/proc/sys/kernel/panic and panic_on_oops



The panic file lets the user control
what happens when the kernel enters a panic state. If the value of either file is
0, the kernel will loop and therefore the machine will remain in the panic state
until manually rebooted. A non-zero value represents the number of seconds
the kernel should remain in panic mode before rebooting. Having the kernel
automatically reboot the system in the event of a panic could be a very useful
feature if high availability is a primary concern.

The panic_on_oops file is new in the 2.6.0 mainline kernel and when set
to 1, it informs the kernel to pause for a few seconds before panicking when
encountering a BUG or an Oops. This gives the klogd an opportunity to write
the Oops or BUG Report to the disk so that it can be easily examined when the
system is returned to a normal state.