum Free Space" .sp .LP If the \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-m\fR option is used to create a \fBminfree\fR file based on a percentage of the total size of the file system containing the savecore directory, this value is not automatically recomputed if the file system subsequently changes size. In this case, the administrator must re-execute \fBdumpadm\fR \fB-m\fR to recompute the \fBminfree\fR value. If no such file exists in the savecore directory, \fBsavecore\fR will default to a free space threshold of one megabyte. If no free space threshold is desired, a minfree file containing size 0 can be created. .SS "Security Issues" .sp .LP If, upon reboot, the specified savecore directory is not present, it will be created prior to the execution of \fBsavecore\fR with permissions 0700 (read, write, execute by owner only) and owner \fBroot\fR. It is recommended that alternate savecore directories also be created with similar permissions, as the operating system crash dump files themselves may contain secure information.