[Bug 1080978] Re: apport forcefully overrides sysctl kernel.core_pattern from values set in /etc/sysctl.*

[Paul Smith]

This is quite frustrating.  I wish it would be addressed... somehow...
(still getting this problem on 18.04 LTS).

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Title:
  apport forcefully overrides sysctl kernel.core_pattern from values set
  in /etc/sysctl.*

Status in apport package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I think that the way apport registers itself as a core dump handler
  with the system is badly behaved with respect to other configuration
  processes one would expect to follow on a Debian or Ubuntu based
  system. It forcibly overrides settings specified by a user in
  /etc/sysctl.conf, and does not employ /etc/sysctl.d. Thus it is
  overriding settings that have been configured elsewhere upon start and
  upon shutdown.

  I think perhaps it should be checking for non-default values in these
  settings and not dynamically playing with them while it starts and
  stops.

  Thanks,
  Matthew.

  mhall at mhsm:src$ sudo fgrep kernel.core /etc/sysctl.conf
  kernel.core_pattern = /var/crash/core.%e.%u.%t
  kernel.core_uses_pid = 1
  mhall at mhsm:src$ 

  $ sudo sysctl -a | fgrep -i kernel.core
  kernel.core_uses_pid = 1
  kernel.core_pattern = |/usr/share/apport/apport %p %s %c
  kernel.core_pipe_limit = 0

  $ cat /etc/init/apport.conf 
  ... SNIP ...
  pre-start script
  ... SNIP ...
      echo "|/usr/share/apport/apport %p %s %c" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
  ... SNIP ...
  post-stop script
  ... SNIP ...
      if [ "`dd if=/proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern count=1 bs=1 2>/dev/null`" != "|" ]
      then
  	exit 1
      else
  	echo "core" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
      fi
  end script

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