Creating a kernel dump
When reporting a problem to IBM® Support, you might be asked to supply a kernel dump. The dump tools you can use depend on your hypervisor environment.
Creating a kernel dump of Linux® in LPAR mode or of a z/VM® guest
The dump tools for Linux in LPAR mode and Linux as a z/VM guest include stand-alone dump tools, kdump, and zgetdump.
With kdump in place, a dump is triggered automatically by a kernel panic. Use the zgetdump command for a live-system dump.
For Linux as a z/VM guest you can also use VMDUMP.
For details about the dump tools, see Using the Dump Tools, SC33-8412.
Creating a kernel dump of a KVM guest
A dump of a KVM guest can be driven by the host or by the guest.
Guest-driven dumps
You can set up kdump to create a kernel dump for an instance of Linux as a KVM guest on IBM Z. With kdump in place, a dump is triggered automatically by a kernel panic.
Alternatively, you can use the zgetdump command to create a live-system
dump.
See the kdump information in Using the Dump Tools, SC33-8412.
Host-driven dumps
The KVM virtual server administrator can initiate dumps of KVM guests. See the section about dumping KVM guests in KVM Virtual Server Management, SC34-2752.