JP2001229053A - Computer with dump acquiring mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer for improving the operating time of a computer system by shortening the time from the computer system halt until completion of activation of the computer system. SOLUTION: This computer is provided with an instruction file for indicating the minimum memory quantity necessary for reactivating a computer system and a memory constitution information managing the area of a memory to be used by the computer system. In storing the memory contents when failure is caused into a dump storage area, part of the memory contents is stored in an auxiliary storage device on the basis of the instruction file, and the preserved memory area is set in the memory constitution information. In the reactivation of the computer system, the reactivation is completed by using only part of memory contents stored in the auxiliary storage device. After the reactivation is completed, the memory contents which are not stored in the auxiliary storage device are converted into a file.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to obtaining fault information of a computer system in which a failure has occurred, and to restarting the computer system in which the failure has occurred.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an operating system checks data consistency and the like during operation of a system. If data inconsistency occurs due to some kind of failure, an operating system executes a panic process for urgently stopping the computer system. .

In the panic processing, the memory contents at the time of occurrence of a failure are stored in an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk so that the system administrator can later find out the cause of the failure. The process of saving the contents of the memory in the auxiliary storage device is called a dump process, and after the completion of the dump process, the computer system is restarted.

In the dump processing, there are cases where all the memories of the computer system are dumped (all dumps) and cases where a part of the memories is dumped. When dumping all memory, compared to dumping part of memory,
The time required for dump processing is long. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-252 discloses a technique for selecting a part of the memory and dumping only the selected memory in order to shorten the dump processing time.
No. 55 is described.

[0005] In the system restart processing, the contents of the memory stored in an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk are converted into a file format in which a system administrator or the like can analyze the cause of the failure. In order to save the used capacity of the auxiliary storage device, a file compression process may be executed at the time of file format conversion.

[0006] A series of processes from the occurrence of a failure in the computer system to the restart of the computer system is described in "Pan
ic! Tracking and Countermeasures for UNIX System Crashes "
(1997), ISBN 4-7561-1912-3, pages 27-33.

[0007]

In recent years, the amount of memory mounted on a computer system has increased, and the time required from the occurrence of a failure in the computer system to the restart thereof has increased.

As described above, by selecting a part of the memory and dumping it, compared with the case of full dumping,
The amount of memory that needs to be dumped is small. However, it may be difficult to identify the memory range associated with the failure before analyzing the memory contents at the time of the failure. Further, even if a part of the memory is selected and dumped, the restart process cannot be executed until the dump of all the selected memories is completed.

Further, as described above, when the file compression processing is executed at the time of restart in order to save the used space of the auxiliary storage device, the time required for restart is further increased. The computer system cannot provide services to the user from the occurrence of the failure in the computer system to the end of the restart. For this reason, there has been a problem that the operating time of the computer system during a certain period is reduced, and the utilization efficiency is reduced.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the time from the occurrence of a failure in a computer system to the end of restart, improve the operation rate of the computer system, and reduce the memory contents necessary for analyzing the cause of the failure. The purpose is to provide it to a system administrator or the like.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a method of storing a plurality of memories based on memory range designation information indicating an address or a memory amount for designating a memory area to be initialized and a memory address or a memory amount. And memory configuration information indicating a numerical value to be divided into areas, the dump acquisition range designating unit designates a memory range to be saved in the first dump processing, and the dump acquisition unit designates a range designated by the dump acquisition range designating unit. Is stored in the dump storage area, and the dump file generation means converts the memory content stored in the dump storage area into a file. And if a failure occurs in the computer system,
The dump acquisition unit saves the contents of the memory range specified by the dump acquisition range designation unit in the dump storage area, and when restarting the computer system, initializes only the memory range saved when a failure occurs, The dump file generating means converts the contents of the dump storage area into a file, and after the restart of the computer system is completed, saves the memory contents not saved at the time of failure occurrence in the dump storage area, and Convert the contents of to a file.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a computer system 124 includes an auxiliary storage device 111 such as a magnetic disk for permanently storing a program instruction sequence and data, and an EE for permanently storing a program instruction sequence and data.
PROM (Electrically Erasable)
e Programmable Read Only Me
memory) for storing a program instruction sequence and data, a processor 100 for executing the program instruction sequence stored in the nonvolatile memory 101 and the memory 107, and a transmission path between each block of the computer. It is composed of a certain bus 110.

The auxiliary storage device 111 includes a dump acquisition range designation file 112 for designating a range of the memory 107 to be saved when a failure occurs in the computer system, the computer system 1
An OS storage area 113 for storing a program instruction sequence and data of an operating system (OS) for managing resources such as 24 auxiliary storage devices 111 and a memory 107;
It has a dump storage area 114 for storing memory contents when a failure occurs. The first 1 is stored in the dump storage area 114.
Primary dump storage area 116 used in the second dump processing
And a secondary dump storage area 115 used in the second dump processing. In this embodiment, the dump storage area 114
Describes a computer system having two storage areas 115 and 116, but may have two or more storage areas as needed.

The nonvolatile memory 101 includes configuration information 102 for holding the size of the memory 107 mounted on the computer system 124, and the location of the primary dump storage area 116 and the secondary dump storage area 115 in the auxiliary storage device 111. Storage management information 105 for managing the computer system, and a system startup procedure 106 executed to start the computer system 124 when the power switch is turned on or when a reset signal is detected. In the configuration information 102, an actual memory amount storage area 103 for holding the amount of memory used when starting the computer system 124, and a reserved memory amount storage area for holding the amount of memory additionally used after starting the computer system 124 It has 104.

The memory 107 (1) corresponds to a memory range to be saved in the first first dump processing, and a primary dump acquisition range 108 (1) stores a program instruction sequence and data used by a user. User area 109 to be retained
(1) and an OS area 119 for holding a program instruction sequence and data used by the OS. In the OS area 119,
Memory management information 120 used by the OS for allocating memory to the user, failure processing procedure 121 executed when a failure occurs in the computer system 124, and conversion of the contents of the dump storage area 114 into a file when the computer system 124 is restarted. And a memory expansion procedure 123 for adding and using the memory specified by the reserved memory amount 104 after the computer system 124 is restarted. Failure handling procedure 1
21 and the dump file generation procedure 122 are respectively described in “Panic! UNIX System Crash Tracking and Countermeasures” (1997), ISBN4-7561.
Details of the panic () routine and the savecore program on pages 29 and 39 of -1912-3.

In the computer system 124, the configuration information 102 holding information necessary for reserving a management area required for memory expansion without reinitializing the OS after the OS initialization is completed. An embodiment of the memory addition procedure 123 for updating the management area reserved for this purpose is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-2796.

FIG. 2 shows memory management information 1 according to the present invention.
20 shows one embodiment. The memory management information 120 indicates the range of the memory 107 used by the processor 100.
It has a used start address 201 and a used end address 202, and has a reserved start address 203 and a reserved end address 204 for another range of the memory 107 used by the processor 100. For the range from the reservation start address 203 to the reservation end address 204, the OS cannot be used after the computer system 124 is started. The OS can use the range from the reservation start address 203 to the reservation end address 204 by executing the memory addition procedure 123.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the dump storage area management information 105 according to the present invention. Dump area management information 1
05, an offset indicating the location of the primary dump storage area 116 in the auxiliary storage device 111 is stored in the primary dump storage area offset 301;
1 is a value indicating the location of the secondary dump storage area 116 in the secondary dump storage area offset 302.
, And the maximum offset indicating the end of the dump storage area 114 in the auxiliary storage device 111 is stored in the dump storage area maximum offset 303, and the memory management information 120 stored in the primary dump storage area 116 is stored in the primary dump storage area 116. An offset, which is a value indicating the location, is held in the memory management information offset 304.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a schematic processing flow from the occurrence of a failure to the completion of restart in the present invention.

First, when a failure occurs in the computer system, that is, when the OS detects a state such as data inconsistency during execution of the program instruction sequence, step 401 is executed. In step 401, the failure processing procedure 121 is executed, and the contents of the memory 107 specified by the dump acquisition range specification file 112 are stored in the primary dump storage area 116. Here, the primary dump acquisition range 108 (1) is a range determined by the dump acquisition range specification file 12. Here, an example in which the size of the primary dump acquisition range 108 (1) is 1 GB will be described. In the dump acquisition range specification file, "1 GB" is described. 1GB is 0x4000
Since it corresponds to address 0000 (“0x” means a hexadecimal number), the dump acquisition range is from address 0 to 0x40000.
The memory contents up to address 000 are obtained. In another example, "FROM = 0, TO = 0x40000000" is described in the file. Also in this case, the dump acquisition range is from address 0 to 0
Memory contents up to x40000000 address.

Next, step 402 is executed to restart the computer system. In step 402, the system is restarted using only the memory of the primary dump acquisition range 108 (1). Also, the primary dump acquisition range 108
Memory other than (1), ie, secondary dump acquisition range 10
8 (2) is set to be unusable from the OS. The reason why the secondary dump acquisition range is set so that the OS cannot be used is that the contents of the memory at the time of occurrence of the failure are not destroyed. If the OS uses the memory 108 (2) in the secondary dump acquisition range, the memory content at the time of occurrence of the failure is lost, and the cause of the failure cannot be analyzed.

Next, when the restart of the computer system is completed, step 403 is executed. When the restart of the computer system is completed, the user can execute the program instruction sequence. In step 403, dump file generation procedure 1
Step 22 is executed. The dump file generation procedure 122 includes:
The contents of the memory stored in the primary dump storage area 116 are converted into a file format that can be analyzed by a dump analysis tool by a system administrator or the like. Also, the secondary dump acquisition range 108
The memory contents of (2) are stored in the secondary dump storage area 115 and converted into a file format that can be analyzed by the dump analysis tool. In the present embodiment, the secondary dump acquisition range 108 (2)
An example will be described in which the contents of the memory are stored in the secondary dump storage area 115 and then converted to a file format. here,
Instead of storing the contents in the secondary dump storage area 115, the memory contents may be directly converted to a file format.

Next, when the execution of the dump file generation procedure 122 is completed, step 404 is executed. In step 404, the memory addition procedure 123 is executed so that the OS can use the memory of the secondary dump acquisition range 108 (2) that has not been used when the system is restarted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the fault handling procedure according to the present invention.

First, in step 501, the contents of the memory from the use start address 201 of the memory management information 120 to the address specified by the dump acquisition range specification file 112 are stored in the dump area management information 105 at the offset 301 of the primary dump storage area. Primary dump storage area 1 specified by
Save to 16.

In step 502, the last position (offset) of the primary dump storage area 116 stored in step 501 is set to the secondary dump storage area offset 302.

In step 503, the position (offset) of the memory management information 120 stored in the primary dump storage area 116 is set as the memory management information offset 304.

In step 504, the reserved memory amount 104
Is set to a value obtained by subtracting the memory amount corresponding to the address specified in the dump acquisition range specification file 112 from the actual memory amount 103.

In step 505, the memory amount corresponding to the address specified in the dump acquisition range specification file 112 is set to the actual memory amount 103. For example, if "1 GB" is described in the file in the dump acquisition range specification file 112, 1 GB is set as the actual memory amount. As another example, "FROM = 0, TO = 0x40000"
000 "is described as 0x400000.
The memory amount 1 GB corresponding to the address 0 is set as the actual memory amount.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the system start-up procedure according to the present invention.

First, at step 601, the processor 1
The processor 100, the auxiliary storage device 111, and the amount of memory 107 held by the actual memory amount 103 are initialized so that 00 can read from and write to the auxiliary storage device 111 and the memory 107.

At step 602, the processor 100 reads the OS program instruction sequence and data from the OS storage area 113, and initializes the memory 1 initialized at step 601.
07, and control is transferred to the OS program instruction sequence.

In step 603, the configuration information 102 is read and the memory management information 120 is created. When creating the memory management information 120, the use start address 201
For example, 0 is set to the use start address 201, the actual memory amount 103 of the configuration information 102 is read, converted to a corresponding address, and set to the use end address 202. If 1 GB is set to the actual memory amount 103, the last address used 2
In 02, an address of 0x40000000 is set.

The reservation start address 203 and the reservation end address 204 are, for example, the reservation start address 2
In 03, the same address as the use final address 202 is set, the reserved memory amount 104 of the configuration information 102 is read, converted into an address, and the address added to the reserved start address 203 is set in the reserved end address 204. For example, if 0x40000000 is set as the reserved start address and 1 GB is set as the reserved memory amount 104,
Address 0x80000000, which is the final address when 1 GB of memory is added from address 0x40000000, is set as the reservation final address 204.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the procedure for generating a dump file according to the present invention.

First, in step 701, the memory management information offset 304 is read from the dump area management information 105, and the last address 202 stored in step 501 is used by using the offset from the auxiliary storage device 111.
Is read.

In step 702, the secondary dump storage area offset 302 is read, and the secondary dump storage area 11 is read.
5 is determined.

In step 703, the contents of the memory 107 from the address corresponding to the actual memory amount 103 set in step 505 to the last use address 202 read in step 701 are stored in the secondary dump storage area 115 determined in step 702. To save.

At step 704, a savecore procedure is executed. An embodiment of the savecore procedure is "Panic! UNIX System Crash Tracking and Countermeasures" (1997), ISBN 4-7561-1912.
-3, page 39.

In step 705, a memory expansion procedure 1
Step 23 is executed.

In this embodiment, after storing the memory contents at the time of occurrence of a failure in the primary dump storage area 116 and the secondary dump storage area 115 in step 704, a file format (dump file ) Is described. As another embodiment, before step 701, a savecore procedure call is executed to convert only the primary dump storage area 116 into a dump file, and in step 704, only the secondary dump storage area 115 is converted into a dump file. It may be a computer system.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the memory expansion procedure according to the present invention.

First, at step 801, the actual memory amount 10
The memory 107 is initialized from an address corresponding to No. 3 to an address obtained by adding an address corresponding to the reserved memory amount 104 to an address corresponding to the real memory amount 103. For example, the address corresponding to the real memory amount 103 is the address 0x40000000 corresponding to 1 GB when the real memory amount 103 is set to 1 GB. When 1 GB is set as the reserved memory amount 104, 0x40000000 corresponding to the reserved memory amount 1GB is added to the address 0x40000000 corresponding to the actual memory amount.
The memory up to address 000000 is initialized.

In step 802, the memory amount obtained by adding the actual memory amount 103 and the reserved memory amount 104 is calculated as the actual memory amount 1
Set to 03.

In step 803, the reserved memory amount is set to zero.

In step 804, the memory management information 120 of the OS is changed. In order to use the memory that has been initialized in step 801, the use final address 202 is changed. For example, when the last use address 202 and the reserved start address 203 are the same address, the value held by the last reserved address 204 is set as the last use address.
Thereafter, in order to indicate that the reserved memory amount is 0, the value of the use final address 202 is changed to the reserved start address 203.
And the reservation final address 204.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a computer system for controlling virtual storage will be described.

The virtual storage control manages an address space by dividing the address space into units of a certain size, and converts a logical address composed of a number of a management unit (called a page) and an offset in a page into an address of a physical memory. It is a mechanism to associate. In a user program, a logical address is used when the processor accesses an instruction sequence or data of the user program. By using logical addresses in the user program, the programmer of the user program does not need to be aware of the address of the physical memory on which the program operates. Also, in the OS, the contents of a page that is not frequently used are evicted from the physical memory to the auxiliary storage device, so that the physical memory can be used effectively. For more information on virtual memory control, see Bernie Goodhart and James Cox, Prentice Hall Publishing, translated by Takashi Sakuragawa, "The Magic of UNIX Kernel System V.
Release 4 Architecture "(1997), pp. 80-85.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the memory management information 120 of the computer system for performing virtual storage control according to the present invention.

In the computer that performs virtual storage control, the memory management information includes, in addition to the use start address 201, use end address 202, reservation start address 203, reservation end address 204 described in FIG. Conversion unnecessary final address 902, logical address / physical address conversion table 903, free list 90
4

The address conversion unnecessary start address 901 and the address conversion unnecessary end address 902 indicate areas which do not need to be converted from logical addresses to physical addresses.

Logical address / physical address conversion table 903
Is a correspondence table between logical addresses and physical addresses.

The free list 904 is for the computer system 1
24 manages information for managing the memory resources used.

In the virtual storage control, when the processor accesses a certain logical address, the accessed page may exist in the auxiliary storage device instead of the physical memory.
In this case, after the page allocated to the physical memory is selected based on information such as the frequency of use, the selected page content is transferred to the auxiliary storage device, and the accessed page content is transferred from the auxiliary storage device to the physical memory instead. Transfer to

Here, when a page including a program instruction sequence for transferring the page content from the auxiliary storage device to the physical memory exists in the auxiliary storage device, the page accessed by the processor cannot be transferred to the physical memory. A page including a program instruction sequence or the like for transferring the page content from the auxiliary storage device to the physical memory so that such a situation does not occur must always exist in the physical memory.

Such a page has a top address 901 without address conversion and a last address 90 without address conversion.
2 is included in an area that does not require address conversion.
Data in areas that do not require address translation is usually managed in a fixed size, so if the size of the memory used by the processor changes after the computer system restarts, make a reservation in advance. Is required.

The data that needs to be reserved include a logical address / physical address conversion table, a free list, and the like, which differ depending on the implementation of the OS. In the present embodiment, an OS that requires reservation of a logical address / physical address conversion table and a free list will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a logical address according to the present invention.
7 shows an embodiment of a physical address conversion table 903.

Logical address / physical address conversion table 903
Are a physical page number 1001 holding a page number of a physical address, a logical page number 1002 holding a page number of a logical address, a flag indicating whether a conversion pair between a physical page number and a logical page number on the same row is valid, and the like. The management information 1003 includes

This figure shows that in a computer system having a page size of 4 KB (0x1000) with a memory of about 2 GB, the memory management information 120 has physical page numbers 0 to 0.
x1000, OS area is physical page number 0 to 0x800
0, user area 109 (1) is physical page number 0x80
01 to 0x40000, the user area 109 (2) has a physical page number of 0x40001 to 0x80000, and the primary dump acquisition range 108 (1) has a physical page number of 0 to 0x40.
000, the secondary dump acquisition range 108 (2) corresponds to physical page numbers 0x40001 to 0x80000, respectively.

In this figure, logical page number 0x100
A logical address 0x10000123 composed of 00 and an offset 0x123 in the page is a physical address number 0x400 corresponding to the logical page number 0x10000.
Physical address 0x using 00 and offset 0x123
It is converted to 4000012.

Logical address / physical address conversion table 903
For more information on Gerry Kane, Pren
Tice Hall Publishing "PA-RISC 2.0 AR"
CHITECTURE ”ISBN 0-13-1827
34-0 (1996), pages 3-9 to 3-16
It is listed on the page.

A description will now be given of the system startup procedure 106 when applied to a computer system that performs virtual storage control.
The basic processing contents are described in the flowchart (6) in FIG.
01 to 603). In the computer system that performs virtual storage control, the memory management information 120 includes a start address 901 without address conversion, a final address 902 without address conversion, a logical address / physical address conversion table 903,
A free list 904 has been added. Therefore, in step 603, the start address and the end address of the OS area 119 are set as the start address 901 and the end address 902 without address conversion, respectively, and the total memory amount of the real memory amount 103 and the reserved memory amount 104 is managed. Logical address / physical address conversion table 9
03 and an area for storing the free list 903 are secured.
Of the pages registered in the free list 903, a portion corresponding to the reserved memory amount 104 is set to be reserved using the page lock of the PAGE structure, and is set so that the OS cannot be used. The embodiment of the page lock is described in Prentice Hall Publishing Co., edited by Bernie Goodhart and James Cox, Takashi Sakurakawa, "The Architecture of the UNIX Kernel Magic System V Release 4" (19).
97) on pages 80 to 85.

Next, a description will be given of the memory expansion procedure 123 when applied to a computer system that performs virtual storage control. The basic processing content is the same as the flowchart (801 to 804) described in FIG. In step 804, by releasing the page lock of the PAGE structure corresponding to the reserved memory amount 104, the memory having the reserved memory amount 104 can be used without reinitializing the OS.

[0066]

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the time required from the stop of the computer system to the completion of the restart and the provision of the service to the user. As a result, the computer system for a certain period of time can be reduced. Operation rate is improved.

Also, after restarting, the memory range not saved in the first process can be converted into a file, and the memory contents necessary for analyzing the cause of the failure can be provided to the system administrator. Further, even in a computer system having only a dump storage area smaller than the size of the memory mounted in the computer system, a file including all memory contents can be obtained, and a sufficient analysis can be performed on the cause of the failure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a computer system 124 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the memory management information 120 according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows dump storage area management information 105 according to the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a schematic processing flow from the occurrence of a failure to the completion of restart in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a fault handling procedure 121 according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a system activation procedure 106 according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a dump file generation procedure 12 according to the present invention.
2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a memory expansion procedure 123 according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the memory management information 120 of the computer system which performs virtual storage control according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a logical address / physical address conversion table 903 according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: processor, 101: nonvolatile memory, 10
2: configuration information, 105 dump storage area management information, 10
6: system startup procedure, 107: memory, 108: dump acquisition range, 109: user area, 110: bus, 1
11: auxiliary storage device, 112: dump acquisition range designation file, 113: OS storage area, 114: dump storage area, 119: OS area, 120: memory management information, 12
1: Fault handling procedure, 122: Dump file generation procedure, 123: Memory expansion procedure

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Kazuo Horikawa, 1st Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the Enterprise Server Division of Hitachi Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Yashiro 1st Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yusuke Kanba 1st Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture In-house Enterprise Server Division (72) Daisuke Sasaki 5030 Totsukacho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. F term (reference) in the Software Division of Manufacturing 5B018 GA06 KA03 MA01 QA20 5B042 KK02 KK08 LA20 MA08 MA09 MC07 5B082 DA02 DC06 DE06

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A computer comprising a processor, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and an operating system, comprising: a plurality of areas divided based on an address specifying a memory area to be initialized or a memory range specifying information indicating a memory amount; Dump storage means for storing the contents in the auxiliary storage device, dump file generation means for converting the memory contents stored in the auxiliary storage device into a file, and a numerical value for dividing the memory into a plurality of areas according to the address or the amount of the memory. Memory initialization means for initializing a memory based on the memory configuration information shown, and when the operating system detects a failure of the computer, the dump storage means divides the memory based on the memory range designation information. The memory contents of the first area are stored in the auxiliary storage device, and the The area saved by the storage unit is set in the memory configuration information, the memory is initialized by the memory initialization unit, and the computer is restarted.After the operating system completes restarting the computer, the dump storage unit The stored first area is read from the auxiliary storage device, the memory area read by the dump file generating means is converted into a file, and the second and subsequent areas divided based on the memory range designation information are stored in the auxiliary storage device. And converting the second and subsequent areas from the auxiliary storage device to a file. 2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein said dump file generation means generates a file from an auxiliary storage device or a memory. 3. A computer comprising a processor, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and an operating system, wherein a plurality of areas are divided based on an address specifying a memory area to be initialized or a memory range specifying information indicating a memory amount. Dump storage means for storing the contents in the auxiliary storage device, dump file generation means for converting the memory contents stored in the auxiliary storage device into a file, and a numerical value for dividing the memory into a plurality of areas according to the address or the amount of the memory. Memory initialization means for initializing the memory based on the memory configuration information shown, and dump area management for managing a storage location where the memory contents were previously stored when the dump storage means stores the memory contents in the auxiliary storage device. If the operating system detects a computer failure, The memory content of the first area divided based on the memory range designation information is stored in a storage location of an auxiliary storage device designated by the dump area management means, and the area saved by the dump storage means is stored in memory configuration information. When setting and initializing by the memory initializing means and restarting the computer, the memory contents of the second and subsequent Nth areas divided based on the memory range designation information are stored in the auxiliary storage device. Converts the (N-1) th area from the auxiliary storage device to a file using the same storage location as the storage location of the memory area of the first area designated by the dump area management means. And storing the N-th area in an auxiliary storage device after executing the above. 4. The computer according to claim 1, further comprising an operating system having a virtual storage control function. 5. The computer according to claim 1, wherein said computer further comprises a memory range setting means for setting information in said memory range designation information by a user. 6. A method for acquiring a dump in a computer having a memory and an auxiliary storage device, the instruction file indicating a minimum memory amount necessary for restarting the computer, and a memory for managing an area of a memory used by the computer. When the configuration information is stored and a memory content at the time of failure occurrence is stored in the dump storage area, a part of the memory content is stored in the auxiliary storage device based on the instruction file, and the stored memory area is stored in the memory configuration. A dump acquisition method characterized by setting information. 7. The dump acquisition method according to claim 6, further comprising, when restarting the computer, using only a part of the memory stored in the auxiliary storage device to complete the restart. How to get a dump. 8. The dump acquisition method according to claim 7, further comprising, after completion of the restart, converting the memory contents not stored in the auxiliary storage device into a file.