Managing Core Files

Describes how to set the location for core files.

The Linux core_pattern file (in /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern) can be used to specify the location for storing core files. If any process launched by data-fabric crashes, the core files are created in the directory specified by the core_pattern file. A valid location in the core_pattern file is a full path to the directory you want to use. For example:

/tmp/dir1/cores/%e.core.%p.%h

If the core_pattern file is empty, if the file does not contain a full path, or if it uses the "|" redirection feature, by default, data-fabric sets the location for core files (in the event of a core dump on a node) to /opt/cores directory when:

• The configure.sh utility is run.
• The Warden init script is run.
• The filesystem init script is run by Warden.

The default directory (/opt/cores) is also used if the core_pattern file contains the default data-fabric value for core files.

For data-fabric software, the directory being used to store core files should not be used for other purposes and should be empty. The cores directory cannot be the home directory, as it can cause problems during SSH access. The hoststats service monitors the directory specified in the core_pattern file and raises the node-level alarm if the directory contains any entry other than "." and "..". When Warden is started, sticky bit is set on the cores directory.