New mkdumprd for kdump
Summary
This is a replacement for mkdumprd of kexec-tools, to switch to dracut to generate the initrd for kdump kernel.
Owner
- Name: Cong Wang
- Email: <amwang at redhat dot com>
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora 16
- Last updated: 2011-07-11
- Percentage of completion: 10%
Working:
- Dump to local filesystem
TODO:
- Read /etc/kdump.conf to generate initrd
- Dump to remote host via ssh
- Dump to remote host via nfs
- Dump to raw block device
- Implement full functionality of /etc/kdump.conf
- Dump to multiple targets
Detailed Description
Currently in kexec-tools we use our own /sbin/mkdumprd to generate an initrd for kdump kernel. However, due to the natural complexity of making a new initrd, we have lots of burdens to maintain the mkdumprd code, we decide to switch to using dracut to generate kdump initrd. And hopefully, we can provide a distro-independent mkdumprd to upstream, as dracut itself is cross-distribution.
Benefit to Fedora
The main source of kexec-tools bugs is in mkdumprd, with this change, hopefully we will reduce the number of bugs of kexec-tools.
Scope
All functionality of /sbin/mkdumprd has to be implemented and tested in this new mkdumprd.
How To Test
Enable some of the following config lines in /etc/kdump.conf
- Dump to local file system
ext3 LABEL=/boot
ext3 /dev/sda1
ext4 UUID=03138356-5e61-4ab3-b58e-27507ac41937
- Dump to remote machines
net my.server.com:/path
net user@remote.server.com
- Dump to raw block device
raw /dev/sda5
- Other configs
core_collector makedumpfile -c --message-level 1
core_collector cp
kdump_post /var/crash/scripts/kdump-post.sh
extra_bins /bin/cp
disk_timeout 30
extra_modules gfs2
options modulename options
default shell/reboot/shutdown
Trigger a crash and see if the vmcore is dumped to the right place.
User Experience
Users should not notice the replacement, because we plan to provide full backward compatibility.
Dependencies
Dracut
Contingency Plan
Fallback to old /sbin/mkdumprd.
Documentation
- kdump.conf: http://www.linuxcertif.com/man/5/kdump.conf/
Release Notes
- /sbin/mkdumprd has been replaced by new code, which uses dracut to generate the initrd for kdump kernel.