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authorjkoshy <jkoshy@FreeBSD.org>1998-05-27 11:05:59 +0000
committerjkoshy <jkoshy@FreeBSD.org>1998-05-27 11:05:59 +0000
commiteaddbc626798374a41e5746660143d76e778bc2c (patch)
tree3cb818a769e4fac02e56d44f1ef4c51bebd54492 /sbin/dumpon
parent160335012701754c4e5b2147069f0b92c62abdb4 (diff)
downloadFreeBSD-src-eaddbc626798374a41e5746660143d76e778bc2c.zip
FreeBSD-src-eaddbc626798374a41e5746660143d76e778bc2c.tar.gz
Correct manual page, based on feedback from Bruce Evans.
Reviewed by: Bruce Evans <bde@freebsd.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'sbin/dumpon')
-rw-r--r--sbin/dumpon/dumpon.864
1 files changed, 33 insertions, 31 deletions
diff --git a/sbin/dumpon/dumpon.8 b/sbin/dumpon/dumpon.8
index 296e92e..5d7aea6 100644
--- a/sbin/dumpon/dumpon.8
+++ b/sbin/dumpon/dumpon.8
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" From: @(#)swapon.8 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/5/93
-.\" $Id: dumpon.8,v 1.5 1997/02/22 14:32:21 peter Exp $
+.\" $Id: dumpon.8,v 1.6 1998/05/25 08:54:40 jkoshy Exp $
.\"
.Dd May 12, 1995
.Dt DUMPON 8
@@ -41,45 +41,45 @@
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm dumpon
.Op Fl v
-.Ar swap_device
+.Ar special_file
+.Nm dumpon
+.Op Fl v
+.Ar off
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm Dumpon
is used to specify a device where the kernel can save a crash dump in
the case of a panic.
.Pp
-The system begins with no dump area configured for safety. If a
-.Dq dumps on
-clause is specified in the kernel configuration file
-or if the variable
-.Dq Li dumpdev
-in the boot time configuration file
-.Pa /etc/rc.conf
-names a dump device, future panics will cause the kernel
-to save a crash dump on the specified dump device.
-The dump device must be one of the swap areas
-specified in the filesystem configuration file
-.Pa /etc/fstab ,
-and it must be at least the size of physical memory.
-.Pp
-Calls to
-.Nm dumpon
-normally occur in the system multi-user initialization file
+Calls to
+.Nm
+normally occur from the system multi-user initialization file
.Pa /etc/rc ,
-before the
-.Xr savecore 8
-program is run.
+controlled by the
+.Dq dumpdev
+variable in the boot time configuration file
+.Pa /etc/rc.conf .
+.Pp
+The size of the specified dump device must be at least 64 KB greater the
+size of physical memory.
+.Pp
The
.Fl v
-flag can be specified to cause the
+flag causes
.Nm
-program to be verbose about its activity.
+to be verbose about its activity.
.Sh NOTES
+One of the system swap devices is usually chosen as the dump device, as
+swap devices are the most likely to have the required space at dump time.
.Pp
-Hardcoding the dump device using the kernel configuration file
-is only useful if a kernel crashes before reaching multi-user mode.
-Otherwise, the use of
+The dump device can also be specified at kernel compile time using
+the
+.Dq dumps on
+clause in the kernel configuration file (see
+.Xr config 8 ).
+This is useful when the kernel panics before multi-user mode
+is reached. Subsequent successful invocations of
.Nm
-to specify the dump device is recommended.
+will override the compiled in value.
.Pp
The
.Nm
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ or to
.Dv NODEV
(meaning that no dumps are to be taken) if
.Ar special_file
-is the text string
+is the text string:
.Dq Li off .
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr sysctl 3 ,
@@ -109,14 +109,16 @@ is the text string
.Bl -tag -width /dev/[ws]d?b -compact
.It Pa /dev/[ws]d?b
standard swap areas
-.It Pa /etc/fstab
-static filesystem and swap information
.It Pa /etc/rc.conf
boot-time system configuration
.El
.Sh BUGS
Because the filesystem layer is already dead by the time a crash dump
is taken, it is not possible to send crash dumps directly to a file.
+.Pp
+.Nm
+currently allows only devices with minor number 1 to be used as dump
+devices.
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
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