mei: push pci cfg structure me hw
[deliverable/linux.git] / Documentation / sysrq.txt
CommitLineData
1da177e4 1Linux Magic System Request Key Hacks
d346cce3 2Documentation for sysrq.c
1da177e4
LT
3
4* What is the magic SysRq key?
5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6It is a 'magical' key combo you can hit which the kernel will respond to
7regardless of whatever else it is doing, unless it is completely locked up.
8
9* How do I enable the magic SysRq key?
10~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11You need to say "yes" to 'Magic SysRq key (CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ)' when
12configuring the kernel. When running a kernel with SysRq compiled in,
13/proc/sys/kernel/sysrq controls the functions allowed to be invoked via
8eaede49
BH
14the SysRq key. The default value in this file is set by the
15CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ_DEFAULT_ENABLE config symbol, which itself defaults
16to 1. Here is the list of possible values in /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq:
1da177e4
LT
17 0 - disable sysrq completely
18 1 - enable all functions of sysrq
19 >1 - bitmask of allowed sysrq functions (see below for detailed function
20 description):
e8b5cbb0
BH
21 2 = 0x2 - enable control of console logging level
22 4 = 0x4 - enable control of keyboard (SAK, unraw)
23 8 = 0x8 - enable debugging dumps of processes etc.
24 16 = 0x10 - enable sync command
25 32 = 0x20 - enable remount read-only
26 64 = 0x40 - enable signalling of processes (term, kill, oom-kill)
27 128 = 0x80 - allow reboot/poweroff
28 256 = 0x100 - allow nicing of all RT tasks
1da177e4
LT
29
30You can set the value in the file by the following command:
31 echo "number" >/proc/sys/kernel/sysrq
32
8eaede49
BH
33The number may be written here either as decimal or as hexadecimal
34with the 0x prefix. CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ_DEFAULT_ENABLE must always be
35written in hexadecimal.
e8b5cbb0 36
1da177e4
LT
37Note that the value of /proc/sys/kernel/sysrq influences only the invocation
38via a keyboard. Invocation of any operation via /proc/sysrq-trigger is always
d346cce3 39allowed (by a user with admin privileges).
1da177e4
LT
40
41* How do I use the magic SysRq key?
42~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
43On x86 - You press the key combo 'ALT-SysRq-<command key>'. Note - Some
44 keyboards may not have a key labeled 'SysRq'. The 'SysRq' key is
45 also known as the 'Print Screen' key. Also some keyboards cannot
46 handle so many keys being pressed at the same time, so you might
dfb0042d 47 have better luck with "press Alt", "press SysRq", "release SysRq",
1da177e4
LT
48 "press <command key>", release everything.
49
50On SPARC - You press 'ALT-STOP-<command key>', I believe.
51
52On the serial console (PC style standard serial ports only) -
53 You send a BREAK, then within 5 seconds a command key. Sending
54 BREAK twice is interpreted as a normal BREAK.
55
56On PowerPC - Press 'ALT - Print Screen (or F13) - <command key>,
57 Print Screen (or F13) - <command key> may suffice.
58
59On other - If you know of the key combos for other architectures, please
60 let me know so I can add them to this section.
61
d346cce3 62On all - write a character to /proc/sysrq-trigger. e.g.:
1da177e4
LT
63
64 echo t > /proc/sysrq-trigger
65
66* What are the 'command' keys?
67~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1da177e4
LT
68'b' - Will immediately reboot the system without syncing or unmounting
69 your disks.
70
cab8bd34
HS
71'c' - Will perform a system crash by a NULL pointer dereference.
72 A crashdump will be taken if configured.
86b1ae38 73
d346cce3
RD
74'd' - Shows all locks that are held.
75
78831ba6 76'e' - Send a SIGTERM to all processes, except for init.
1da177e4 77
78831ba6 78'f' - Will call oom_kill to kill a memory hog process.
1da177e4 79
003bb8ab 80'g' - Used by kgdb (kernel debugger)
1da177e4 81
78831ba6 82'h' - Will display help (actually any other key than those listed
09736bd3 83 here will display help. but 'h' is easy to remember :-)
1da177e4 84
78831ba6
RD
85'i' - Send a SIGKILL to all processes, except for init.
86
c2d75438
ES
87'j' - Forcibly "Just thaw it" - filesystems frozen by the FIFREEZE ioctl.
88
78831ba6
RD
89'k' - Secure Access Key (SAK) Kills all programs on the current virtual
90 console. NOTE: See important comments below in SAK section.
1da177e4 91
5045bcae
RR
92'l' - Shows a stack backtrace for all active CPUs.
93
1da177e4
LT
94'm' - Will dump current memory info to your console.
95
d346cce3
RD
96'n' - Used to make RT tasks nice-able
97
78831ba6
RD
98'o' - Will shut your system off (if configured and supported).
99
100'p' - Will dump the current registers and flags to your console.
101
99ebcf82
LT
102'q' - Will dump per CPU lists of all armed hrtimers (but NOT regular
103 timer_list timers) and detailed information about all
104 clockevent devices.
acf11fae 105
78831ba6
RD
106'r' - Turns off keyboard raw mode and sets it to XLATE.
107
108's' - Will attempt to sync all mounted filesystems.
109
110't' - Will dump a list of current tasks and their information to your
111 console.
112
113'u' - Will attempt to remount all mounted filesystems read-only.
114
003bb8ab
RD
115'v' - Forcefully restores framebuffer console
116'v' - Causes ETM buffer dump [ARM-specific]
1da177e4 117
d346cce3
RD
118'w' - Dumps tasks that are in uninterruptable (blocked) state.
119
120'x' - Used by xmon interface on ppc/powerpc platforms.
916ca14a 121 Show global PMU Registers on sparc64.
d346cce3 122
003bb8ab
RD
123'y' - Show global CPU Registers [SPARC-64 specific]
124
3871f2ff
RD
125'z' - Dump the ftrace buffer
126
1da177e4
LT
127'0'-'9' - Sets the console log level, controlling which kernel messages
128 will be printed to your console. ('0', for example would make
129 it so that only emergency messages like PANICs or OOPSes would
130 make it to your console.)
131
1da177e4
LT
132* Okay, so what can I use them for?
133~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
e2a8b0a7 134Well, unraw(r) is very handy when your X server or a svgalib program crashes.
1da177e4 135
e2a8b0a7 136sak(k) (Secure Access Key) is useful when you want to be sure there is no
d346cce3
RD
137trojan program running at console which could grab your password
138when you would try to login. It will kill all programs on given console,
139thus letting you make sure that the login prompt you see is actually
1da177e4 140the one from init, not some trojan program.
3eecd1dc
JJ
141IMPORTANT: In its true form it is not a true SAK like the one in a :IMPORTANT
142IMPORTANT: c2 compliant system, and it should not be mistaken as :IMPORTANT
143IMPORTANT: such. :IMPORTANT
d346cce3 144 It seems others find it useful as (System Attention Key) which is
1da177e4
LT
145useful when you want to exit a program that will not let you switch consoles.
146(For example, X or a svgalib program.)
147
e2a8b0a7
J
148reboot(b) is good when you're unable to shut down. But you should also
149sync(s) and umount(u) first.
1da177e4 150
e2a8b0a7 151crash(c) can be used to manually trigger a crashdump when the system is hung.
cab8bd34 152Note that this just triggers a crash if there is no dump mechanism available.
86b1ae38 153
e2a8b0a7 154sync(s) is great when your system is locked up, it allows you to sync your
1da177e4
LT
155disks and will certainly lessen the chance of data loss and fscking. Note
156that the sync hasn't taken place until you see the "OK" and "Done" appear
157on the screen. (If the kernel is really in strife, you may not ever get the
158OK or Done message...)
159
e2a8b0a7
J
160umount(u) is basically useful in the same ways as sync(s). I generally sync(s),
161umount(u), then reboot(b) when my system locks. It's saved me many a fsck.
1da177e4
LT
162Again, the unmount (remount read-only) hasn't taken place until you see the
163"OK" and "Done" message appear on the screen.
164
d346cce3
RD
165The loglevels '0'-'9' are useful when your console is being flooded with
166kernel messages you do not want to see. Selecting '0' will prevent all but
1da177e4
LT
167the most urgent kernel messages from reaching your console. (They will
168still be logged if syslogd/klogd are alive, though.)
169
e2a8b0a7 170term(e) and kill(i) are useful if you have some sort of runaway process you
1da177e4
LT
171are unable to kill any other way, especially if it's spawning other
172processes.
173
e2a8b0a7 174"just thaw it(j)" is useful if your system becomes unresponsive due to a frozen
c2d75438
ES
175(probably root) filesystem via the FIFREEZE ioctl.
176
1da177e4
LT
177* Sometimes SysRq seems to get 'stuck' after using it, what can I do?
178~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
179That happens to me, also. I've found that tapping shift, alt, and control
180on both sides of the keyboard, and hitting an invalid sysrq sequence again
d346cce3 181will fix the problem. (i.e., something like alt-sysrq-z). Switching to another
1da177e4
LT
182virtual console (ALT+Fn) and then back again should also help.
183
184* I hit SysRq, but nothing seems to happen, what's wrong?
185~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a2056ffd
PF
186There are some keyboards that produce a different keycode for SysRq than the
187pre-defined value of 99 (see KEY_SYSRQ in include/linux/input.h), or which
188don't have a SysRq key at all. In these cases, run 'showkey -s' to find an
189appropriate scancode sequence, and use 'setkeycodes <sequence> 99' to map
190this sequence to the usual SysRq code (e.g., 'setkeycodes e05b 99'). It's
191probably best to put this command in a boot script. Oh, and by the way, you
192exit 'showkey' by not typing anything for ten seconds.
1da177e4
LT
193
194* I want to add SysRQ key events to a module, how does it work?
195~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
196In order to register a basic function with the table, you must first include
197the header 'include/linux/sysrq.h', this will define everything else you need.
198Next, you must create a sysrq_key_op struct, and populate it with A) the key
199handler function you will use, B) a help_msg string, that will print when SysRQ
200prints help, and C) an action_msg string, that will print right before your
338cec32 201handler is called. Your handler must conform to the prototype in 'sysrq.h'.
1da177e4 202
d346cce3
RD
203After the sysrq_key_op is created, you can call the kernel function
204register_sysrq_key(int key, struct sysrq_key_op *op_p); this will
205register the operation pointed to by 'op_p' at table key 'key',
206if that slot in the table is blank. At module unload time, you must call
207the function unregister_sysrq_key(int key, struct sysrq_key_op *op_p), which
1da177e4
LT
208will remove the key op pointed to by 'op_p' from the key 'key', if and only if
209it is currently registered in that slot. This is in case the slot has been
210overwritten since you registered it.
211
212The Magic SysRQ system works by registering key operations against a key op
213lookup table, which is defined in 'drivers/char/sysrq.c'. This key table has
214a number of operations registered into it at compile time, but is mutable,
d346cce3
RD
215and 2 functions are exported for interface to it:
216 register_sysrq_key and unregister_sysrq_key.
217Of course, never ever leave an invalid pointer in the table. I.e., when
218your module that called register_sysrq_key() exits, it must call
219unregister_sysrq_key() to clean up the sysrq key table entry that it used.
220Null pointers in the table are always safe. :)
1da177e4
LT
221
222If for some reason you feel the need to call the handle_sysrq function from
223within a function called by handle_sysrq, you must be aware that you are in
224a lock (you are also in an interrupt handler, which means don't sleep!), so
225you must call __handle_sysrq_nolock instead.
226
47c33d9c
AW
227* When I hit a SysRq key combination only the header appears on the console?
228~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
229Sysrq output is subject to the same console loglevel control as all
230other console output. This means that if the kernel was booted 'quiet'
231as is common on distro kernels the output may not appear on the actual
232console, even though it will appear in the dmesg buffer, and be accessible
233via the dmesg command and to the consumers of /proc/kmsg. As a specific
234exception the header line from the sysrq command is passed to all console
235consumers as if the current loglevel was maximum. If only the header
236is emitted it is almost certain that the kernel loglevel is too low.
237Should you require the output on the console channel then you will need
238to temporarily up the console loglevel using alt-sysrq-8 or:
239
240 echo 8 > /proc/sysrq-trigger
241
242Remember to return the loglevel to normal after triggering the sysrq
243command you are interested in.
244
1da177e4
LT
245* I have more questions, who can I ask?
246~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21106b01
RD
247Just ask them on the linux-kernel mailing list:
248 linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
1da177e4
LT
249
250* Credits
251~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5e03e2c4 252Written by Mydraal <vulpyne@vulpyne.net>
1da177e4
LT
253Updated by Adam Sulmicki <adam@cfar.umd.edu>
254Updated by Jeremy M. Dolan <jmd@turbogeek.org> 2001/01/28 10:15:59
255Added to by Crutcher Dunnavant <crutcher+kernel@datastacks.com>
This page took 0.695534 seconds and 5 git commands to generate.