***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
On Thu, 2005-06-02 at 22:11 +0530, Prasad Pillarisetti wrote:
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
Personally I find that workstations need more downtime than servers, but that "downtime" usually consists of logging out and back in again.
Anyways, servers running Linux can easily have an uptime measured in years. Only hardware issues tend to bring them down.
Am Do, den 02.06.2005 schrieb Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams um 18:53:
Anyways, servers running Linux can easily have an uptime measured in years. Only hardware issues tend to bring them down.
... and kernel updates for security reasons. As well a glibc update may be a good reason to reboot.
Alexander
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 06:57:35PM +0200, Alexander Dalloz wrote:
Am Do, den 02.06.2005 schrieb Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams um 18:53:
Anyways, servers running Linux can easily have an uptime measured in years. Only hardware issues tend to bring them down.
... and kernel updates for security reasons. As well a glibc update may be a good reason to reboot.
Actually, if you use lsof(8) to see what is using libc, you can just restart those processes without much fuss.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
On Thursday 02 June 2005 13:00, Rodrigo Barbosa wrote:
Actually, if you use lsof(8) to see what is using libc, you can just restart those processes without much fuss.
Sure, theoretically it would be possible, but how would you restart this one?
[nomis80@poste10-153 ~]$ sudo lsof | grep libc | grep init init 1 root mem REG 253,0 1521500 999437 /lib/tls/libc-2.3.5.so
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 01:41:18PM -0400, Simon Perreault wrote:
On Thursday 02 June 2005 13:00, Rodrigo Barbosa wrote:
Actually, if you use lsof(8) to see what is using libc, you can just restart those processes without much fuss.
Sure, theoretically it would be possible, but how would you restart this one?
[nomis80@poste10-153 ~]$ sudo lsof | grep libc | grep init init 1 root mem REG 253,0 1521500 999437 /lib/tls/libc-2.3.5.so
# telinit u
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
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Rodrigo Barbosa wrote: | On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 01:41:18PM -0400, Simon Perreault wrote:
<Snipped>
|>>Sure, theoretically it would be possible, but how would you restart this one? |>> |>>[nomis80@poste10-153 ~]$ sudo lsof | grep libc | grep init |>>init 1 root mem REG 253,0 1521500 999437 /lib/tls/libc-2.3.5.so | | # telinit u | | []s
Oh that's a neato keen little thing. I never knew that! Now all of a sudden I feel so inadequate! lol
- -- Alex White prata@kuei-jin.org Fingerprint = 58DC 9199 CE73 74E8 B2C1 442E ACF5 92E0 E068 C46C gpg key location: http://www.kuei-jin.org/GPG-KEY-PRATA ~From the withered tree, a flower blooms --Zen Proverb
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 05:34:45PM -0500, Alex White wrote:
Rodrigo Barbosa wrote: | On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 01:41:18PM -0400, Simon Perreault wrote: |>>Sure, theoretically it would be possible, but how would you restart this one? |>> |>>[nomis80@poste10-153 ~]$ sudo lsof | grep libc | grep init |>>init 1 root mem REG 253,0 1521500 999437 /lib/tls/libc-2.3.5.so | | # telinit u | | []s
Oh that's a neato keen little thing. I never knew that! Now all of a sudden I feel so inadequate! lol
My exact reaction when I learned about it :)
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 10:11:30PM +0530, Prasad Pillarisetti wrote:
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
Yes. I perform regular reboots on my Linux systems, with scheduled downtimes, each year.
All kidding aside, the main reason for it is to use a compressed air machine on all computers, to keep their interior clean.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
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Prasad Pillarisetti wrote: | ***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? | ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
Prasad,
You shouldn't need to reboot your linux box under normal circumstances. I personally only reboot my linux server when every other option to fix an issue has failed, or I am booting to a new kernel.
11:56:03 up 47 days, 3:12, 1 user, load average: 0.13, 0.04, 0.01
The above is my centos server's uptime. Unfortunately, there was an electrical outage at my home, and the server went down. =-(
- -- Alex White prata@kuei-jin.org Fingerprint = 58DC 9199 CE73 74E8 B2C1 442E ACF5 92E0 E068 C46C gpg key location: http://www.kuei-jin.org/GPG-KEY-PRATA ~From the withered tree, a flower blooms --Zen Proverb
Prasad Pillarisetti wrote:
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
In my experience, a Linux system must be rebooted in the following circumstances: 1. The kernel (especially one with a security patch) is upgraded 2. glibc is upgraded and the individual instances of old versions in RAM are impacting performance (mostly from kernel processes that cannot be restarted unless one does a reboot) 3. Non-hot swappable hardware failure 4. A kernel module (usually a proprietary hardware driver) is malfunctioning in some way
I'm sure I can come up with more circumstances, but the jist is: 1. If the hardware is fine, you will not *need* to reboot. 2. If the kernel is updated, you must reboot to use the new kernel. 3. If glibc is updated, you must reboot to have many processes use the new glibc.
Hope this helps,
--Shawn
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 01:08:05PM -0400, Shawn M. Jones wrote:
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
In my experience, a Linux system must be rebooted in the following circumstances:
- The kernel (especially one with a security patch) is upgraded
- glibc is upgraded and the individual instances of old versions in RAM
are impacting performance (mostly from kernel processes that cannot be restarted unless one does a reboot)
Hum ? Kernel processes using glibc ? I'm sorry, but I think you are mistaken on this one.
- If glibc is updated, you must reboot to have many processes use the
new glibc.
This can be acomplished without the need of a reboot.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
Rodrigo Barbosa wrote:
<SNIP> 2. glibc is upgraded and the individual instances of old versions in RAM are impacting performance (mostly from kernel processes that cannot be restarted unless one does a reboot)
Hum ? Kernel processes using glibc ? I'm sorry, but I think you are mistaken on this one.
- If glibc is updated, you must reboot to have many processes use the
new glibc.
This can be acomplished without the need of a reboot.</SNIP>
Yeah, now that I reread it, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that. I do know that we had a machine that had been up for YEARS with processes each running various versions of glibc, but looking back, I think the reboot was done because it was easier that identifying each process and restarting them in order.
--Shawn
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 01:15:28PM -0400, Shawn M. Jones wrote:
- If glibc is updated, you must reboot to have many processes use the
new glibc.
This can be acomplished without the need of a reboot.</SNIP>
Yeah, now that I reread it, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that. I do know that we had a machine that had been up for YEARS with processes each running various versions of glibc, but looking back, I think the reboot was done because it was easier that identifying each process and restarting them in order.
That, my friend, is very much true.
Depending on the kind of server you are running (mumber of different processes), a reboot will be much easier. Did that myself a few times.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
greetings,
pardon my ignorance, yet...
hasn't someone come up with a way to "cycle in" or "soft reboot" a multiprocessor linux machine without losing *uptime*... um the same way you would in a mission critical telco environment or whatever? :)
- rh
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 11:27:58AM -0700, Robert Hanson wrote:
greetings,
pardon my ignorance, yet...
hasn't someone come up with a way to "cycle in" or "soft reboot" a multiprocessor linux machine without losing *uptime*... um the same way you would in a mission critical telco environment or whatever? :)
I have heard of some efforts on this regard a couple years ago. As far as I know, it all came to nothing.
The main point is that a PC hardware is not as reliable as a telco hardware. Add to that the fact that Linux has few reasons for a reboot except for hardware failures, and that becomes a not very interesting project.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
Personal preference here, besides all the things mentioned on other posts.
The "POST" routine can give you early warnings of pending hardware failures that might go un-noticed until complete failure otherwise.
Scheduled maintence reboots if for no other reason should be done.
my 2¢
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On Thu, Jun 02, 2005 at 11:01:44AM -0700, Ken Godee wrote:
***Do you perform downtimes just for the purpose of rebooting the systems? ***Is there a recommended interval Linux system should be rebooted?
Personal preference here, besides all the things mentioned on other posts.
The "POST" routine can give you early warnings of pending hardware failures that might go un-noticed until complete failure otherwise.
Scheduled maintence reboots if for no other reason should be done.
True, but don't trust the POST routine. There is much more reliable software around for that, like memtest86.
But yes, that is a very important point. Even tho Linux (software) will just keep going, that is not always true for the hardware.
[]s
- -- Rodrigo Barbosa rodrigob@suespammers.org "Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur" "Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)
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Alex White -
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