Chapter 13. Configuring automatic crash dumps by using RHEL system roles

Procedure

1. Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml, with the following content:

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   ---
   - name: Configuring kernel crash dumping
     hosts: managed-node-01.example.com
     tasks:
       - name: Setting the kdump directory.
         ansible.builtin.include_role:
           name: redhat.rhel_system_roles.kdump
         vars:
           kdump_target:
             type: raw
             location: /dev/sda1
           kdump_path: /var/crash/vmcore
           kernel_settings_reboot_ok: true

   The settings specified in the example playbook include the following:

   kdump_target: <type_and_location>

   Writes vmcore to a location other than the root file system. The location refers to a partition (by name, label, or UUID) when the type is raw or file system.

   kernel_settings_reboot_ok: <true|false>

   The default is false. If set to true, the system role will determine if a reboot of the managed host is necessary for the requested changes to take effect and reboot it. If set to false, the role will return the variable kernel_settings_reboot_required with a value of true, indicating that a reboot is required. In this case, a user must reboot the managed node manually.

   For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.kdump/README.md file on the control node.

2. Validate the playbook syntax:

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   $ ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml

   Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration.

3. Run the playbook:

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   $ ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml