Core Dumps
********** CORE DUMP SIZE LIMIT **********
When a Unix process you run fails with a "fault" (memory fault,
segmentation fault, etc.) the system attempts to create a core dump
file named "core" in the current directory. However, the file will not
be created unless your "core dump size limit" is set high enough to
accomodate the core dump file. Since most users don't want to look at
core dump files, and because they can consume an annoying amount of
disk space, each user's core dump size limit is set to zero by default
and core files will not be created when processes fail. If a user wants
to get a core dump from a failing program, he must increase his limit
with the command:
ulimit -c size (ksh)
unlimit core (csh, tcsh)
where size is the maximum size allowed for the core dump, measured in
1K blocks.
i.e. ulimit -c 1024 (ksh)
limit core 1024 (csh, tcsh)
would set the core file size to 1 Megabyte