SYSTEMD-COREDUMP(8) systemd-coredump SYSTEMD-COREDUMP(8)
NAME
systemd-coredump, systemd-coredump.socket, systemd-coredump@.service -
Acquire, save and process core dumps
SYNOPSIS
/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-coredump
/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-coredump --backtrace
systemd-coredump@.service
systemd-coredump.socket
DESCRIPTION
systemd-coredump@.service is a system service that can acquire core
dumps from the kernel and handle them in various ways. The
systemd-coredump executable does the actual work. It is invoked twice:
once as the handler by the kernel, and the second time in the
systemd-coredump@.service to actually write the data to the journal.
When the kernel invokes systemd-coredump to handle a core dump, it runs
in privileged mode, and will connect to the socket created by the
systemd-coredump.socket unit, which in turn will spawn an unprivileged
systemd-coredump@.service instance to process the core dump. Hence
systemd-coredump.socket and systemd-coredump@.service are helper units
which do the actual processing of core dumps and are subject to normal
service management.
Core dumps can be written to the journal or saved as a file. Once saved
they can be retrieved for further processing, for example in gdb(1).
By default, systemd-coredump will log the core dump including a
backtrace if possible to the journal and store the core dump itself in
an external file in /var/lib/systemd/coredump.
The behavior of a specific program upon reception of a signal is
governed by a few factors which are described in detail in core(5). In
particular, the core dump will only be processed when the related
resource limits are sufficient.
It is also possible to invoke systemd-coredump with --backtrace option.
In this case, systemd-coredump expects a journal entry in the journal
Journal Export Format[1] on standard input. The entry should contain a
MESSAGE= field and any additional metadata fields the caller deems
reasonable. systemd-coredump will append additional metadata fields in
the same way it does for core dumps received from the kernel. In this
mode, no core dump is stored in the journal.
CONFIGURATION
For programs started by systemd process resource limits can be set by
directive LimitCore=, see systemd.exec(5).
In order to be used by the kernel to handle core dumps,
systemd-coredump must be configured in sysctl(8) parameter
kernel.core_pattern. The syntax of this parameter is explained in
core(5). systemd installs the file /usr/lib/sysctl.d/50-coredump.conf
which configures kernel.core_pattern accordingly. This file may be
masked or overridden to use a different setting following normal
sysctl.d(5) rules. If the sysctl configuration is modified, it must be
updated in the kernel before it takes effect, see sysctl(8) and
systemd-sysctl(8).
In order to by used in the --backtrace mode, an appropriate backtrace
handler must be installed on the sender side. For example, in case of
python(1), this means a sys.excepthook must installed, see
systemd-coredump-python[2].
The behavior of systemd-coredump itself is configured through the
configuration file /etc/systemd/coredump.conf and corresponding
snippets /etc/systemd/coredump.conf.d/*.conf, see coredump.conf(5). A
new instance of systemd-coredump is invoked upon receiving every core
dump. Therefore, changes in these files will take effect the next time
a core dump is received.
Resources used by core dump files are restricted in two ways.
Parameters like maximum size of acquired core dumps and files can be
set in files /etc/systemd/coredump.conf and snippets mentioned above.
In addition the storage time of core dump files is restricted by
systemd-tmpfiles, corresponding settings are by default in
/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/systemd.conf.
Disabling coredump processing
To disable potentially resource-intensive processing by
systemd-coredump, set
Storage=none
ProcessSizeMax=0
in coredump.conf(5).
USAGE
Data stored in the journal can be viewed with journalctl(1) as usual.
coredumpctl(1) can be used to retrieve saved core dumps independent of
their location, to display information and to process them e.g. by
passing to the GNU debugger (gdb).
SEE ALSO
coredump.conf(5), coredumpctl(1), systemd-journald.service(8), systemd-
tmpfiles(8), core(5), sysctl.d(5), systemd-sysctl.service(8).
NOTES
1. Journal Export Format
https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/export
2. systemd-coredump-python
https://github.com/keszybz/systemd-coredump-python
systemd 239 SYSTEMD-COREDUMP(8)