From ug@svn.opensuse.org Tue Nov 25 11:40:13 2008 From: ug@svn.opensuse.org To: yast-commit@lists.opensuse.org Subject: [yast-commit] r53570 - in /trunk/autoinstallation: doc/CreateProfileDetails.xml package/autoyast2.changes Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:40:36 +0000 Message-ID: <20081125114036.559A9FB8BC@svn.opensuse.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============0459999760756086530==" --===============0459999760756086530== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Author: ug Date: Tue Nov 25 12:40:35 2008 New Revision: 53570 URL: http://svn.opensuse.org/viewcvs/yast?rev=3D53570&view=3Drev Log: kdump docu added Modified: trunk/autoinstallation/doc/CreateProfileDetails.xml trunk/autoinstallation/package/autoyast2.changes Modified: trunk/autoinstallation/doc/CreateProfileDetails.xml URL: http://svn.opensuse.org/viewcvs/yast/trunk/autoinstallation/doc/CreatePr= ofileDetails.xml?rev=3D53570&r1=3D53569&r2=3D53570&view=3Ddiff =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D --- trunk/autoinstallation/doc/CreateProfileDetails.xml (original) +++ trunk/autoinstallation/doc/CreateProfileDetails.xml Tue Nov 25 12:40:35 2= 008 @@ -2504,6 +2504,561 @@ =20 + + +
+ + Kernel dumps + + + + This feature is only available since openSUSE 11.1 and SLES 11. It is = not available + on the zSeries (s390x) archi= tecture! + + + + With kdump the system is able to create crashdump files if the whole s= ystem (i.e., the + kernel) crashes. That crash dump files contain the memory contents whi= le the system crashed. + Such core files can be analyzed later by the support or a (kernel) dev= eloper to find the + reason why the system crashed. It's mostly useful for servers where yo= u cannot + easily reproduce such crashes on another system and where it's importa= nt that the + problem gets fixed. + + + + The only downside of enabling kdump is that this costs you between 64&= nbsp;MiB and + 128 MiB of System RAM (on "normal" sized systems) that needs to b= e reserved to + be used by kdump in the case the system crashes and the dump needs to = be generated. + + + This section only describes how to setup kdump with &autoyast;. It= does not describe + how kdump works in general and also does not describe each small detai= l. Refer to + the kdump(7) manual page which is in the package named kdump= or to + the openSUSE Kdump documen= tation. + + + + At first, let's present an overall example for the kdump configuration: + + + &example.kdump; + + +
+ Memory Reservation + + + As already mentioned above, it's necessary to reserve some memory at= bootup for + kdump. Because that memory must be reserved very early during the bo= ot process, + the configuration is done via a kernel command line parameter called + crashkernel. That memory will be used to load a s= econd kernel + in that memory that will be executed without rebooting if the first = kernel + crashes. That kernel also has a special initrd which contains all pr= ograms + that are necessary to save the dump to network or disk, send the not= ification + email and finally reboot. + + + + You can enable or disable that the crashkernel pa= rameter is + written for the default boot kernel with the add_crash_kern= el + tag and you can specify the value of the crashkernel parameter + using the crash_kernel tag. + + + + For the memory reservation there are two things to specify: The amount + of reserved memory (such as 64M to reserve 64&nbs= p;MiB of memory from + the RAM) and the offset. The syntax is + crashkernel=3DAMOUNT(a)OFFSET. Luckily the kernel= is able to auto-detect the + right offset for you nowadays (with the exception of the Xen hypervi= sor where you have to + specify 16M as offset), so you don't have to wo= rry about that too much. + You can just specify <crash_kernel>crashkernel=3D64M&= lt;/crash_kernel> + and the right thing will happen. + + + + For the amount of memory, following values are = recommended: + + + + + Recommended values for the reserved memory amount + + + + Platform + Recommended values + + + + + + i386 and x86-64 + + + 64M for small machines (about 2 Gi= B of RAM, 4 cores) + and 128M for larger machines + + + + + + + PPC64 + + + 128M for small machines + and 256M for larger machines + + + + + + + IA64 + + + 256M for small machines, + 512M for medium machines and + 1G and more for really large machines + (mostly SGI Altix systems) + + + + +
+ + + + To make things even more complicated, there's a so-called = extended + command line syntax where you can specify the amount of r= eserved + memory dependent of the System RAM. That is good if you share one &a= utoyast; + profile for multiple installations or when you often remove or insta= ll memory + on one machine. The syntax is: + + + + BEGIN_RANGE_1-END_RANGE_1:AMOUNT_1,BEGIN_RANGE_2-END_RANGE_2= :AMOUNT_2(a)OFFSET + + + + In that syntax BEGIN_RANGE_1 is the start of the = first + memory range (for example: 0M) and END_R= ANGE_1 + is the end of the first memory range (and can be empty in case "infi= nity" should + be assumed) and so on. So for example + 256M-2G:64M,2G-:128M means to reserve 64 MiB= of crashkernel + memory when the system has between 256 MiB and 2 GiB RAM a= nd to reserve + 128 MiB of crashkernel memory when the system has above 2 = GiB RAM. + + + + The following table contains the settings that are necessary for the + memory reservation: + + + + + XML representation of the memory reservation settings</titl= e> + <tgroup cols=3D"3"> + <thead> + <row> + <entry>Element</entry> + <entry>Description</entry> + <entry>Comment</entry> + </row> + </thead> + <tbody> + <row> + <entry>add_crash_kernel</entry> + <entry>If the memory should be reserved, that basically enab= les or disables kdump. + <para><screen><add_crash_kernel config:type=3D"boolean"= >true</add_crash_kernel></screen></para></entry> + <entry>required</entry> + </row> + <row> + <entry>crash_kernel</entry> + <entry>The syntax of the crashkernel command line as discuss= ed above. + <para><screen><crash_kernel>256M:64M</crash_kerne= l></screen></para></entry> + <entry>required</entry> + </row> + </tbody> + </tgroup> + </table> + </para> + </section> + <!-- }}} --> + <!-- {{{ Dump Saving --> + <section id=3D"CreateProfile.kdump.saving"> + <title> + Dump Saving + + + +
+ + Target + + + + The element KDUMP_SAVEDIR holds an URL to where= the dump + is saved. Following methods are possible: + + =20 + + + + file to save to the local disk + + + + + ftp to save to an FTP server (without encry= ption) + + + + + sftp to save to an SSH2 SFTP server + + + + + nfs to save to a NFS location and + + + + + cifs to save the dump to a CIFS/SMP export = from Samba or Microsoft Windows. + + + + =20 + + For details see the kdump(5) manual page. Two examples are: + file:///var/crash (which is the default location + according to FHS) and ftp://user:password(a)host:port/inc= oming/dumps. + Below that directory, a directory name that contains a time stamp = will be created + in which the dumps are saved. + + =20 + + When the dump is saved to the local disk, KDUMP_KEEP_OLD_= DUMPS + can be used to delete old dumps automatically. This setting takes = a number that + specifies how much old dumps should be kept. If the partition has = less than + KDUMP_FREE_DISK_SIZE megabytes free disk space = after saving the + dump, the dump is not copied at all. + + =20 + + If you would not like only to save the dump but also the whole ker= nel and + (if installed) the debug information of the kernel to that directo= ry to have + everything you need (except all kernel modules and the debugging i= nformation + of all kernel modules) to analyze the dump in one directory, you c= an set + KDUMP_COPY_KERNEL to true. + +
+ + +
+ + Filtering and Compression + + =20 + + The size of kernel dumps is uncompressed and unfiltered as large a= s your system has RAM. + To get smaller files (for example, to send it to support), you can= compress the whole=20 + dump file afterwards. However, the drawback is that the dump has t= o be uncompressed=20 + afterwards before opening, so the disk space needs to be there in = any case. + + + + To use page compression which compresses every page and allows dyn= amic decompression + with the crash(8) debugging tool, set KDUMP_DUMPFORMAT to + compressed (which is actually the default). + + + + To filter the dump, you have to set the KDUMP_DUMPLEVEL. Then not all + memory is saved to disk but only memory that does not fulfill some= criteria. I.e. you + may want to leave out pages that are completely filled by zeroes a= s they don't + contain any useful information. 0 produces a full dump and 31 is t= he smallest dump. + The manual page kdump(5) and makedumpfile(8) contain a table that = lists for + each value which pages will be saved. + + +
+ + +
+ + Summary + + +
+ XML representation of the dump target settings + + + + Element + Description + Comment + + + + + KDUMP_SAVEDIR + An URL that specifies the target to which the dump = and related files will be saved. + <KDUMP_SAVEDRIR>file:///var/crash/&l= t;/KDUMP_SAVEDIR> + required + + + KDUMP_COPY_KERNEL + If not only the dump itself should be saved to KDUMP_SAVEDIR but + also the kernel and its debugging information (if instal= led). + <KDUMP_COPY_KERNEL>false</KDUMP_C= OPY_KERNEL> + optional + + + KDUMP_FREE_DISK_SIZE + + The number of megabytes that should always be free after= saving the dump. If that + space would be below that value, the dump will not be co= pied. + <KDUMP_FREE_DISK_SIZE>64</KDUMP_F= REE_DISK_SIZE> + optional + + + KDUMP_KEEP_OLD_DUMPS + + The number of dumps that are kept (i.e., not deleted) if= KDUMP_SAVEDIR + points to a local directory. Specify 0 if you don't want= to delete dumps at all and + specify -1 if all dumps (except the one that is just sav= ed) should be deleted. + <KDUMP_KEEP_OLD_DUMPS>4</KDUMP_KE= EP_OLD_DUMPS> + optional + + + +
+ +
+ + +
+ + +
+ + Email Notification + + + + It's useful to get notified via email that a machine has crashed and= a dump has been + saved. That way you can for example setup a dump server in a company= and trigger + some actions by that email automatically like calling the administra= tor from home + to check if everything runs again. + + =20 + + Because the dump is saved in a special initrd environment, we cannot= use a local + mail server just to send that notification email. However, it's bett= er to send + that email in the initrd just because it's more likely that we have = a working network + connection here (which we need in the netdump case to save the dump = away anyway) + compared that the server comes up again and everything is working. + + =20 + You have to provide at least exactly one address in + KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_TO and zero, one or more addre= sses + in KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_CC. Please note that you ca= n only + specify the address here, not a real name or some other fancy stuff. + + =20 + + To actually send the email, we need KDUMP_SMTP_SERVER and + (if the server needs authentication) KDUMP_SMTP_USER and + KDUMP_SMTP_PASSWORD. Please note that TSL or SSL = are not supported. + That may be added in future. + + + + + + XML representation of the email notification settings</titl= e> + <tgroup cols=3D"3"> + <thead> + <row> + <entry>Element</entry> + <entry>Description</entry> + <entry>Comment</entry> + </row> + </thead> + <tbody> + <row> + <entry>KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_TO</entry> + <entry>Exactly one email address (and only an address) to wh= ich the mail + should be sent. Additional recipients can be specified in + <literal>KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_CC</literal>. + <para><screen><KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_TO>bwalle(a)suse.d= e</KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_TO></screen></para></entry> + <entry>optional (email notification is disabled if empty)</e= ntry> + </row> + <row> + <entry>KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_CC</entry> + <entry>Zero, one or more recipients that are in the Cc line = of the notification mail. + <para><screen><KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_CC>spam(a)suse.de = devnull(a)suse.de</KDUMP_NOTIFICATION_CC></screen></para></entry> + <entry>optional</entry> + </row> + <row> + <entry>KDUMP_SMTP_SERVER</entry> + <entry> + Host name of the SMTP server that will be used for the mai= l delivery. Please note + that the SMTP authentication is supported (see <literal>KD= UMP_SMTP_USER</literal> + and <literal>KDUMP_SMTP_PASSWORD</literal>) but TSL and SS= L are <emphasis>not</emphasis> + supported. + <para><screen><KDUMP_SMTP_SERVER>email.suse.de</K= DUMP_SMTP_SERVER></screen></para></entry> + <entry>optional (email notification is disabled if empty)</e= ntry> + </row> + <row> + <entry>KDUMP_SMTP_USER</entry> + <entry> + User name that is used together with <literal>KDUMP_SMTP_P= ASSWORD</literal> + for SMTP authentication. + <para><screen><KDUMP_SMTP_USER>bwalle</KDUMP_SMTP= _USER></screen></para></entry> + <entry>optional</entry> + </row> + <row> + <entry>KDUMP_SMTP_PASSWORD</entry> + <entry> + Password that is used together with <literal>KDUMP_SMTP_US= ER</literal> + for SMTP authentication. + <para><screen><KDUMP_SMTP_PASSWORD>geheim</KDUMP_= SMTP_PASSWORD></screen></para></entry> + <entry>optional</entry> + </row> + </tbody> + </tgroup> + </table> + <!-- }}} --> + </para> + </section> + <!-- }}} --> + <!-- {{{ Kdump kernel settings --> + <section id=3D"CreateProfile.kdump.kernel"> + <title> + Kdump kernel settings + + + + As already mentioned, a special kernel is booted to save the dump. + If you don't want to use the auto-detection mechanism to find out wh= ich kernel + is used (see the kdump(5) manual page that describes the algorithm w= hich + is used to find the kernel), you can specify the version of a custom= kernel + in KDUMP_KERNELVER. If you set that to + foo, then the kernel located in + /boot/vmlinuz-foo or /boot/vmlinux-fo= o + (in that order on platforms that have a vmlinuz= file) + will be used. + + + + You can even specify the command line which will be used to boot the= kdump kernel. + Normally the boot command line is used minus some settings that hurt= in the=20 + kdump case (like the crashkernel parameter itself= ) plus + some settings that are needed in the kdump case (see the manual page= kdump(5)). + If you just want some additional parameters like a overwritten conso= le setting + then use KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND. If you know wh= at you're doing + and you want to specify the whole command line, set KDUMP_C= OMMANDLINE. + + + + +
+ XML representation of the kernel settings + + + + Element + Description + Comment + + + + + KDUMP_KERNELVER + Version string for the kernel that will be used for k= dump. Leave it + empty to use the auto-detection mechanism (strongly recomm= ended). + <KDUMP_KERNELVER>2.6.27-default</KD= UMP_KERNELVER> + optional (auto-detection if empty) + + + KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND + Additional command line parameters for the kdump kern= el. + <KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND>console=3Dtt= yS0,57600</KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND> + optional + + + KDUMP_COMMANDLINE + + Overwrite the automatically generated kdump command line. = Use with care. + Normally KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND is th= e setting you're + looking for. + <KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND>root=3D/dev/= sda5 maxcpus=3D1 irqpoll</KDUMP_COMMANDLINE> + optional (email notification is disabled if empty) + + + +
+ + +
+ + +
+ + Expert settings + + + + + + XML representation of the expert settings + + + + Element + Description + Comment + + + + + KDUMP_IMMEDIATE_REBOOT + true if the system should be reboo= ted automatically + after the dump has been saved, false ot= herwise. The default + is to reboot the system automatically. + <KDUMP_IMMEDIATE_REBOOT>true</KDUMP= _IMMEDIATE_REBOOT> + optional + + + KDUMP_VERBOSE + Bitmask that specifies how to verbose the kdump proce= ss should be. + Read kdump(5) for details. + <KDUMP_VERBOSE>3</KDUMP_VERBOSE>= + optional + + + KEXEC_OPTIONS + Additional options that are passed to ke= xec + when loading the kdump kernel. Normally empty. + <KEXEC_OPTIONS>--noio</KEXEC_OPTION= S> + optional + + + +
+ + + +
+ + + + +
Ask the user for values during installation Modified: trunk/autoinstallation/package/autoyast2.changes URL: http://svn.opensuse.org/viewcvs/yast/trunk/autoinstallation/package/auto= yast2.changes?rev=3D53570&r1=3D53569&r2=3D53570&view=3Ddiff =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D --- trunk/autoinstallation/package/autoyast2.changes (original) +++ trunk/autoinstallation/package/autoyast2.changes Tue Nov 25 12:40:35 2008 @@ -1,4 +1,9 @@ ------------------------------------------------------------------- +Tue Nov 25 12:39:39 CET 2008 - ug(a)suse.de + +- kdump documentation by bwalle added + +------------------------------------------------------------------- Mon Nov 24 14:12:23 CET 2008 - ug(a)suse.de =20 - switch for installation of recommended patterns added --=20 To unsubscribe, e-mail: yast-commit+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: yast-commit+help(a)opensuse.org --===============0459999760756086530==--