Is it possible to activate the watchdog on any Linux machine?












3














On an Orange Pi Zero running a Raspbian server, it's possible to use the watchdog very easily just by running the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog as root. The idea is that the system will certainly reboot after some time that this command is executed, so I need to keep repeating this command in a regular interval of time to keep the system on. We can implement a watchdog using cron as root and making it execute the following script on boot:



#!/bin/bash

while [ true ]; do

    echo 1 > /dev/watchdog

    sleep 5

done


This script works fine on the Orange Pi Zero... However, on my desktop computer running the Ubuntu 18.04 the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at all. Is it possible to activate the watchdog on any device running Linux? Or is it one parameter that needs to be specified on the Kernel while it's compiled?






linux-kernel raspbian watchdog







share|improve this question





























    3














    On an Orange Pi Zero running a Raspbian server, it's possible to use the watchdog very easily just by running the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog as root. The idea is that the system will certainly reboot after some time that this command is executed, so I need to keep repeating this command in a regular interval of time to keep the system on. We can implement a watchdog using cron as root and making it execute the following script on boot:



    #!/bin/bash
    
while [ true ]; do
    
    echo 1 > /dev/watchdog
    
    sleep 5
    
done


    This script works fine on the Orange Pi Zero... However, on my desktop computer running the Ubuntu 18.04 the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at all. Is it possible to activate the watchdog on any device running Linux? Or is it one parameter that needs to be specified on the Kernel while it's compiled?






    linux-kernel raspbian watchdog







    share|improve this question



























      3












      3








      3







      On an Orange Pi Zero running a Raspbian server, it's possible to use the watchdog very easily just by running the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog as root. The idea is that the system will certainly reboot after some time that this command is executed, so I need to keep repeating this command in a regular interval of time to keep the system on. We can implement a watchdog using cron as root and making it execute the following script on boot:



      #!/bin/bash
      
while [ true ]; do
      
    echo 1 > /dev/watchdog
      
    sleep 5
      
done


      This script works fine on the Orange Pi Zero... However, on my desktop computer running the Ubuntu 18.04 the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at all. Is it possible to activate the watchdog on any device running Linux? Or is it one parameter that needs to be specified on the Kernel while it's compiled?






      linux-kernel raspbian watchdog







      share|improve this question















      On an Orange Pi Zero running a Raspbian server, it's possible to use the watchdog very easily just by running the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog as root. The idea is that the system will certainly reboot after some time that this command is executed, so I need to keep repeating this command in a regular interval of time to keep the system on. We can implement a watchdog using cron as root and making it execute the following script on boot:



      #!/bin/bash
      
while [ true ]; do
      
    echo 1 > /dev/watchdog
      
    sleep 5
      
done


      This script works fine on the Orange Pi Zero... However, on my desktop computer running the Ubuntu 18.04 the command echo 1 > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at all. Is it possible to activate the watchdog on any device running Linux? Or is it one parameter that needs to be specified on the Kernel while it's compiled?






      linux-kernel raspbian watchdog




      linux-kernel raspbian watchdog






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago

























      asked 7 hours ago









      Rafael Muynarsk

      360515




      360515






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          4














          There are two types of watchdog; hardware and software. On the Orange Pi the SOC chip provides a hardware watchdog. If initialised then it needs to be pinged every so often, otherwise it performs a board reset.



          However not many desktops have hardware watchdogs, so the kernel provides a software version. Now the kernel will try and keep track, and force a reboot. This isn't as good as a hardware watchdog because if the kernel, itself, breaks then nothing will trigger the reset. But it works.



          The software watchdog can be initialised by loading the softdog module



          % modprobe softdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  120.573945] softdog: Software Watchdog Timer: 0.08 initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)


          We can see this has a 60 second timeout by default.



          If I then do



          % echo > /dev/watchdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  154.514976] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!


          We can see the watchdog hadn't timed out.



          I then leave the machine idle for a minute and on the console I see



          [  214.624112] softdog: Initiating system reboot


          and the OS reboots.






          share|improve this answer





















          • Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
            – Stephen Kitt
            7 hours ago










          • @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
            – Rafael Muynarsk
            7 hours ago






          • 1




            If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
            – Stephen Harris
            7 hours ago








          • 1




            “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago






          • 1




            @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago











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          1 Answer
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          4














          There are two types of watchdog; hardware and software. On the Orange Pi the SOC chip provides a hardware watchdog. If initialised then it needs to be pinged every so often, otherwise it performs a board reset.



          However not many desktops have hardware watchdogs, so the kernel provides a software version. Now the kernel will try and keep track, and force a reboot. This isn't as good as a hardware watchdog because if the kernel, itself, breaks then nothing will trigger the reset. But it works.



          The software watchdog can be initialised by loading the softdog module



          % modprobe softdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  120.573945] softdog: Software Watchdog Timer: 0.08 initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)


          We can see this has a 60 second timeout by default.



          If I then do



          % echo > /dev/watchdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  154.514976] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!


          We can see the watchdog hadn't timed out.



          I then leave the machine idle for a minute and on the console I see



          [  214.624112] softdog: Initiating system reboot


          and the OS reboots.






          share|improve this answer





















          • Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
            – Stephen Kitt
            7 hours ago










          • @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
            – Rafael Muynarsk
            7 hours ago






          • 1




            If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
            – Stephen Harris
            7 hours ago








          • 1




            “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago






          • 1




            @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago
















          4














          There are two types of watchdog; hardware and software. On the Orange Pi the SOC chip provides a hardware watchdog. If initialised then it needs to be pinged every so often, otherwise it performs a board reset.



          However not many desktops have hardware watchdogs, so the kernel provides a software version. Now the kernel will try and keep track, and force a reboot. This isn't as good as a hardware watchdog because if the kernel, itself, breaks then nothing will trigger the reset. But it works.



          The software watchdog can be initialised by loading the softdog module



          % modprobe softdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  120.573945] softdog: Software Watchdog Timer: 0.08 initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)


          We can see this has a 60 second timeout by default.



          If I then do



          % echo > /dev/watchdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  154.514976] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!


          We can see the watchdog hadn't timed out.



          I then leave the machine idle for a minute and on the console I see



          [  214.624112] softdog: Initiating system reboot


          and the OS reboots.






          share|improve this answer





















          • Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
            – Stephen Kitt
            7 hours ago










          • @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
            – Rafael Muynarsk
            7 hours ago






          • 1




            If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
            – Stephen Harris
            7 hours ago








          • 1




            “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago






          • 1




            @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago














          4












          4








          4






          There are two types of watchdog; hardware and software. On the Orange Pi the SOC chip provides a hardware watchdog. If initialised then it needs to be pinged every so often, otherwise it performs a board reset.



          However not many desktops have hardware watchdogs, so the kernel provides a software version. Now the kernel will try and keep track, and force a reboot. This isn't as good as a hardware watchdog because if the kernel, itself, breaks then nothing will trigger the reset. But it works.



          The software watchdog can be initialised by loading the softdog module



          % modprobe softdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  120.573945] softdog: Software Watchdog Timer: 0.08 initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)


          We can see this has a 60 second timeout by default.



          If I then do



          % echo > /dev/watchdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  154.514976] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!


          We can see the watchdog hadn't timed out.



          I then leave the machine idle for a minute and on the console I see



          [  214.624112] softdog: Initiating system reboot


          and the OS reboots.






          share|improve this answer












          There are two types of watchdog; hardware and software. On the Orange Pi the SOC chip provides a hardware watchdog. If initialised then it needs to be pinged every so often, otherwise it performs a board reset.



          However not many desktops have hardware watchdogs, so the kernel provides a software version. Now the kernel will try and keep track, and force a reboot. This isn't as good as a hardware watchdog because if the kernel, itself, breaks then nothing will trigger the reset. But it works.



          The software watchdog can be initialised by loading the softdog module



          % modprobe softdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  120.573945] softdog: Software Watchdog Timer: 0.08 initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)


          We can see this has a 60 second timeout by default.



          If I then do



          % echo > /dev/watchdog
          
% dmesg | tail -1
          
[  154.514976] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!


          We can see the watchdog hadn't timed out.



          I then leave the machine idle for a minute and on the console I see



          [  214.624112] softdog: Initiating system reboot


          and the OS reboots.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 7 hours ago









          Stephen Harris

          25k24477




          25k24477












          • Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
            – Stephen Kitt
            7 hours ago










          • @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
            – Rafael Muynarsk
            7 hours ago






          • 1




            If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
            – Stephen Harris
            7 hours ago








          • 1




            “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago






          • 1




            @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago


















          • Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
            – Stephen Kitt
            7 hours ago










          • @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
            – Rafael Muynarsk
            7 hours ago






          • 1




            If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
            – Stephen Harris
            7 hours ago








          • 1




            “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago






          • 1




            @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
            – Stephen Kitt
            6 hours ago
















          Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
          – Stephen Kitt
          7 hours ago




          Many desktops, laptops and servers include hardware watchdogs, often in their Super-I/O chips, or in their PCH; see the various “wdt” modules in the kernel.
          – Stephen Kitt
          7 hours ago












          @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
          – Rafael Muynarsk
          7 hours ago




          @StephenHarris Can I assume that when the command echo > /dev/watchdog doesn't work at first it's because there's no hardware watchdog for that device? Or there's still the possibility that I need to activate the hardware watchdog before using it?
          – Rafael Muynarsk
          7 hours ago




          1




          1




          If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
          – Stephen Harris
          7 hours ago






          If /dev/watchdog doesn't exist (or isn't a character device) and you know your hardware has a watchdog, then you may need to modprobe the relevant hardware driver... Modern distro's will try to load this automatically, but you may have an edge-case. None of my machines have a /dev/watchdog entry :-(
          – Stephen Harris
          7 hours ago






          1




          1




          “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
          – Stephen Kitt
          6 hours ago




          “Many”, not “all” ;-). My last two personal PCs (2003, 2013) have supported iTCO_wdt, and all my work PCs for the last decade or so have supported one driver or another, but it isn’t loaded automatically; as you mention, in many cases the relevant module needs to be loaded manually, and sometimes the firmware setup has to be configured appropriately too (and sometimes a jumper must be moved on the main board).
          – Stephen Kitt
          6 hours ago




          1




          1




          @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
          – Stephen Kitt
          6 hours ago




          @Rafael the BIOS or UEFI setup on a PC.
          – Stephen Kitt
          6 hours ago


















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