Core dump
![Icon used to describe core files in Apache Web server[1]](/wiki/File:Bomb-large.png)
A core dump file is the saved image of a program's memory state from a Unix-style OS, usually made when it crashes, so that a developer can debug it. The name refers to the days when computers used magnetic core memory for their RAM.
File names are usually just core or start with a prefix of core., depending on system configuration.
In modern Linux environments, particularly those using systemd, core dumps are generally compressed by default. This feature was introduced in v215,[2] which was released on 2014-07-03.
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Format
Core files are often in a version or extension of the OS executable file format, such as ELF.[3]
Specifications
- FreeBSD man pages: core(5)
- Linux man pages: core(5)
- Mac OS X man pages: core(5)
- Oracle Solaris 11.2 man pages: core(4)
Software
Core files are usually generated by the OS itself, and can be read by debugging tools for the system they were created on.
In modern Linux environments, those with systemd in particular, core files can be centrally managed as a benefit.
- systemd →
coredumpctl
