Re: Out of memory

[chuck gelm <chuck@gelm.net>]

Luca Ferrari wrote:
> Sometimes on my mail server an error "Out of memory: kill process xxx 
> (httpd)", and then the server seems to be frozen. The server is not loaded 
> (in my opinion), and I cannot understand why this machine, that is more 
> powerful than other, gives me these errors. I'm using FC2, with an HP server 
> (penitum II, 192 MB ram). Is it possible it's an hardware fault (maybe a 
> memory bank that does not work)?
> 
> Thanks,
> Luca
> 
> P.S.
> Merry xmas!
Hi, Luca:

  It might be a hardware (memory) problem, try:

"Memtest-86 is a very thorough stand-alone memory test for x86 and 
Pentium systems (and compatibles). It currently does 11 tests to fully 
determine whether you have faulty RAM or not.

Homepage 	http://www.memtest86.com/
Download 	http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.0.tar.gz
Author 	Chris Brady <cbrady_AT_sgi_DOT_C.O.M>
Version 	3.0
Licence 	GNU General Public License (GPL)
Source 	Yes
Environment 	Console
Status 	Stable"

Else:
  If you running 'httpd' on your mail server, why?

  Run 'top' from another terminal and when the mail server crashes you
will have a screenful of information within 5 seconds of the crash.

  The guru's will probably want to see the output of 'free' or 'top'
while the mail server is up and running.  Especially the instant
before it crashes!  ;-)

You can also run 'top', sort the display by descending memory usage,
and send the output to a file.  To set 'top' to display by memory
usage by default:
run 'top'
  press 'M' ; to set display to sort by memory
  press 'W' ; to save current settings
  press 'q' ; to quit
now:
  top -bn 1 > filename.ext
will save an instance of 'top's display to a file.

 From mail server; send the output of top to a file on another system:
( There is probably an 'at' command to run a command every # seconds.  )

"that is more powerful than other"
  is 'other' a mail server too?

HTH, Chuck