From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jul 6 07:32:45 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A47FE1065675; Wed, 6 Jul 2011 07:32:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from Peter.Ross@bogen.in-berlin.de) Received: from einhorn.in-berlin.de (einhorn.in-berlin.de [192.109.42.8]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 640578FC12; Wed, 6 Jul 2011 07:32:44 +0000 (UTC) X-Envelope-From: Peter.Ross@bogen.in-berlin.de Received: from localhost (okapi.in-berlin.de [192.109.42.117]) by einhorn.in-berlin.de (8.13.6/8.13.6/Debian-1) with ESMTP id p667WgpP016550; Wed, 6 Jul 2011 09:32:42 +0200 Received: from 124-254-118-24-static.bb.ispone.net.au (124-254-118-24-static.bb.ispone.net.au [124.254.118.24]) by webmail.in-berlin.de (Horde Framework) with HTTP; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:32:42 +1000 Message-ID: <20110706173242.23404ffbhkxz6mqi@webmail.in-berlin.de> Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:32:42 +1000 From: "Peter Ross" To: "Peter Ross" References: <20110706122339.61453nlqra1vqsrv@webmail.in-berlin.de> <20110706023234.GA72048@icarus.home.lan> <20110706130753.182053f3ellasn0p@webmail.in-berlin.de> <20110706032425.GA72757@icarus.home.lan> <20110706135412.15276i0fxavg09k4@webmail.in-berlin.de> <20110706041504.GA73698@icarus.home.lan> <20110706143129.10696235ldx9bjmp@webmail.in-berlin.de> In-Reply-To: <20110706143129.10696235ldx9bjmp@webmail.in-berlin.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes"; format="flowed" Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) 4.3.3 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang_at_IN-Berlin_e.V. on 192.109.42.8 Cc: Yong-Hyeon Pyun , freebsd-stable List , "Vogel, Jack" , davidch@freebsd.org, Scott Sipe , Jeremy Chadwick Subject: Re: scp: Write Failed: Cannot allocate memory X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:32:45 -0000 Quoting "Peter Ross" : > Quoting "Jeremy Chadwick" : > >> On Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 01:54:12PM +1000, Peter Ross wrote: >>> Quoting "Jeremy Chadwick" : >>> >>>> On Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 01:07:53PM +1000, Peter Ross wrote: >>>>> Quoting "Jeremy Chadwick" : >>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 12:23:39PM +1000, Peter Ross wrote: >>>>>>> Quoting "Jeremy Chadwick" : >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Tue, Jul 05, 2011 at 01:03:20PM -0400, Scott Sipe wrote: >>>>>>>>> I'm running virtualbox 3.2.12_1 if that has anything to do with it= . >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> sysctl vfs.zfs.arc_max: 6200000000 >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> While I'm trying to scp, kstat.zfs.misc.arcstats.size is >>>>>>>>> hovering right around that value, sometimes above, sometimes >>>>>>>>> below (that's as it should be, right?). I don't think that it >>>>>>>>> dies when crossing over arc_max. I can run the same scp 10 times >>>>>>>>> and it might fail 1-3 times, with no correlation to the >>>>>>>>> arcstats.size being above/below arc_max that I can see. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Scott >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Jul 5, 2011, at 3:00 AM, Peter Ross wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> just as an addition: an upgrade to last Friday's >>>>>>>>>> FreeBSD-Stable and to VirtualBox 4.0.8 does not fix the >>>>>>>>>> problem. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I will experiment a bit more tomorrow after hours and grab >>>>>>> some statistics. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Regards >>>>>>>>>> Peter >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Quoting "Peter Ross" : >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> I noticed a similar problem last week. It is also very >>>>>>>>>>> similar to one reported last year: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-September= /058708.html >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> My server is a Dell T410 server with the same bge card (the >>>>>>>>>>> same pciconf -lvc output as described by Mahlon: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-September= /058711.html >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Yours, Scott, is a em(4).. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Another similarity: In all cases we are using VirtualBox. I >>>>>>>>>>> just want to mention it, in case it matters. I am still >>>>>>>>>>> running VirtualBox 3.2. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Most of the time kstat.zfs.misc.arcstats.size was reaching >>>>>>>>>>> vfs.zfs.arc_max then, but I could catch one or two cases >>>>>>>>>>> then the value was still below. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> I added vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable=3D1 to sysctl.conf but it >>>>> does not help. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> BTW: It looks as ARC only gives back the memory when I >>>>>>>>>>> destroy the ZFS (a cloned snapshot containing virtual >>>>>>>>>>> machines). Even if nothing happens for hours the buffer >>>>>>>>>>> isn't released.. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> My machine was still running 8.2-PRERELEASE so I am upgrading. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> I am happy to give information gathered on old/new kernel =20 >>>>>>>>>>> if it helps. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Regards >>>>>>>>>>> Peter >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Quoting "Scott Sipe" : >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> On Jul 2, 2011, at 12:54 AM, jhell wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 03:22:32PM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrot= e: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 03:13:17PM -0400, Scott Sipe wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm running 8.2-RELEASE and am having new problems >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with scp. When scping >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> files to a ZFS directory on the FreeBSD server -- >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> most notably large files >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -- the transfer frequently dies after just a few >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> seconds. In my last test, I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tried to scp an 800mb file to the FreeBSD system and >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the transfer died after >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 200mb. It completely copied the next 4 times I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tried, and then died again on >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the next attempt. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On the client side: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Connection to home closed by remote host. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> lost connection" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In /var/log/auth.log: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jul 1 14:54:42 freebsd sshd[18955]: fatal: Write >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> failed: Cannot allocate >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> memory >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've never seen this before and have used scp before >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to transfer large files >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> without problems. This computer has been used in >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> production for months and >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> has a current uptime of 36 days. I have not been >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> able to notice any problems >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> copying files to the server via samba or netatalk, or >>>>>>> any problems in >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> apache. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Uname: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FreeBSD xeon 8.2-RELEASE FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE #0: Sat >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Feb 19 01:02:54 EST >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2011 root@xeon:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC amd64 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've attached my dmesg and output of vmstat -z. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have not restarted the sshd daemon or rebooted the compute= r. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Am glad to provide any other information or test anything el= se. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> {snip vmstat -z and dmesg} >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> You didn't provide details about your networking setup (rc.co= nf, >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ifconfig -a, etc.). netstat -m would be useful too. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Next, please see this thread circa September 2010, =20 >>>>>>>>>>>>>> titled "Network >>>>>>>>>>>>>> memory allocation failures": >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-Septem= ber/thread.html#58708 >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> The user in that thread is using rsync, which relies on >>>>>>> scp by default. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> I believe this problem is similar, if not identical, to yours= . >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> Please also provide your output of ( /usr/bin/limits -a ) >>>>>>> for the server >>>>>>>>>>>>> end and the client. >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> I am not quite sure I agree with the need for ifconfig =20 >>>>>>>>>>>>> -a but some >>>>>>>>>>>>> information about the networking driver your using for =20 >>>>>>>>>>>>> the interface >>>>>>>>>>>>> would be helpful, uptime of the boxes. And configuration >>>>> of the pool. >>>>>>>>>>>>> e.g. ( zpool status -a ;zfs get all ) You =20 >>>>>>>>>>>>> should probably >>>>>>>>>>>>> prop this information up somewhere so you can reference by >>>>>>> URL whenever >>>>>>>>>>>>> needed. >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> rsync(1) does not rely on scp(1) whatsoever but rsync(1) >>>>>>> can be made to >>>>>>>>>>>>> use ssh(1) instead of rsh(1) and I believe that is what Jeremy= is >>>>>>>>>>>>> stating here but correct me if I am wrong. It does use ssh(1) = by >>>>>>>>>>>>> default. >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> Its a possiblity as well that if using tmpfs(5) or =20 >>>>>>>>>>>>> mdmfs(8) for /tmp >>>>>>>>>>>>> type filesystems that rsync(1) may be just filling up your >>>>>>> temp ram area >>>>>>>>>>>>> and causing the connection abort which would be >>>>>>>>>>>>> expected. ( df -h ) would >>>>>>>>>>>>> help here. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Hello, >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not using tmpfs/mdmfs at all. The clients yesterday >>>>>>>>>>>> were 3 different OSX computers (over gigabit). The FreeBSD >>>>>>>>>>>> server has 12gb of ram and no bce adapter. For what it's >>>>>>>>>>>> worth, the server is backed up remotely every night with >>>>>>>>>>>> rsync (remote FreeBSD uses rsync to pull) to an offsite >>>>>>>>>>>> (slow cable connection) FreeBSD computer, and I have not >>>>>>>>>>>> seen any errors in the nightly rsync. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Sorry for the omission of networking info, here's the >>>>>>>>>>>> output of the requested commands and some that popped up >>>>>>>>>>>> in the other thread: >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.cap-press.com/misc/ >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> In rc.conf: ifconfig_em1=3D"inet 10.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.0.0" >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Scott >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Just to make it crystal clear to everyone: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> There is no correlation between this problem and use of ZFS. =20 >>>>>>>> People are >>>>>>>> attempting to correlate "cannot allocate memory" messages =20 >>>>>>>> with "anything >>>>>>>> on the system that uses memory". The VM is much more complex =20 >>>>>>>> than that. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Given the nature of this problem, it's much more likely the issue i= s >>>>>>>> "somewhere" within a networking layer within FreeBSD, whether it be >>>>>>>> driver-level or some sort of intermediary layer. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Two people who have this issue in this thread are both using =20 >>>>>>>> VirtualBox. >>>>>>>> Can one, or both, of you remove VirtualBox from the configuration >>>>>>>> entirely (kernel, etc. -- not sure what is required) and then =20 >>>>>>>> see if the >>>>>>>> issue goes away? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On the machine in question I only can do it after hours so I will do >>>>>>> it tonight. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I was _successfully_ sending the file over the loopback interface us= ing >>>>>>> >>>>>>> cat /zpool/temp/zimbra_oldroot.vdi | ssh localhost "cat > /dev/null" >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I did it, btw, with the IPv6 localhost address first (accidently), >>>>>>> and then using IPv4. Both worked. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It always fails if I am sending it through the bce(4) interface, >>>>>>> even if my target is the VirtualBox bridged to the bce card (so it >>>>>>> does not "leave" the computer physically). >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Below the uname -a, ifconfig -a, netstat -rn, pciconf -lv and >>>>>>> kldstat output. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I have another box where I do not see that problem. It copies files >>>>>>> happily over the net using ssh. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It is an an older HP ML 150 with 3GB RAM only but with a bge(4) >>>>>>> driver instead. It runs the same last week's RELENG_8. I installed >>>>>>> VirtualBox and enabled vboxnet (so it loads the kernel modules). But >>>>>>> I do not run VirtualBox on it (because it hasn't enough RAM). >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Regards >>>>>>> Peter >>>>>>> >>>>>>> DellT410one# uname -a >>>>>>> FreeBSD DellT410one.vv.fda 8.2-STABLE FreeBSD 8.2-STABLE #1: Thu Jun >>>>>>> 30 17:07:18 EST 2011 >>>>>>> root@DellT410one.vv.fda:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC amd64 >>>>>>> DellT410one# ifconfig -a >>>>>>> bce0: flags=3D8943 >>>>>>> metric 0 mtu 1500 >>>>>>> =09options=3Dc01bb >>>>>>> =09ether 84:2b:2b:68:64:e4 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.220 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.221 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.223 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.224 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.225 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.226 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.227 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09inet 192.168.50.219 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.50.255 >>>>>>> =09media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT ) >>>>>>> =09status: active >>>>>>> bce1: flags=3D8802 metric 0 mtu 1500 >>>>>>> =09options=3Dc01bb >>>>>>> =09ether 84:2b:2b:68:64:e5 >>>>>>> =09media: Ethernet autoselect >>>>>>> lo0: flags=3D8049 metric 0 mtu 16384 >>>>>>> =09options=3D3 >>>>>>> =09inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xb >>>>>>> =09inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 >>>>>>> =09inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 >>>>>>> =09nd6 options=3D3 >>>>>>> vboxnet0: flags=3D8802 metric 0 mtu 150= 0 >>>>>>> =09ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00 >>>>>>> DellT410one# netstat -rn >>>>>>> Routing tables >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Internet: >>>>>>> Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use =20 >>>>>>> Netif Expire >>>>>>> default 192.168.50.201 UGS 0 52195 bce0 >>>>>>> 127.0.0.1 link#11 UH 0 6 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.0/24 link#1 U 0 1118212 bce0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.219 link#1 UHS 0 9670 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.220 link#1 UHS 0 8347 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.221 link#1 UHS 0 103024 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.223 link#1 UHS 0 43614 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.224 link#1 UHS 0 8358 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.225 link#1 UHS 0 8438 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.226 link#1 UHS 0 8338 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.50.227 link#1 UHS 0 8333 lo0 >>>>>>> 192.168.165.0/24 192.168.50.200 UGS 0 3311 bce0 >>>>>>> 192.168.166.0/24 192.168.50.200 UGS 0 699 bce0 >>>>>>> 192.168.167.0/24 192.168.50.200 UGS 0 3012 bce0 >>>>>>> 192.168.168.0/24 192.168.50.200 UGS 0 552 bce0 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Internet6: >>>>>>> Destination Gateway >>>>>>> Flags Netif Expire >>>>>>> ::1 ::1 UH >>>>>>> lo0 >>>>>>> fe80::%lo0/64 link#11 U >>>>>>> lo0 >>>>>>> fe80::1%lo0 link#11 UHS >>>>>>> lo0 >>>>>>> ff01::%lo0/32 fe80::1%lo0 U >>>>>>> lo0 >>>>>>> ff02::%lo0/32 fe80::1%lo0 U >>>>>>> lo0 >>>>>>> DellT410one# kldstat >>>>>>> Id Refs Address Size Name >>>>>>> 1 19 0xffffffff80100000 dbf5d0 kernel >>>>>>> 2 3 0xffffffff80ec0000 4c358 vboxdrv.ko >>>>>>> 3 1 0xffffffff81012000 131998 zfs.ko >>>>>>> 4 1 0xffffffff81144000 1ff1 opensolaris.ko >>>>>>> 5 2 0xffffffff81146000 2940 vboxnetflt.ko >>>>>>> 6 2 0xffffffff81149000 8e38 netgraph.ko >>>>>>> 7 1 0xffffffff81152000 153c ng_ether.ko >>>>>>> 8 1 0xffffffff81154000 e70 vboxnetadp.ko >>>>>>> DellT410one# pciconf -lv >>>>>>> .. >>>>>>> bce0@pci0:1:0:0: class=3D0x020000 card=3D0x028d1028 >>>>>>> chip=3D0x163b14e4 rev=3D0x20 hdr=3D0x00 >>>>>>> vendor =3D 'Broadcom Corporation' >>>>>>> class =3D network >>>>>>> subclass =3D ethernet >>>>>>> bce1@pci0:1:0:1: class=3D0x020000 card=3D0x028d1028 >>>>>>> chip=3D0x163b14e4 rev=3D0x20 hdr=3D0x00 >>>>>>> vendor =3D 'Broadcom Corporation' >>>>>>> class =3D network >>>>>>> subclass =3D ethernet >>>>>> >>>>>> Could you please provide "pciconf -lvcb" output instead, specific to = the >>>>>> bce chips? Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> Her it is: >>>>> >>>>> bce0@pci0:1:0:0: class=3D0x020000 card=3D0x028d1028 >>>>> chip=3D0x163b14e4 rev=3D0x20 hdr=3D0x00 >>>>> vendor =3D 'Broadcom Corporation' >>>>> class =3D network >>>>> subclass =3D ethernet >>>>> bar [10] =3D type Memory, range 64, base 0xda000000, size >>>>> 33554432, enabled >>>>> cap 01[48] =3D powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0 >>>>> cap 03[50] =3D VPD >>>>> cap 05[58] =3D MSI supports 16 messages, 64 bit enabled with 1 mess= age >>>>> cap 11[a0] =3D MSI-X supports 9 messages in map 0x10 >>>>> cap 10[ac] =3D PCI-Express 2 endpoint max data 256(512) link x4(x4) >>>>> ecap 0003[100] =3D Serial 1 842b2bfffe6864e4 >>>>> ecap 0001[110] =3D AER 1 0 fatal 0 non-fatal 1 corrected >>>>> ecap 0004[150] =3D unknown 1 >>>>> ecap 0002[160] =3D VC 1 max VC0 >>>> >>>> Thanks Peter. >>>> >>>> Adding Yong-Hyeon and David to the discussion, since they've both worke= d >>>> on the bce(4) driver in recent months (most of the changes made recentl= y >>>> are only in HEAD), and also adding Jack Vogel of Intel who maintains >>>> em(4). Brief history for the devs: >>>> >>>> The issue is described "Network memory allocation failures" and was >>>> reported last year, but two users recently (Scott and Peter) have >>>> reported the issue again: >>>> >>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-September/thread= .html#58708 >>>> >>>> And was mentioned again by Scott here, which also contains some >>>> technical details: >>>> >>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2011-July/063172.html >>>> >>>> What's interesting is that Scott's issue is identical in form but he's >>>> using em(4), which isn't known to behave like this. Both individuals >>>> are using VirtualBox, though we're not sure at this point if that is th= e >>>> piece which is causing the anomaly. >>>> >>>> Relevant details of Scott's system (em-based): >>>> >>>> http://www.cap-press.com/misc/ >>>> >>>> Relevant details of Peter's system (bce-based): >>>> >>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2011-July/063221.html >>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2011-July/063223.html >>>> >>>> I think the biggest complexity right now is figuring out how/why scp >>>> fails intermittently in this nature. The errno probably "trickles down= " >>>> to userland from the kernel, but the condition regarding why it happens >>>> is unknown. >>> >>> BTW: I also saw 2 of the errors coming from a BIND9 running in a >>> jail on that box. >>> >>> DellT410one# fgrep -i allocate /jails/bind/20110315/var/log/messages >>> Apr 13 05:17:41 bind named[23534]: internal_send: >>> 192.168.50.145#65176: Cannot allocate memory >>> Jun 21 23:30:44 bind named[39864]: internal_send: >>> 192.168.50.251#36155: Cannot allocate memory >>> Jun 24 15:28:00 bind named[39864]: internal_send: >>> 192.168.50.251#28651: Cannot allocate memory >>> Jun 28 12:57:52 bind named[2462]: internal_send: >>> 192.168.165.154#1201: Cannot allocate memory >>> >>> My initial guess: it happens sooner or later somehow - whether it is >>> a lot of traffic in one go (ssh/scp copies of virtual disks) or a >>> lot of traffic over a longer period (a nameserver gets asked again >>> and again). >> >> Scott, are you also using jails? If both of you are: is there any >> possibility you can remove use of those? I'm not sure how VirtualBox >> fits into the picture (jails + VirtualBox that is), but I can imagine >> jails having different environmental constraints that might cause this. >> >> Basically the troubleshooting process here is to remove pieces of the >> puzzle until you figure out which piece is causing the issue. I don't >> want to get the NIC driver devs all spun up for something that, for >> example, might be an issue with the jail implementation. > > I understand this. As said, I do some afterhours debugging tonight. > > The scp/ssh problems are happening _outside_ the jails. The bind =20 > runs _inside_ the jail. > > I wanted to use the _host_ system to send VirtualBox virtual disks =20 > and filesystems used by jails to archive them and/or having them =20 > available on other FreeBSD systems (as a cold standby solution). I just switched off the VirtualBox (without removing the kernel modules). The copy succeeds now. Well, it could be a VirtualBox related problem, or is the server just =20 relieved to have 2GB more memory at hands now? Do you have a quick idea to "emulate" the 2GB memory load usually =20 delivered by VirtualBox? Regards Peter