1 SAVECORE(1M)                 Maintenance Commands                 SAVECORE(1M)
   2 
   3 
   4 
   5 NAME
   6        savecore - save a crash dump of the operating system
   7 
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9        /usr/bin/savecore [-L | -r] [-vd] [-f dumpfile] [directory]
  10 
  11 
  12 DESCRIPTION
  13        The savecore utility saves a crash dump of the kernel (assuming that
  14        one was made) and writes a reboot message in the shutdown log. By
  15        default, it is invoked by the dumpadm service each time the system
  16        boots.
  17 
  18 
  19        Depending on the dumpadm(1M) configuration savecore saves either the
  20        compressed or uncompressed crash dump. The compressed crash dump is
  21        saved in the file directory/vmdump.n.  savecore saves the uncompressed
  22        crash dump data in the file directory/vmcore.n and the kernel's
  23        namelist in directory/unix.n. The trailing n in the pathnames is
  24        replaced by a number which grows every time savecore is run in that
  25        directory.
  26 
  27 
  28        Before writing out a crash dump, savecore reads a number from the file
  29        directory/minfree. This is the minimum number of kilobytes that must
  30        remain free on the file system containing directory. If after saving
  31        the crash dump the file system containing directory would have less
  32        free space the number of kilobytes specified in minfree, the crash dump
  33        is not saved. if the minfree file does not exist, savecore assumes a
  34        minfree value of 1 megabyte.
  35 
  36 
  37        The savecore utility also logs a reboot message using facility LOG_AUTH
  38        (see syslog(3C)). If the system crashed as a result of a panic,
  39        savecore logs the panic string too.
  40 
  41 OPTIONS
  42        The following options are supported:
  43 
  44        -d
  45                       Disregard dump header valid flag. Force savecore to
  46                       attempt to save a crash dump even if the header
  47                       information stored on the dump device indicates the dump
  48                       has already been saved.
  49 
  50 
  51        -f dumpfile
  52                       Attempt to save a crash dump from the specified file
  53                       instead of from the system's current dump device. This
  54                       option may be useful if the information stored on the
  55                       dump device has been copied to an on-disk file by means
  56                       of the dd(1M) command.
  57 
  58 
  59        -L
  60                       Save a crash dump of the live running Solaris system,
  61                       without actually rebooting or altering the system in any
  62                       way. This option forces savecore to save a live snapshot
  63                       of the system to the dump device, and then immediately
  64                       to retrieve the data and to write it out to a new set of
  65                       crash dump files in the specified directory. Live system
  66                       crash dumps can only be performed if you have configured
  67                       your system to have a dedicated dump device using
  68                       dumpadm(1M).
  69 
  70                       savecore -L does not suspend the system, so the contents
  71                       of memory continue to change while the dump is saved.
  72                       This means that live crash dumps are not fully self-
  73                       consistent.
  74 
  75 
  76        -r
  77                       Open the dump device or file as read-only, and don't
  78                       update the dump header or do anything else that might
  79                       modify the crash dump. This option can be used to
  80                       recover a crash dump from a read-only device. This flag
  81                       cannot be used in conjunction with -L.
  82 
  83 
  84        -v
  85                       Verbose. Enables verbose error messages from savecore.
  86 
  87 
  88 OPERANDS
  89        The following operands are supported:
  90 
  91        directory
  92                     Save the crash dump files to the specified directory. If
  93                     directory is not specified, savecore saves the crash dump
  94                     files to the default savecore directory, configured by
  95                     dumpadm(1M).
  96 
  97 
  98 FILES
  99        directory/vmdump.n
 100 
 101 
 102 
 103        directory/vmcore.n
 104 
 105 
 106 
 107        directory/unix.n
 108 
 109 
 110 
 111        directory/bounds
 112 
 113 
 114 
 115        directory/minfree
 116 
 117 
 118 
 119        /var/crash/`uname -n`
 120                                     default crash dump directory
 121 
 122 
 123 SEE ALSO
 124        adb(1), mdb(1), svcs(1), dd(1M), dumpadm(1M), svcadm(1M), syslog(3C),
 125        attributes(5), smf(5)
 126 
 127 NOTES
 128        The system crash dump service is managed by the service management
 129        facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:
 130 
 131          svc:/system/dumpadm:default
 132 
 133 
 134 
 135 
 136        Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or
 137        requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(1M). The service's
 138        status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.
 139 
 140 
 141        If the dump device is also being used as a swap device, you must run
 142        savecore very soon after booting, before the swap space containing the
 143        crash dump is overwritten by programs currently running.
 144 
 145 
 146 
 147                                February 22, 2019                  SAVECORE(1M)