MustGather: Crash on Solaris produces no core or truncated core

Technote (FAQ)
Problem
MustGather for problems with the WebSphere® Application Server crash component. Gathering this information before calling IBM support helps familiarize you with the troubleshooting process and saves you time.
Solution
This technote explains what must be done to ensure that a core file is produced on Solaris Operating System™ when the Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM™) crashed.


If you have already contacted support, continue on to the component-specific MustGather information. Otherwise, click: MustGather: Read first for all WebSphere Application Server products.

Crash specific MustGather information

  1. Make sure that in /etc/system that the parameter sys:coredumpsize is not set to 0.

  2. Ensure that your ulimit -c is set high enough. Units are in 512 byte blocks. It is best to set at unlimited and ensure that you have enough free file system space in WebSphere\Appserver\bin (at least 750 MB to 2 GB).

    Note: ulimit -a displays your current ulimit settings.

  3. Ensure that the WebSphere\Appserver\bin directory is writable by the WebSphere® Application Server process.

  4. Test for getting a core file by issuing a kill -11 against the PID of the Java process, or by using the gcore command to generate a core file.

  5. If you still do not get a core file after setting these parameters correctly, do the following, or refer to Additional Instructions:

    1. If you cannot get a core from test, determine if you can obtain a core file from any process on the machine.

    2. If you can get a core from the test, you can wait for a crash to occur during error condition.

    Additional Instructions


    For Solaris 2.6 or earlier, use the following instructions:

    1. It is possible that the dump area is too large. There have been some problems observed if the dump partition is larger than 2GB.

    2. If the dump area is not on a regular disk, that is, if it is on a disk managed by Veritas or Disk Suite, the core is not produced if Veritas or Disk Suite is not up and running when the core must be taken. There is similar behavior if the dump area is on an NFS client and the NFS software is not functional when the crash occurs.

    For Solaris 2.7 or later, including Solaris 8 and Solaris 9, use these instructions:


    The Solaris operating system attempts to create up to two core files for each abnormal-ending process. One is a core file that uses a global core file name pattern; the other uses a per-process core file name pattern. These actual files use directory information to determine the location of the resulting core files.

    The core file name pattern and directory path is configured using the coreadm command. By default, the global core file pattern is disabled and not used, and the per-process core file pattern is set to core. Therefore, by default, the operating system attempts to create a core file named core in the process's current working directory.

    Run the command coreadm to set the location of the core file. Following is the list of parameters you can set for the core file. Use this information to determine if core files are enabled and where the core file is to be written.

    global core file pattern: /var/core/core.%f.%
    init core file pattern: core
    global core dumps: enabled
    per-process core dumps: enabled
    global setid core dumps: enabled
    per-process setid core dumps: disabled
    global core dump logging: disabled


    Note: Search for core files in the following directories:

    • WAS install/bin.
    • Configured AppServer working directory.
    • /tmp

    If you cannot find a core file, search the entire machine for core* files.


    3. Follow instructions to send diagnostic information to IBM support.


    Useful references:

    Solaris core files:
    http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/816-0219/6m6njqb72?a=view

    Solaris OS signals:
    http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/816-0218/6m6nirqnq?a=view

    Solaris 9 coreadm features:
    http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/806-4074/6jd68pq4l?a=view

    Solaris 2.8 coreadm features:
    http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/805-7229/6j6q8svhr?a=view

    Solaris 2.7 coreadm features:
    http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/806-1650/6jau1364s?a=view

    For a listing of all technotes, downloads, and educational materials specific to the componentName component, search the WebSphere Application Server support site.












    Document Information

    Product categories: Software, Application Servers, Distributed Application & Web Servers, WebSphere Application Server, Java SDK
    Operating system(s): Solaris
    Software version: 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0
    Software edition: EditionIndependent
    Reference #: 1170466
    IBM Group: Software Group
    Modified date: 2004-12-06