3.4.4. Creating and accessing a core dump with coredumpctl

Procedure

1. Find the PID of the hung process, based on a known part of the executable file name:

   $ pgrep -a executable-name-fragment

   This command will output a line in the form

   PID command-line

   Use the command-line value to verify that the PID belongs to the intended process.

   For example:

   $ pgrep -a bc

   5459 bc

2. Send an abort signal to the process:

   # kill -ABRT PID

3. Verify that the core has been captured by coredumpctl:

   $ coredumpctl list PID

   For example:

   $ coredumpctl list 5459

   TIME                            PID   UID   GID SIG COREFILE  EXE
   Thu 2019-11-07 15:14:46 CET    5459  1000  1000   6 present   /usr/bin/bc

4. Further examine or use the core file as needed.

   You can specify the core dump by PID and other values. See the coredumpctl(1) manual page for further details.

   Next steps

   • To show details of the core file, run:

     $ coredumpctl info PID

   • To load the core file in the GDB debugger, run:

     $ coredumpctl debug PID

     Depending on the availability of debugging information, GDB might suggest commands to run, such as:

     Missing separate debuginfos, use: dnf debuginfo-install bc-1.07.1-23.el10.x86_64

     For more details on this process, see Getting debuginfo packages for an application or library using GDB.

   • To export the core file for further processing elsewhere, run:

     $ coredumpctl dump PID > /path/to/file_for_export

   • Replace /path/to/file_for_export with the file where you want to put the core dump.

     $ coredumpctl dump PID > /path/to/file_for_export