How to restore core dumps on Fedora 13

Step-by-step restoration of core on Fedora 13

1. Get rid of that annoying abrtd:

   sudo service abrtd stop
   

2. Just go away abrtd and don't trouble me any more:

   sudo chkconfig --del abrtd
   

3. Edit /etc/sysctrl.conf and change

   kernel.core_pattern = |/usr/libexec/abrt-hook-ccpp /var/spool/abrt %p %s %u %c
   

   to

   kernel.core_pattern = core
   

4. Edit /etc/security/limits.conf and add the line

   *  soft  core  unlimited
   

   (Yeah, "soft core". Actually "hard core" is legal too.)
5. Finally, edit /etc/init.d/functions if necessary:

   	# make sure it doesn't core dump anywhere unless requested
   	corelimit="ulimit -S -c ${DAEMON_COREFILE_LIMIT:-0}"
   

   That step appears to be unnecessary.

6. Now create a program that drops core. (I assume that the reader already knows how.)

After steps above

[alison@bonnet ~]$ ulimit -c unlimited
[alison@bonnet kernel_char]$ ./bit_palindrome
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Finally! A file called core.$PID will be dropped in $CWD. Now the user can "gdb $EXECUTABLE $CORE" to heart's content.