IBM AIX 7.3 – Common Problem 132 – 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

`vmstat` reports `pgsp` near 100% and applications are killed by `SIGDANGER`.

Environment & Reproduction

AIX 7.3 LPAR with a single `paging00` LV sized for a long-retired workload.

Root Cause Analysis

Working set exceeds physical memory; paging LV is undersized and not auto-extended.

Quick Triage

Run `lsps -a`, `vmstat 2 5`, and `svmon -G` to capture memory pressure.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Identify top RSS consumers with `svmon -P -O summary=basic,sortseg=pgsp`.

Solution – Primary Fix

Extend paging: `chps -s 4 paging00` to add 4 PPs from rootvg.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Create a second paging LV on a separate disk: `mkps -a -n -s 8 rootvg hdiskN`.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

`lsps -a` shows >50% free across active paging spaces and `vmstat` `pgsp` drops below 10%.

Rollback Plan

Deactivate the new paging LV with `chps -a n paging01` and `rmps paging01` after a reboot.

Prevention & Hardening

Right-size memory, set `vmo -p -o npswarn`, `npskill` and monitor with `nmon -m`.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Pairs with `SYSPROC` `SIGDANGER` errpt entries and `vmtune` low free frame warnings.

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

IBM Docs: `mkps`, `chps`, `vmo`, AIX paging space planning.