intermittent SIGXFSZ errors

This document (7003258) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2

Situation

Users may encounter problems when huge files are copied between different filesystems.
Applications like mv or cp can crash if one or more files are bigger than 4GB.
Reason is that the VFS layer out of context sends SIGXFSZ to the application.
SIGXFSZ is expected to be send only in case setrlimit limits are exceeded.

Resolution

This is a known issue and SUSE Engineering already fixed this.
SLES10 Service Pack 2 contains this fix now. First occurence is kernel 2.6.16.60-0.39.3

In doubt, check the kernel changelog for this entry:

* Mo Apr 20 2009
- patches.fixes/no-SIGXFSZ-on-large-file.patch: [PATCH] Only
send SIGXFSZ when exceeding rlimits. (bnc#495133).

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.