Installation guide

13.6.5 Generating a Crash Dump Manually
You can manually create a crash dump file by forcing a dump using the
console command, crash, which causes a crash dump file to be created on a
system that is not responding (hung). It is assumed that you have planned
adequate space for the crash dump file and set any kernel parameters as
described in the preceding sections.
On most hardware platforms, you force a crash dump by performing the
following steps:
1. If your system has a switch for enabling and disabling the Halt button,
set that switch to the Enable position.
2. Press the Halt button.
3. At the console prompt, enter the crash command.
Some systems have no Halt button. In this case, perform the following
steps to force a crash dump on a hung system:
1. Press Ctrl/p at the console.
2. At the console prompt, enter the crash command.
If your system hangs and you force a crash dump, the panic string recorded
in the crash dump is the following:
hardware restart
This panic string is always the one recorded when system operation is
interrupted by pressing the Halt button or Ctrl/p.
13.6.6 Compressing Crash Dump Files for Archiving
If you are working entirely with compressed (vmzcore. n ) crash dump files,
they should already be sufficiently compressed for efficient archiving.
However, if you are short of storage space, the following sections discuss
options for further compression of dump files for storage or transmission if:
• You are working with uncompressed (vmcore.
n ) crash dump files.
• You need the maximum amount of compression possible – for example,
if you need to transmit a crash dump file over a slow transmission line.
13.6.6.1 Compressing a Crash Dump File
This section describes how you minimize the size of crash dump files,
depending on they type of file.
Administering Events and Errors 13–23