IBM AIX 7.3 – Common Problem 71 – Diagnosis and Fix

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Repeated app core dumps fill /var or /tmp and trigger fs full alerts.

Environment & Reproduction

Misbehaving application on AIX 7.3 dumping multi-GB core files.

Root Cause Analysis

ulimit core unlimited combined with no rotation on /var/adm/core.

Quick Triage

Run df -g /var /tmp and ls -lh /var/adm/core.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Use lscore and svmon -P to size expected core.

Solution – Primary Fix

Configure chcore -p -d /coredumps -n on user; clear old cores.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Disable core dumps via ulimit -c 0 in the app’s profile.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

df -g shows /var <80% and no new cores in /var/adm/core.

Rollback Plan

Re-enable core dumps with chcore -p once dev finishes debugging.

Prevention & Hardening

Centralize cores in a dedicated FS with rotation.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

FS_FULL on /var, application restart loops.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for aix-7.3.

View all aix-7.3 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

AIX chcore and coredump configuration guide.