---
title: "How to enable/disable core dumps on Linux"
slug: "how-to-enable-core-dumps-on-linux"
updated: 2025-12-10T22:19:32Z
published: 2025-12-10T22:19:32Z
canonical: "docs.swxtch.io/how-to-enable-core-dumps-on-linux"
stale: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.swxtch.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to enable/disable core dumps on Linux

Occasionally there can be issues within a VM that the swxtch.io logs do not capture. In this case core dumps will assist in trouble shooting the issue. Caution: Core dumps can take space and should only be enabled when issues occur.

To check to see if core dumps are enabled for unlimited, 0 means disabled.

```plaintext
ulimit -c
```

Example:

![](https://cdn.document360.io/84c5db44-f675-4f33-a980-5d3fc63073ca/Images/Documentation/image(98).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-14T13%3A00%3A31Z&se=2026-10-14T14%3A00%3A31Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=D0vKGq8riXEz2GsATeTgbyugkxq54aqgfATPvD%2FnIC0%3D)

To **enable** core dumps to unlimited for the current session:

```plaintext
ulimit -c 102400
```

This will set it to 100MB Limit Warning: -c unlimited can fill up the drive, be sure to disable once the dumps are created and saved off.

Result:

![](https://cdn.document360.io/84c5db44-f675-4f33-a980-5d3fc63073ca/Images/Documentation/image(104).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-14T13%3A00%3A31Z&se=2026-10-14T14%3A00%3A31Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=D0vKGq8riXEz2GsATeTgbyugkxq54aqgfATPvD%2FnIC0%3D)

**To disable:**

```plaintext
ulimit -c 0
```

**To enable permanently**

```plaintext
sudo nano /etc/security/limits.conf
```

**Add lines for non-specific user:**

```plaintext
*               soft    core            fsize 51200
*               hard    core            fsize 51200
```

The `*` applies to all users. You can also specify individual users or groups instead.

**fsize** - maximum file size (KB). In place of fsize you can also set to Unlimited, but this could fill up your drive.

**For specific user:**

```plaintext
username        soft    core            fsize 51200
username        hard    core            fsize 51200
```

**fsize** - maximum file size (KB). In place of fsize you can also set to Unlimited, but this could fill up your drive.

To disable, remove lines.

**Reboot** for it to take place.

**To find a core dump:**

Check the current working directory. If no specific configuration is in place, search the directory where the crashing program was executed.

Check /var/spool/abrt:

On RHEL systems, check this directory.

Check /var/lib/apport/coredump:

On Ubuntu/Debian, check this location. Examine kernel.core_pattern to see if a custom path has been set.

```plaintext
cat /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
```

Example:

![](https://cdn.document360.io/84c5db44-f675-4f33-a980-5d3fc63073ca/Images/Documentation/image(101).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-14T13%3A00%3A31Z&se=2026-10-14T14%3A00%3A31Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=D0vKGq8riXEz2GsATeTgbyugkxq54aqgfATPvD%2FnIC0%3D)