Subject: Re: rfc: an alternate user-tickle mode for wdogctl(8)
To: None <tech-userlevel@netbsd.org>
From: Daniel Carosone <dan@geek.com.au>
List: tech-userlevel
Date: 08/07/2006 10:30:12
--213E7WwkW+nU62+Y
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline

On Sun, Aug 06, 2006 at 02:18:11PM -0500, David Young wrote:
> I have added a flag to wdogctl(8), -x, that activates a user-mode timer
> that is NOT disarmed when wdogctl closes the watchdog device.  See the
> attached patch.  The -x mode protects against the case where the kernel
> kills wdogctl, sshd, and other essential userland programs are killed
> due to, say, memory exhaustion, lobotomizing a mission-critical NetBSD
> system and necessitating an operator visit to reboot it.  If there are
> no objections, I will commit this on Wednesday.

No objection, but a suggestion: is there a way to tickle such a timer
with a later re-invocation of wdogctl?  You could then use it to test
that (say) cron and process forking and other such things were still
working, too.

(after reading the manpage again)

Ahah, these are called 'external' timers.  So, perhaps have this new
flag make the 'user mode' timer become an 'external mode' timer on
exit of wdogctl, rather than have it be cancelled?

--
Dan.

--213E7WwkW+nU62+Y
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature
Content-Disposition: inline

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.4 (NetBSD)

iD8DBQFE1omUEAVxvV4N66cRAmoTAJ4vDX9EOFMTrap4DcAkhoznFmqzMQCg8LIw
G+8AB6hQOKtGqhB44Akjd+M=
=IY+H
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--213E7WwkW+nU62+Y--