Dell PE2950 - 16GB RAM - RHEL4 ES U4 - 2.6.9-5.ELsmp system freeze

[Mark Watts]

> Is (RHEL 4 ES U4) 2.6.9-5.ELsmp considered particularly old or
> problematic and can anyone comment if there are significant known
> issues which have been addressed? I have looked at the kernel change
> logs and there appears to be reference to at least a couple.

Start by bringing the box upto the latest patches, including the kernel.
Also, install and configure the netdump-client package on the client, and 
netdump-server on another rhel4 box in order to capture a full crash dump and 
memory dump at the time of the crash (nb: you'll need >16GB storage on the 
server since you'll have all 16GB dumped over the lan)

For netdump-client, you'll need to configure NETDUMPADDR 
in /etc/sysconfig/netdump, and copy /etc/sysconfig/netdump_id_dsa.pub on the 
client to /var/crash/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server in order for a 
session key to be sent to the server when netdump-client starts. (You should 
be able to login to the server as "netdump" with that key, and not be asked 
for a passphrase)
You can also configure SYSLOGADDR in /etc/sysconfig/netdump, should you wish 
to have the shorter crash dump you'd traditionaly see on the console sent to 
a syslog server.

Once the netdump-client and netdump-server are configured and started, you can 
simulate a crash by
	echo "c" > /proc/sysrq-trigger

You should see directories/files being created in /var/crash on the server, 
and the client should reboot after all of your ram has been dumped to the 
server.

These files can then be provided to RedHat for further analysis.

Regards,

Mark.

-- 
Mark Watts BSc RHCE MBCS
Senior Systems Engineer
QinetiQ Trusted Information Management
Trusted Solutions and Services Group
GPG Key: http://keyserver.veridis.com:11371/search?q=0x455420ED
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