Topic: sme 7.1 server crashing

[smeusr]

Hi,

My SME 7.1 server crashed twice last week.  I built a new server on a new box with sme 7.1 and loaded all my data.  Put the new box into production.  Today, the new box crashed.  Is sme 7.1 unstable?  I do get messages to install new updates.  I tried to apply the updates but it wouldn't take.  Do I have to upgrade to 7.2 to stablize it?  Has anyone experienced this problem?

Thanks.

[CharlieBrady]

Do I have to upgrade to 7.2 to stablize it?

The release notes for 7.2 say "This release contains many new features, all released updates for
SME Server 7.1 and fixes for many reported problems. ... All users should upgrade to this release".

[smeusr]

Thanks.  Can I simply use the update option on the sme7.2 disk?

[byte]

Thanks.  Can I simply use the update option on the sme7.2 disk?

After making sure you have taken all precautions i.e backup you can simply use the "upgrade disk" option from the 7.2 CD

[smeusr]

Thank you.

[MSmith]

Nothing in this thread so far addresses the underlying issue ... why are your servers crashing?  Do you have defective hard drives, bad RAM, inconsistent electricity (you do use UPSes, right?), what?  I've built several 7.1 servers out of older hardware & new hard drives with no crashes; SME is certainly not noted for being prone to crashing!  I deal with Windows every day and bluescreens are just a fact of life from time to time, but if you're having lots of problems with SME you either have bad hardware or you're piling on the third-party software or some such.

[smeusr]

Thanks for your note.  I agree with your assessment.  I've running SME servers for a couple of years now and it has never crashed.  I was surprised to see it crash two days in a row and then after I rebuilt a server, it also crashed.  I'm monitoring it now.  I've noticed a drop in free memory from 275megs to 175megs in a little over 2.5 hours.  The CPU consumption is 0.3%.  It's hardly running.  It looks like a memory leak somewhere. 

Any thoughts?

[MSmith]

This "free memory" issue has come up many times over the years.  SME will use just about every bit of available memory as cache if the RAM is not being used somewhere else, and will of course free up the RAM if it's needed.  In short, it's behaving as designed. 

Don't expect to find any "memory leaks" in a stock SME install.  SME been under heavy development for years, as has the CentOS codebase on which it is based.  If you think you have found a bug, report it via the bug tracker.

[smeusr]

This "free memory" issue has come up many times over the years.  SME will use just about every bit of available memory as cache if the RAM is not being used somewhere else, and will of course free up the RAM if it's needed.  In short, it's behaving as designed. 

Don't expect to find any "memory leaks" in a stock SME install.  SME been under heavy development for years, as has the CentOS codebase on which it is based.  If you think you have found a bug, report it via the bug tracker.

Thanks for your assurance.  I wasn't looking for bugs, just a cure for my crashing server.  My next step is to upgrade to 7.2 and see how that behaves.

Cheers.

[CharlieBrady]

I wasn't looking for bugs, just a cure for my crashing server.

Crashing server has only two possible causes - bugs or broken hardware. You should check for both - update to latest software version, and check all fans, cables, card and RAM seating, etc.

[gbentley]

Soak test your RAM as well as following Charlies tips ...

http://www.memtest.org/

[CharlieBrady]

Soak test your RAM as well as following Charlies tips ...

http://www.memtest.org/

No need to go that URL - the SME server CDROM contains a memory test feature. Just hold shift key during bootup, and then type 'memtest', then <enter>.

[gbentley]

LOL - SME does it all