Installing the DASD dump tool

Install the DASD dump tool on an unused DASD partition. Memory dumps are written to this partition.

Before you begin

You need an unused DASD partition with enough space (memory size + 10 MB) to hold the system memory. If the system memory exceeds the capacity of a single DASD partition, use the multi-volume dump tool, see Using DASD devices for multi-volume dump.

About this task

The examples assume that /dev/dasdc is the dump device and that you want to dump to the first partition /dev/dasdc1.

The steps that you need to perform for installing the DASD dump tool depend on your type of DASD, ECKD or FBA:

If you are using a DASD of type ECKD, perform all three of the following steps.
If you are using a DASD of type FBA, skip steps 1 and 2 and perform step 3 only.

Procedure

(ECKD only) Format your DASD with dasdfmt.
Use a block size of 4 KB.
For example:
```
# dasdfmt -f /dev/dasdc -b 4096
```
(ECKD only) Create a partition with fdasd.
The partition must be sufficiently large (the memory size + 10 MB).
For example:
```
# fdasd /dev/dasdc
```
Install the dump tool with the zipl command.
Specify the dump device on the command line.
For example:
```
# zipl -d /dev/dasdc1
```
Note: When you use a DASD of type ECKD that is formatted with the traditional Linux® disk layout ldl, the dump tool must be reinstalled with zipl after each dump.