Ubuntu 10.04 – Enable core dumps

By default, core dumps are disabled in Ubuntu. To enable core dumps, for the current user, and for the root user:

1. gedit /etc/security/limits.conf
2. Enable the lines:
   * soft core 2000000
   root soft core 2000000
3. Reboot.
4. Use the command ulimit -c to verify that the maximum core dump size has been adjusted.

(Optional) For security reasons, Ubuntu separately enables core dumps for setuid applications:

1. gedit /etc/sysctl.conf
2. Add the line:
   fs.suid_dumpable = 1
3. sysctl -p

(Optional) To re-direct and rename core files use a core pattern:

1. gedit /etc/sysctl.conf
2. Add the lines:
   kernel.core_pattern = /var/crash/core.%e.%u.%t
   kernel.core_uses_pid = 1
3. sysctl -p

References:

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pam/+bug/65244
• Man page for limits.conf: http://linux.die.net/man/5/limits.conf
• Man page for suid_dumpable: http://man.he.net/man5/proc
• Man page for kernel.core_pattern: https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/online/pages/man5/core.5.html
• http://serverfault.com/questions/173981/no-coredumps-for-daemons-started-at-boot-by-init-d-on-ubuntu
• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Apport