Repository : ssh://git@open-mesh.org/doc

On branches: backup-redmine/2017-07-13,master

commit 49aebdaf901c19a87e9b673e56779705cc7e46e5 Author: Marek Lindner mareklindner@neomailbox.ch Date: Wed Jan 28 19:21:27 2009 +0000

doc: batmand/Coredump

49aebdaf901c19a87e9b673e56779705cc7e46e5 batmand/Coredump.textile | 54 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+)

diff --git a/batmand/Coredump.textile b/batmand/Coredump.textile new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ca8907d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/batmand/Coredump.textile @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ + +== What is a coredump ? == + + A coredump is the state of the programs memory when it crashed. It allows [[BR]] + programmers to exactly nail down the line in the code which caused the segfault.[[BR]] + See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coredump for more information. [[BR]] + +[[BR]] + +== Why do I need ulimit and what does it do ? == + + As coredumps save the programs memory on the hard disk the coredump files [[BR]] + can become quite large because some applications consume a lot of memory. [[BR]] + On embedded devices (e.g. small routers) a coredump can fill the entire disk [[BR]] + easily. Therefore the tool "ulimit" allows you to control what memory size is too [[BR]] + big to be saved on disk. A "ulimit -c 20000" saves coredumps of up to 20MB, [[BR]] + "ulimit -c unlimited" saves everything no matter how big it is. You can check [[BR]] + your systems default by running "ulimit" without any options. If the value is [[BR]] + too small or coredumping is disabled you have to run "ulimit -c <value>" each [[BR]] + time before you start batman. [[BR]] + +[[BR]] + +== How to get a batman coredump ? == + + * log into a shell on your device [[BR]] + * set the ulimit value if necessary (see ulimit section of this document)[[BR]] + * start batman in this very shell but don't let it fork into the background [[BR]] + using a debug level (-d 3 or -d 4) [[BR]] + * do not close the shell as it will kill the running batman [[BR]] + * make batman crash (depending on the bug you experience) [[BR]] + * retrieve the "core" file from the current directory [[BR]] + +'''Don't forget to send the used batman binary along with the coredump.''' [[BR]] +'''Without the correct binary the coredump is useless! ''' [[BR]] + +[[BR]] + +== I can't find the coredump ... == + + * May be batman did not crash but just exited ? A coredump can be created [[BR]] + only on a segmentation fault. Your system logs should contain a log entry similar [[BR]] + to "Error - SIGSEGV received, trying to clean up ..." otherwise batman did not [[BR]] + crash.[[BR]] + * Did you check the ulimit section ? + * The coredumping behaviour can be modified by changing some /proc parameters like [[BR]] + /proc/sys/kernel/core_uses_pid and /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern. In most cases [[BR]] + the defaults are the right choice. Only modify them if you are sure what you are doing! [[BR]] + * Some distributions (especially for embedded devices) use busybox which allows to [[BR]] + to completely disable coredumping (even if ulimit is set). Look for the [[BR]] + CONFIG_FEATURE_INIT_COREDUMPS option to learn more about it. OpenWRT [[BR]] + allows to enable it via 'make menuconfig': Base system -> busybox -> [[BR]] + Configuration -> Init Utilities -> Support dumping core for child processes. [[BR]] +