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expand_dump(8)


NAME

  expand_dump - Produces a non-compressed kernel crash dump file


SYNOPSIS

  /usr/sbin/expand_dump input-file output-file


DESCRIPTION

  By default, kernel crash dump files (vmzcore.#) are compressed during the
  crash dump.  Compressed core files can be examined by the latest versions
  of debugging tools that have been recompiled to support compressed crash
  dump files.  However, not all debugging tools may be upgraded on a given
  system, or you may want to examine a crash dump from a remote system using
  an older version of a tool.  The expand_dump utility produces a file that
  can be read by tools that have not been upgraded to support compressed
  crash dump files.  This non-compressed version can also be read by any
  upgraded tool.

  This utility can only be used with compressed crash dump files, and does
  not support any other form of compressed file.  You cannot use other
  decompression tools such as compress, gzip, or zip on a compressed crash
  dump file.

  Note that the non-compressed file will require significantly more disk
  storage space as it is possible to achieve compression ratios of up to
  60:1.	 Check the available disk space before running expand_dump and
  estimate the size of the non-compressed file as follows:

    ·  Run tests by halting your system and forcing a crash as described in
       the Kernel Debugging manual.

    ·  Use an upgraded debugger to determine the value of the variable
       dumpsize.  Multiply this vale by the 8Kb page size to approximate the
       required disk space of the non-compressed crash-dump.

    ·  Run expand_dump and pipe the output file to /dev/null, noting the size
       of the file that is printed when expand_dump completes its task.


RETURN VALUES

  0   Successful completion of the decompression.

  1   The user did not supply the correct number of command line arguments.

  2   The input file could not be read.

  3   The input file is not a compressed dump, or is corrupted.

  4   The output file could not be created or opened for writing and
      truncated.

  5   There was some problem writing to the output file (probably a full
      disk).

  7   The input file is not formated consistantly.  It is probably corrupted.

  8   The input file could not be correctly decompressed.  It is probably
      corrupted.


EXAMPLES

       expand_dump vmzcore.4 vmcore.4


SEE ALSO

  Commands: dbx(1), kdbx(8), ladebug(1), savecore(8)

  Kernel Debugging

  System Administration

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