HP iLO not able to trigger a kernel crashdump

This document (7013475) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2

Situation

Trying to generate a kernel crash dump with HP iLO does not succeed whereas triggering it with "echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger" does always work.

Resolution

Make sure the following settings are on place:

- In '/etc/modprobe.conf', put the line
hpwdt options priority=1

- Boot the system with nmi_watchdog=0

NB: The settings above are only recommended when it is necessary to take a dump with HP iLO; it should be rather a diagnosing than the normal operational mode.

Cause

With the option priority=1, priority is given to the hpwdt driver to handle the NMI in first position (not last as per default).

Additional Information

More information about the hpwdt driver is to be found here:

https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/watchdog/hpwdt.txt

Disclaimer

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