[comp.unix.wizards] Why does my /etc/syslog rack up CPU time?

dbrooks@osf.osf.org (David Brooks) (11/10/89)

In article <110@cupcake.sal.wisc.edu> jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Jeffrey W Percival) writes:
>We have a MicroVax running Ultrix, and the /etc/syslog process seems to
>be locked in some kind of deadly embrace...  it is building up CPU time
>as if it is CPU bound.  ps(1) shows accumulated times like 675.23, and
>shows the time to be increasing at nearly real time.

I had exactly the same thing happen on a pmax.  I fixed it, but I
forget exactly how now...damn.

But I remember creating a directory, and I think it was
/usr/spool/mqueue (which is referenced in /etc/syslog.conf).  Try
that.  You might even touch the file syslog.
-- 
David Brooks			dbrooks@osf.org
Open Software Foundation	uunet!osf.org!dbrooks
11 Cambridge Center		Personal views, not necessarily those
Cambridge, MA 02142, USA	of OSF, its sponsors or members.

mikulska@odin.ucsd.edu (Margaret Mikulska) (11/16/89)

In article <3531@chorus.fr> rd@chorus.fr (Roland Dirlewanger) writes:
>
>In article <110@cupcake.sal.wisc.edu>, jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Jeffrey W Percival) writes:
>
>> We have a MicroVax running Ultrix, and the /etc/syslog process seems to
>> be locked in some kind of deadly embrace...  it is building up CPU time
>> as if it is CPU bound.  ps(1) shows accumulated times like 675.23, and
>> shows the time to be increasing at nearly real time.
>
>I've already seen this on SunOs a 4.0 system.
>
>The very same problem appears if the syslog server for a host is itself.
...
>Check your /etc/syslog.conf for lines such as  :
>
>	something.level			@loghost
>	foo.bar				@localhost

Under SunOS 4.0, this is a bug: LOGHOST is not correctly defined by 
syslogd on loghost machines. The workaround consists indeed of 
correcting /etc/syslog.conf on loghost machines: you should add the 
following line:

define(LOGHOST, 1)

as the _first_ line of this file. It works, I know from my own 
experience on some Sun-4's that really did almost nothing but ran
syslogd.


Margaret Mikulska

Univ. of Calif., San Diego
Inst. for Nonlinear Science

mem@inls1.ucsd.edu
ucsd!inls1!mem