Kernel Destructive Actions

Some destructive actions are destructive to the entire system. Use these actions with caution. These actions affect every process on the system and may affect other systems, depending upon the affected system's network services.

The breakpoint() function

void breakpoint(void)

The breakpoint() action induces a kernel breakpoint, causing the system to stop and transfer control to the kernel debugger. The kernel debugger will emit a string that denotes the DTrace probe that triggered the action.

The panic() function

void panic(void)

When a probe with the panic() action triggers, the kernel panics. This action can force a system crash dump at a time of interest. You can use this action in conjunction with ring buffering and postmortem analysis to diagnose a system problem. For more information, see Chapter 11, Buffers and Buffering, in Solaris Dynamic Tracing Guide and Chapter 37, Postmortem Tracing, in Solaris Dynamic Tracing Guide respectively.

The chill() function

void chill(int nanoseconds)

When a probe with the chill() action triggers, DTrace spins for the specified number of nanoseconds. The chill() action is useful for exploring problems related to timing. Because interrupts are disabled while in DTrace probe context, any use of chill() will induce interrupt latency, scheduling latency, dispatch latency.