Fork Failed

[Arlene Gelbolingo]

We are currently running this "/etc/timeout 60 60" every 10 minutes thru cron. Whenever this executes root gets email saying: "Fork failed calling timeoutx". This messages has been flooding root's mailbox. What's causing this fork failure and how can we resolve this?

Thanks

Arlene

[Rita C Workman]

OK..checked my 10.2 and my 11.0 systems. Didn't see /etc/timeout. So I'm going to go out on a limb....and hope I don't fall.
....But when I saw timeout, it rang a bell..So I checked. Timeout/Notimeout is a function that controls blocking on input. See manpage timeout. So....maybe.....just maybe.....your cron job is cornfusing the system. Generally, it is my understanding to name jobs something other than HPUX commands and the like. Possibly it's not sure to run a job, or set control blocking...
Try renaming this job to something else (unique) and then cron it...See if you still have the problem.

I see the ground coming up fast...so hope this helps !
/rcw

[James A. Donovan]

Can you post your script? That would go a long way to determining what the problem may be. I, for one, am wondering what the reference to "timeoutx" in the error message is. And without your script, it's impossible to tell.

[Sam Nicholls]

Verify that the program /etc/timeout really exists and can be executed by root. It sounds like cron is simply unable to fork the job because /etc/timeout doesn't exist.

-sam

[Andy Monks]

The usual reasons for a fork to fail are :-

1: not enough swap space
2: the user has exceeded the kernel parameter maxuprc (doesn't apply to root)
3: the system has exceeded the nproc kernel parameter

[Arlene Gelbolingo]

Hi,

Thanks for all your replies. I had verified that /etc/timeout exists and can be ran by root. "/etc/timeout 60 60" is the exact command that we run thru cron, there's no scripting involved. I can't reboot the server at this time so I can't try the kernel changes just yet but I might try it when possible. I'll let you know the result, meanwhile thanks for all your help.

Arlene