I managed to drive a machine into a state of constant oom killing. Looking over the logs, it started killing a bunch of processes that look 'wrong' to me.. Here's the first example. From here it just gets worse, taking out sshd & NetworkManager, and other useful things rather than the memory hogs. Dave [21622.923039] modprobe invoked oom-killer: gfp_mask=0x200da, order=0, oom_adj=0, oom_score_adj=0 [21622.924540] modprobe cpuset=/ mems_allowed=0 [21622.925989] Pid: 10940, comm: modprobe Not tainted 3.5.0-rc1+ #51 [21622.927447] Call Trace: [21622.928984] [<ffffffff816426b7>] dump_header+0x81/0x2d8 [21622.930427] [<ffffffff810b7cd5>] ? trace_hardirqs_on_caller+0x115/0x1a0 [21622.931860] [<ffffffff8164d742>] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x42/0x80 [21622.933238] [<ffffffff8131ee0e>] ? ___ratelimit+0x9e/0x130 [21622.934705] [<ffffffff81144402>] oom_kill_process+0x282/0x2b0 [21622.936165] [<ffffffff81144919>] out_of_memory+0x249/0x410 [21622.937688] [<ffffffff8114a85d>] __alloc_pages_nodemask+0xa6d/0xab0 [21622.939215] [<ffffffff81189cb6>] alloc_pages_vma+0xb6/0x190 [21622.940720] [<ffffffff81168940>] __do_fault+0x2f0/0x530 [21622.942235] [<ffffffff81086f81>] ? get_parent_ip+0x11/0x50 [21622.943802] [<ffffffff81086f81>] ? get_parent_ip+0x11/0x50 [21622.945313] [<ffffffff8116b253>] handle_pte_fault+0x93/0x9d0 [21622.946819] [<ffffffff810b2450>] ? lock_release_holdtime.part.24+0x90/0x140 [21622.948527] [<ffffffff8116c39f>] handle_mm_fault+0x21f/0x2e0 [21622.950080] [<ffffffff81650a8b>] do_page_fault+0x13b/0x4b0 [21622.951620] [<ffffffff81079c03>] ? up_write+0x23/0x40 [21622.953089] [<ffffffff8164de03>] ? error_sti+0x5/0x6 [21622.954648] [<ffffffff813264fd>] ? trace_hardirqs_off_thunk+0x3a/0x3c [21622.956244] [<ffffffff8164dc0f>] page_fault+0x1f/0x30 [21622.957866] Mem-Info: [21622.959468] Node 0 DMA per-cpu: [21622.961067] CPU 0: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.962682] CPU 1: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.964277] CPU 2: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.965877] CPU 3: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.967463] CPU 4: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.969056] CPU 5: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.970673] CPU 6: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.972272] CPU 7: hi: 0, btch: 1 usd: 0 [21622.973840] Node 0 DMA32 per-cpu: [21622.975414] CPU 0: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 46 [21622.977075] CPU 1: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.978557] CPU 2: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 90 [21622.980103] CPU 3: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 102 [21622.981609] CPU 4: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.983067] CPU 5: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 70 [21622.984445] CPU 6: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 63 [21622.985854] CPU 7: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.987208] Node 0 Normal per-cpu: [21622.988498] CPU 0: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.989772] CPU 1: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.990972] CPU 2: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.992201] CPU 3: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.993348] CPU 4: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.994475] CPU 5: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.995528] CPU 6: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.996551] CPU 7: hi: 186, btch: 31 usd: 0 [21622.997520] active_anon:38553 inactive_anon:39448 isolated_anon:224 [21622.997520] active_file:84 inactive_file:233 isolated_file:0 [21622.997520] unevictable:85 dirty:0 writeback:37692 unstable:0 [21622.997520] free:19526 slab_reclaimable:23656 slab_unreclaimable:553126 [21622.997520] mapped:50 shmem:1391 pagetables:2892 bounce:0 [21623.001856] Node 0 DMA free:15768kB min:264kB low:328kB high:396kB active_anon:20kB inactive_anon:100kB active_file:0kB inactive_file:0kB unevictable:0kB isolated(anon):0kB isolated(file):0kB present:15632kB mlocked:0kB dirty:0kB writeback:100kB mapped:0kB shmem:0kB slab_reclaimable:0kB slab_unreclaimable:0kB kernel_stack:0kB pagetables:0kB unstable:0kB bounce:0kB writeback_tmp:0kB pages_scanned:2 all_unreclaimable? no [21623.004699] lowmem_reserve[]: 0 2643 3878 3878 [21623.005684] Node 0 DMA32 free:51344kB min:45888kB low:57360kB high:68832kB active_anon:153016kB inactive_anon:152172kB active_file:268kB inactive_file:916kB unevictable:340kB isolated(anon):896kB isolated(file):0kB present:2707204kB mlocked:340kB dirty:0kB writeback:149916kB mapped:200kB shmem:44kB slab_reclaimable:3696kB slab_unreclaimable:1524768kB kernel_stack:725000kB pagetables:6976kB unstable:0kB bounce:0kB writeback_tmp:0kB pages_scanned:0 all_unreclaimable? no [21623.008972] lowmem_reserve[]: 0 0 1234 1234 [21623.010090] Node 0 Normal free:10992kB min:21424kB low:26780kB high:32136kB active_anon:1176kB inactive_anon:5520kB active_file:68kB inactive_file:16kB unevictable:0kB isolated(anon):0kB isolated(file):0kB present:1264032kB mlocked:0kB dirty:0kB writeback:0kB mapped:0kB shmem:5520kB slab_reclaimable:90928kB slab_unreclaimable:687736kB kernel_stack:306280kB pagetables:4592kB unstable:0kB bounce:0kB writeback_tmp:0kB pages_scanned:154144 all_unreclaimable? yes [21623.013696] lowmem_reserve[]: 0 0 0 0 [21623.014957] Node 0 DMA: 3*4kB 0*8kB 1*16kB 0*32kB 4*64kB 1*128kB 2*256kB 1*512kB 2*1024kB 2*2048kB 2*4096kB = 15772kB [21623.016244] Node 0 DMA32: 740*4kB 306*8kB 113*16kB 101*32kB 219*64kB 104*128kB 39*256kB 4*512kB 1*1024kB 0*2048kB 0*4096kB = 50832kB [21623.017559] Node 0 Normal: 1356*4kB 382*8kB 5*16kB 0*32kB 2*64kB 0*128kB 1*256kB 0*512kB 0*1024kB 1*2048kB 0*4096kB = 10992kB [21623.018880] 41885 total pagecache pages [21623.020193] 39819 pages in swap cache [21623.021507] Swap cache stats: add 51603753, delete 51563934, find 307374090/308668676 [21623.022846] Free swap = 5162300kB [21623.024181] Total swap = 6029308kB [21623.035243] 1041904 pages RAM [21623.036660] 70330 pages reserved [21623.038082] 9037 pages shared [21623.039509] 814628 pages non-shared [21623.040899] [ pid ] uid tgid total_vm rss cpu oom_adj oom_score_adj name [21623.042271] [ 335] 0 335 7906 1 2 0 0 systemd-journal [21623.043645] [ 341] 0 341 6590 1 0 -17 -1000 udevd [21623.045019] [ 466] 0 466 86847 2 6 0 0 NetworkManager [21623.046421] [ 470] 0 470 4866 3 0 0 0 smartd [21623.047891] [ 476] 0 476 29599 10 2 0 0 crond [21623.049313] [ 487] 0 487 7068 1 7 0 0 systemd-logind [21623.050768] [ 488] 38 488 8301 10 6 0 0 ntpd [21623.052189] [ 501] 81 501 5435 1 7 -13 -900 dbus-daemon [21623.053606] [ 504] 0 504 47106 1 2 -13 -900 polkitd [21623.054998] [ 507] 0 507 27239 1 7 0 0 agetty [21623.056575] [ 509] 0 509 17260 1 3 -13 -900 modem-manager [21623.058055] [ 520] 0 520 4790 2 4 0 0 rpcbind [21623.059532] [ 530] 0 530 19403 1 5 -17 -1000 sshd [21623.060988] [ 554] 0 554 60782 1 0 0 0 rsyslogd [21623.062421] [ 562] 29 562 5883 1 4 0 0 rpc.statd [21623.063957] [ 570] 0 570 6361 1 1 0 0 rpc.idmapd [21623.065440] [ 571] 0 571 5993 1 3 0 0 rpc.mountd [21623.066911] [ 588] 0 588 22206 1 2 0 0 dhclient [21623.068409] [ 613] 0 613 21273 26 7 0 0 sendmail [21623.069905] [ 633] 51 633 20167 10 1 0 0 sendmail [21623.071427] [ 736] 1000 736 6212 139 7 0 0 tmux [21623.072933] [ 737] 1000 737 29011 1 4 0 0 bash [21623.074461] [ 811] 1000 811 28022 2 3 0 0 test-random.sh [21623.075977] [ 818] 1000 818 4295 7 3 0 0 trinity [21623.077512] [ 820] 1000 820 4311 16 5 0 0 trinity [21623.079038] [ 821] 1000 821 4309 11 6 0 0 trinity [21623.080572] [ 822] 1000 822 4317 9 1 0 0 trinity [21623.082114] [ 823] 1000 823 4301 9 5 0 0 trinity [21623.083689] [ 825] 1000 825 4229 8 4 0 0 trinity [21623.085225] [ 826] 1000 826 4335 14 4 0 0 trinity [21623.086784] [ 827] 1000 827 4403 13 6 0 0 trinity [21623.088311] [ 828] 1000 828 4343 10 5 0 0 trinity [21623.089849] [ 829] 1000 829 4287 16 6 0 0 trinity [21623.091393] [ 830] 1000 830 4319 9 3 0 0 trinity [21623.092927] [ 831] 1000 831 4321 7 5 0 0 trinity [21623.094467] [ 832] 1000 832 4327 15 2 0 0 trinity [21623.096003] [ 833] 1000 833 4389 14 4 0 0 trinity [21623.097496] [ 889] 0 889 6589 1 1 -17 -1000 udevd [21623.098983] [ 899] 0 899 6589 1 4 -17 -1000 udevd [21623.100424] [23414] 1000 23414 4309 14 2 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.101840] [23752] 1000 23752 4319 9 4 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.103213] [23753] 1000 23753 4343 17 4 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.104583] [23978] 1000 23978 4327 18 0 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.105902] [24392] 1000 24392 4229 10 3 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.107162] [24408] 1000 24408 4389 20 3 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.108408] [24593] 1000 24593 4403 13 3 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.109607] [24656] 1000 24656 4321 10 5 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.110744] [24686] 1000 24686 4335 16 1 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.111838] [25172] 1000 25172 4287 18 4 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.112893] [25229] 1000 25229 4317 17 2 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.113837] [25338] 1000 25338 4301 14 2 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.114758] [27690] 1000 27690 4311 24 6 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.115728] [29047] 1000 29047 4295 12 7 0 0 trinity-watchdo [21623.116597] [ 7092] 1000 7092 1051124 31660 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.117430] [ 8230] 1000 8230 5070 50 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.118269] [ 8510] 1000 8510 8696 119 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.119088] [ 8572] 1000 8572 4758 30 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.119887] [ 9084] 1000 9084 4998 36 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.120687] [ 9138] 1000 9138 4343 48 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.121479] [ 9518] 1000 9518 4317 45 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.122280] [ 9563] 1000 9563 4857 216 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.123077] [ 9626] 1000 9626 4317 40 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.123875] [ 9700] 1000 9700 4317 27 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.124658] [ 9967] 1000 9967 4747 40 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.125422] [10011] 1000 10011 4317 36 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.126182] [10064] 1000 10064 4311 80 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.126928] [10072] 1000 10072 4623 346 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.127668] [10077] 1000 10077 4403 231 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.128402] [10079] 1000 10079 4834 241 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.129137] [10084] 1000 10084 4733 510 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.129869] [10085] 1000 10085 4403 20 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.130594] [10086] 1000 10086 4858 27 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.131310] [10099] 1000 10099 4321 27 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.132022] [10100] 1000 10100 4387 26 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.132733] [10102] 1000 10102 5520 27 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.133432] [10117] 1000 10117 532719 293 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.134136] [10143] 1000 10143 4319 25 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.134834] [10144] 1000 10144 4287 121 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.135531] [10178] 1000 10178 4295 25 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.136228] [10224] 1000 10224 4319 24 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.136926] [10235] 1000 10235 4319 24 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.137617] [10243] 1000 10243 4499 25 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.138298] [10250] 1000 10250 4229 27 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.138981] [10251] 1000 10251 4389 109 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.139658] [10254] 1000 10254 4319 27 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.140336] [10369] 1000 10369 5010 45 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.141007] [10389] 1000 10389 4371 76 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.141679] [10458] 1000 10458 1052885 46 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.142343] [10460] 1000 10460 5431 39 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.143016] [10461] 1000 10461 4804 38 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.143689] [10462] 1000 10462 4309 30 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.144358] [10475] 1000 10475 4229 23 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.145033] [10476] 1000 10476 4499 284 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.145711] [10478] 1000 10478 4301 111 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.146382] [10482] 1000 10482 4337 86 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.147064] [10485] 1000 10485 4862 116 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.147743] [10499] 1000 10499 4424 82 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.148423] [10526] 1000 10526 5136 36 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.149111] [10538] 1000 10538 4403 137 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.149796] [10553] 1000 10553 4951 355 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.150483] [10554] 1000 10554 4472 25 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.151155] [10555] 1000 10555 4321 40 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.151840] [10650] 1000 10650 5152 208 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.152515] [10685] 1000 10685 4429 366 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.153180] [10693] 1000 10693 4301 68 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.153855] [10694] 1000 10694 4522 64 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.154532] [10712] 1000 10712 4723 656 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.155202] [10713] 1000 10713 4335 219 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.155877] [10714] 1000 10714 4335 251 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.156555] [10715] 1000 10715 4813 682 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.157226] [10761] 1000 10761 4335 234 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.157904] [10777] 1000 10777 4336 279 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.158580] [10788] 1000 10788 4311 48 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.159250] [10789] 1000 10789 4575 466 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.159927] [10790] 1000 10790 4311 60 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.160607] [10791] 1000 10791 4344 276 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.161279] [10792] 1000 10792 4617 574 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.161950] [10793] 1000 10793 4311 55 5 0 0 trinity-child5 [21623.162618] [10794] 1000 10794 4311 52 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.163277] [10795] 1000 10795 5094 974 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.163939] [10802] 1000 10802 4335 82 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.164605] [10813] 1000 10813 4327 113 1 0 0 trinity-child1 [21623.165271] [10846] 1000 10846 4521 273 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.165938] [10856] 1000 10856 4422 217 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.166605] [10880] 1000 10880 4287 71 2 0 0 trinity-child2 [21623.167266] [10884] 1000 10884 4287 53 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.167936] [10894] 1000 10894 4308 53 0 0 0 trinity-child0 [21623.168604] [10897] 1000 10897 4287 77 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.169257] [10905] 1000 10905 4309 52 4 0 0 trinity-child4 [21623.169920] [10907] 1000 10907 4403 300 6 0 0 trinity-child6 [21623.170581] [10924] 1000 10924 4287 69 7 0 0 trinity-child7 [21623.171242] [10931] 1000 10931 4389 143 3 0 0 trinity-child3 [21623.171910] [10938] 0 10938 3182 53 7 0 0 modprobe [21623.172576] [10940] 0 10940 3726 24 1 0 0 modprobe [21623.173239] [10942] 0 10942 3182 52 4 0 0 modprobe [21623.173907] [10944] 0 10944 3726 43 3 0 0 modprobe [21623.174577] [10945] 0 10945 3726 34 4 0 0 modprobe [21623.175237] [10946] 1000 10946 4287 19 2 0 0 trinity [21623.175906] Out of memory: Kill process 588 (dhclient) score 1732579 or sacrifice child [21623.176588] Killed process 588 (dhclient) total-vm:88824kB, anon-rss:0kB, file-rss:4kB wtf ? we picked this.. [21623.066911] [ 588] 0 588 22206 1 2 0 0 dhclient over say.. [21623.116597] [ 7092] 1000 7092 1051124 31660 3 0 0 trinity-child3 What went wrong here ? And why does that score look so.. weird. If the death spiral of endless oom killing sounds interesting, I have about 300MB of logfile so far which I can upload somewhere. Dave -- To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in the body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxx. For more info on Linux MM, see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ . Fight unfair telecom internet charges in Canada: sign http://stopthemeter.ca/ Don't email: <a href=mailto:"dont@xxxxxxxxx"> email@xxxxxxxxx </a>