Hi all,

I handle several AIX 5.1 servers and some of them warns me (via errpt)
about a lack of disk space for the dumpcheck ressource.
Here is a copy of the message :

------------


LABEL: DMPCHK_NOSPACE
IDENTIFIER: F89FB899

Date/Time: Fri Feb 4 15:00:06 2005
Sequence Number: 167
Class: O
Type: PEND
Resource Name: dumpcheck

Description
The copy directory is too small.

Probable Causes
There is not enough free space in the file system containing the copy
directory to accommodate the dump.

Recommended Actions
Increase the size of that file system.

Detail Data
File system name
/var/adm/ras

Current free space in kb
7636
Current estimated dump size in kb
207872


--------------

Here is the result of the "sysdumpdev" command :

primary /dev/hd6
secondary /dev/sysdumpnull
copy directory /var/adm/ras
forced copy flag TRUE
always allow dump FALSE
dump compression OFF



I guess /dev/hd6 is not big enough to contain a system dump. So how
can i change that?
How can i configure a secondary susdump space in case the primary
would be unavailable?
What does "copy directory /var/adm/ras" mean?


Thx a lot,

(sorry for my newbism)

The_Nail <tomapam@gmail.com> wrote:
> I handle several AIX 5.1 servers and some of them warns me (via errpt)
> about a lack of disk space for the dumpcheck ressource.
> Here is a copy of the message :

<snip>
>
> Description
> The copy directory is too small.
>
> Recommended Actions
> Increase the size of that file system.
>
> Detail Data
> File system name
> /var/adm/ras
>
> Current free space in kb
> 7636
> Current estimated dump size in kb
> 207872

<snip>

> I guess /dev/hd6 is not big enough to contain a system dump. So how
> can i change that?

The error message tells you something else.
Read it, and you will understand!

> How can i configure a secondary susdump space in case the primary
> would be unavailable?

sysdumpdev -s /dev/whatever

> What does "copy directory /var/adm/ras" mean?

That's where the crash dump will be put when you reboot after the crash.
/dev/hd6 will be needed for other purposes (paging space), so you cannot
keep your system dump there.

And that file system is too small to contain the dump, that's the meaning
of the error message.

You have two options:

- increase the /var file system (it should have ample free space anyway).
- change the dump directory to something where you have more space:
sysdumpdev -D /something/in/rootvg/with/free/space

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

Thank you very much for this precious answer.
The AIX dump's management isn't a mistery anymore






Laurenz Albe <albe@culturallNOSPAM.com> wrote in message news:<cua4n4$j1o$1@paperboy.Austria.EU.net>...
> The_Nail <tomapam@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I handle several AIX 5.1 servers and some of them warns me (via errpt)
> > about a lack of disk space for the dumpcheck ressource.
> > Here is a copy of the message :
>
> <snip>
> >
> > Description
> > The copy directory is too small.
> >
> > Recommended Actions
> > Increase the size of that file system.
> >
> > Detail Data
> > File system name
> > /var/adm/ras
> >
> > Current free space in kb
> > 7636
> > Current estimated dump size in kb
> > 207872
>
> <snip>
>
> > I guess /dev/hd6 is not big enough to contain a system dump. So how
> > can i change that?
>
> The error message tells you something else.
> Read it, and you will understand!
>
> > How can i configure a secondary susdump space in case the primary
> > would be unavailable?
>
> sysdumpdev -s /dev/whatever
>
> > What does "copy directory /var/adm/ras" mean?
>
> That's where the crash dump will be put when you reboot after the crash.
> /dev/hd6 will be needed for other purposes (paging space), so you cannot
> keep your system dump there.
>
> And that file system is too small to contain the dump, that's the meaning
> of the error message.
>
> You have two options:
>
> - increase the /var file system (it should have ample free space anyway).
> - change the dump directory to something where you have more space:
> sysdumpdev -D /something/in/rootvg/with/free/space
>
> Yours,
> Laurenz Albe

I have another question
By checking all my AIX servers, i found that all my "sysdumpdev" are
configured that way :

primary /dev/hd6
secondary /dev/sysdumpnull
copy directory /var/adm/ras
forced copy flag TRUE
always allow dump FALSE
dump compression OFF

So I guess this is the way it is set up at the system Installation. Am
I wrong? Why is that?

Regards


tomapam@gmail.com (The_Nail) wrote in message news:<94e6ba9e.0502081309.33db3c9e@posting.google. com>...
> Thank you very much for this precious answer.
> The AIX dump's management isn't a mistery anymore
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Laurenz Albe <albe@culturallNOSPAM.com> wrote in message news:<cua4n4$j1o$1@paperboy.Austria.EU.net>...
> > The_Nail <tomapam@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > I handle several AIX 5.1 servers and some of them warns me (via errpt)
> > > about a lack of disk space for the dumpcheck ressource.
> > > Here is a copy of the message :
> >
> > <snip>
> > >
> > > Description
> > > The copy directory is too small.
> > >
> > > Recommended Actions
> > > Increase the size of that file system.
> > >
> > > Detail Data
> > > File system name
> > > /var/adm/ras
> > >
> > > Current free space in kb
> > > 7636
> > > Current estimated dump size in kb
> > > 207872
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > I guess /dev/hd6 is not big enough to contain a system dump. So how
> > > can i change that?
> >
> > The error message tells you something else.
> > Read it, and you will understand!
> >
> > > How can i configure a secondary susdump space in case the primary
> > > would be unavailable?
> >
> > sysdumpdev -s /dev/whatever
> >
> > > What does "copy directory /var/adm/ras" mean?
> >
> > That's where the crash dump will be put when you reboot after the crash.
> > /dev/hd6 will be needed for other purposes (paging space), so you cannot
> > keep your system dump there.
> >
> > And that file system is too small to contain the dump, that's the meaning
> > of the error message.
> >
> > You have two options:
> >
> > - increase the /var file system (it should have ample free space anyway).
> > - change the dump directory to something where you have more space:
> > sysdumpdev -D /something/in/rootvg/with/free/space
> >
> > Yours,
> > Laurenz Albe

The_Nail <tomapam@gmail.com> wrote:
> By checking all my AIX servers, i found that all my "sysdumpdev" are
> configured that way :
>
> primary /dev/hd6
> secondary /dev/sysdumpnull
> copy directory /var/adm/ras
> forced copy flag TRUE
> always allow dump FALSE
> dump compression OFF
>
> So I guess this is the way it is set up at the system Installation. Am
> I wrong? Why is that?

Please don't top post, and please only quote the lines you refer to.
It makes reading much easier.

Did you read the documentation before you asked?
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infoce...sysdumpfac.htm

Only ask after you tried to find the information yourself
(Google, man etc.).
Ask as specifically as possible.

Answers:
Yes, this is the installation default.
I can only guess why these values were chosen:

- /dev/hd6, the paging space, is not needed to contain data after the
machine has crashed and before it is rebooted next time. It can therefore
safely been used for system dump data, and no dedicated dump device
need be created initially.
- /var/adm/ras, used as copy destination for the dump:
/var is the correct file system, since it is for system data that
vary in site and should not be deleted. 'adm' is 'administration', and
'ras' means 'reliability, availability, security'. So, a good place for
a system dump.
- /dev/sysdumpnull is, I guess, just a placeholder.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

Laurenz Albe wrote:
> The_Nail <tomapam@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I handle several AIX 5.1 servers and some of them warns me (via
errpt)
> > about a lack of disk space for the dumpcheck ressource.
> > Here is a copy of the message :
>
> You have two options:
>
> - increase the /var file system (it should have ample free space
anyway).
> - change the dump directory to something where you have more space:
> sysdumpdev -D /something/in/rootvg/with/free/space
>
I also maintain AIX systems, and create a new filesystem /var/adm/ras
with the required space.