xfs_check exits with out of memory error

This document (7011752) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2

Situation

While checking a large XFS filesystem (several TB), xfs_check exists with:

raid010:~ # xfs_check /dev/sda7
xfs_check: out of memory

Resolution

Please use

xfs_repair -n <dev>

instead of xfs_check as advised by the man page of xfs_check (man 8 xfs_check):

[...]
Note that using xfs_check is NOT recommended. Please use xfs_repair -n instead, for better scalability and speed.
[...]

Additional Information

This error was encountered while trying to check a 51.7TiB xfs formatted partition.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.