Installation guide

Crash dump files are required for analysis when a system crashes, or
during the development of custom kernels (debugging). You may also have
to supply a crash dump file to Technical Support to analyze system
problems. To do this, you must understand how crash dump files are
created. You must reserve space on disks for the crash dump and crash
dump files. The amount of space you reserve depends on your system
configuration and the type of crash dump you want the system to perform.
The sections that follow provide information to help you manage crash
dumps and crash dump files. For information on analyzing crash dump log
files, refer to the
Kernel Debugging guide.
13.6.1 Related Documentation and Utilities
The following documentation contains information on crash dumps and
related topics, such as swap space requirements:
• Installation Guide - Provides nformation on the initial swap space and
dump settings configured during installation
• Kernel Debugging - Provides information on analyzing crash dumps.
Note that you may need to install Development subsets and appropriate
licenses in order to use the debugger. The guide contains information on:
– Crash Dump creation and content
– Planning and estimating dump sizes and space requirements
– Logging and log files
– Forcing crash dumps
– Archiving dumps
•
savecore
(8) – Describes the program that copies a core dump from
swap partitions to a file.
• expand_dump
(8) - Describes the program that produces a
non-compressed kernel crash dump file.
• sysconfig
(8) and sysconfigdb(8)- Describes the programs that
maintain the kernel subsystem configuration and are used to set crash
dump attributes in the kernel to control crash behavior. You can also
use the graphical interface /usr/bin/X11/dxkerneltuner to modify
kernel attributes. See the dxkerneltuner
(8) reference page for
information. On-line help is also available for this interface. The
dxkerneltuner interface can also be launched from the CDE Desktop
by invoking the Application Manager, System Admin.
• swapon
(8) - Describes the program that creates additional file(s) for
paging and swapping. Use swapon if you need to add additional
temporary or permanent swap space to produce full dumps.
13–16 Administering Events and Errors