When a hardware or software failure causes the filer to crash, the filer creates a core file that Network Appliance Technical Support can use to troubleshoot the problem. The filer stores the core file in the /etc/crash directory on the root volume.
The savecore command, which is included in the default /etc/rc file on the root volume, does the following things:
A core dump file contains the contents of memory and NVRAM. Core dumps are written to any non-broken disk owned by the local filer. When a core dump is created, it is stored in uncompressed format if sufficient space is available; otherwise, it is stored in compressed format. If there is insufficient space to store a complete core dump in compressed format, as much of the core dump as will fit on the available disks is stored.
The following table shows the number of disks required to store uncompressed core dumps on 9-GB, 18-GB, 36-GB, and 72-GB disks for various memory configurations.
Note
Core dump files are not compatible between Data ONTAP releases because where the core starts on disks depends on the release. Because of this incompatibility, Data ONTAP might fail to find a core dump file dumped by another release.
Your filer sends e-mail automatically to Network Appliance Technical Support upon each system reboot if the autosupport feature is enabled and configured correctly. Network Appliance Technical Support uses the autosupport message and the core file to troubleshoot the problem.
If you disabled automatic e-mail, you should contact Network Appliance Technical Support when your system creates a core file.
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Part No. 210-00322
File: admin32.htm
Last updated: 01/22/03 16:16:38