SAVECORE(8) BSD System Manager's Manual SAVECORE(8)NAMEsavecore - save a core dump of the operating system
SYNOPSISsavecore-c
savecore [-fvz] [-N kernel] directory
DESCRIPTION
The savecore utility copies the kernel and its associated core dump into
directory, and enters a reboot message and information about the core
dump into the system log.
The options are as follows:
-c Clears the dump without saving it (so that future invocations of
savecore will ignore it).
-f Forces a dump to be taken even if the dump doesn't appear correct or
there is insufficient disk space.
-N Use kernel as the kernel that was running when the system crashed,
rather than the default ``/bsd''.
-v Prints out some additional debugging information.
-z Compresses the core dump and kernel (see compress(1)).
The savecore utility checks the core dump in various ways to ensure that
it is current and that it corresponds to the default or specified kernel.
If those checks are successful, savecore copies the core image into
directory/bsdcore.# and the kernel into directory/bsd.# The ``#'' is re-
placed by the number from the first line of the file directory/bounds,
which is incremented and stored back into the file each time savecore
runs successfully.
The savecore utility also checks the available disk space before attempt-
ing to make the copies. If there is insufficient disk space in the
filesystem containing directory, or if the file directory/minfree exists
and the number of free kilobytes (for non-superusers) in the filesystem
after the copies were made would be less than the number in the first
line of this file, the copies are not attempted.
If savecore successfully copies the kernel and the core dump, the core
dump is cleared so that future invocations of savecore will ignore it.
In all cases, savecore requires that ``/bsd'' name the kernel that is
currently running.
The savecore utility is meant to be called near the end of the initial-
ization file /etc/rc (see rc(8)).
FILES
/bsd default kernel
BUGS
The minfree code does not consider the effect of compression.
SEE ALSOcompress(1), syslogd(8)HISTORY
The savecore command appeared in 4.1BSD.
4th Berkeley Distribution September 2, 1994 1
