Dump methods compared
The process for preparing a dump device and obtaining a dump differs for the available dump methods.
Dump aspect | kdump | Stand-alone tools | virsh dump | VMDUMP |
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Preparation | Reserve memory with the crashkernel= kernel parameterLoad the kdump kernel and the initial RAM disk into the memory of the production system. Use kexec or systemctl start kdump |
Write the stand-alone dump tool to the dump device (zipl)
Define the panic shutdown action (dumpconf) |
None | Define the panic shutdown action (dumpconf) |
Dump trigger |
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Initial dump space | Memory | Dump device | File system of the KVM host | Spool device |
Accessing the initial dump | Through /proc/vmcore from the kdump instance (automatically done by kdump initrd) | Using zgetdump from a new Linux® instance | Available as a dump file on the KVM host | Using vmur -c from a new Linux instance |
Copying the initial dump to the final dump store (and releasing the initial dump space) | Copied from the kdump instance to any available storage (automatically done by kdump initrd) | Copied from the new Linux instance to any available storage | Copied from the KVM host to any available storage | Copied from the new Linux instance to any available storage |
Optional: Filtering the initial dump | Using /proc/vmcore and makedumpfile on the kdump instance (automatically done by kdump initrd) | Using zgetdump and makedumpfile on the new Linux instance | makedumpfile on the KVM host | Using zgetdump and makedumpfile on the new Linux instance |