High CPU usage on (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server)

[HenryTheEight]

Hi

I just installed a fresh ISPconfig following the perfect setup on a esx server vm.
I sometimes get an intermittent problem in which my CPU usage (2 vm cores used) would suddenly both maxed out and I lose access to any serving web pages. During
this time I also can't ssh (or lose ssh connection if I was logged on), everything jams up. I can't even access the console. Everything seems to hang up, this seems to happen randomly, but once it starts the only remedy is to reboot and the CPU goes back to low i.e. < 2%.

Is anybody facing this problem, I just upgraded my server to Intel Q9450 server. I didn't have this problem before on my older servers (AMD X2) with Centos. Using Latest version of Ispconfig.

Advice and help needed. Complete newbie and lost as to what is the problem or how to solve this. Anyone else experiencing this?

[falko]

Any errors in your logs?

Did you run

top

to find out which processes are eating up your resources?

[HenryTheEight]

Sorry to be a complete newbie/dummy,

What logs should I be looking at and where can I get these logs
from Ubuntu.

My Esx server logs did highlight high cpu usage in which all VM cpus
on Ubuntu were at 100% for more than half and hour before I reset/reboot it.

Please advise on the which log files and where, so that I can give
you more info/feedback.

Thank you for your patience.

BTW I can't run 'top' as VM console/screen just hangs, no network access to ssh but
CPUs are all maxed.

[till]

Please login with the user root on the shell and execute the command "top" as falko suggested. This programs listed on top are using the most computing power.

[HenryTheEight]

Just to reiterate and please forgive me.

The problem is quite intermittent/random in which I am not sure what triggers the sudden max cpu usage from almost idle. So there is no sure way for me to repeat the trigger. Sometimes it is due to ftp transfer, sometimes in the middle of using ispconfig (not certain on what cause this).

When cpu is idle all is ok i.e. networking, console, ssh, apache/php webpages, ispconfig all works fine. 'Top' command registers no highly active processes and I can run all linux command. All seem to work normally.

When this so call cpu glitch occurs (i.e. CPU on ESX show max usage), all interaction with the server freezes. SSH disconnects, Console unresponsive i.e. can't issue commands ie. type etc. (not even top) to see what has suddenly triggered or what processes has launch to cause this.

Is there a log file within Ubuntu which has a log of the process prior to this event? If so, any advice on location.

Thanks in advance.

BTW FYI I am not using any GUI e.g. Gnome on Ubuntu 'Server', I have heard and experienced that if you did have a GUI is screws up ISPConfig and may result in similarly high CPU usage. All install procedures of the Perfect setup followed to the letter. Setup is virtually fresh.

[till]

You should try to switch the clamav installation to clamd on your server:

http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16204

Originally Posted by HenryTheEight

BTW FYI I am not using any GUI e.g. Gnome on Ubuntu 'Server', I have heard and experienced that if you did have a GUI is screws up ISPConfig and may result in similarly high CPU usage. All install procedures of the Perfect setup followed to the letter. Setup is virtually fresh.

This happens only on Fedora and the load is not that high, just 1.0 and it can be fixed easily by removing the last entry in shells.

[sbrummer]

Hi,

I'm experiencing the exact same problem. Having installed Ubuntu Server 8.04 from cd 5 days ago on a vmware esx client, i'm now seeing this high cpu load problem.

Today I just left it running, while I was searching forums like this one. After 27 minutes the load went down to 50%, and now web access and ssh logins seems to hang indefinatly. When it was at 100% load both simply timed out.

The ESX server is running on a quad core xeon, my client os has 2 cpu's assigned.
The server could only have been serving web pages when it hanged. Nobody was logged in.

I will now reboot and check if I have installed all updates. I will try to install vmware tools also, if it's possible on ubuntu, and try to run with only one cpu.

If somebody reading this knows about the problem I would like to hear about it.

Thanks in advance.

[falko]

Not sure, but maybe another kernel helps?

[sbrummer]

Hi Falco,

Thanks for the reply.
For now I have managed to get vmware tools installed, by following this guide:
http://www.gorillapond.com/2006/07/3...ols-on-ubuntu/
It has now been running stable for two days, but it's to early to say if the problem is gone.
If it hangs again, I will try to change it to use only one cpu.
I'll post here about my progress.

[sbrummer]

Hi all,

My server has now been running for 6 days without problems, so it seems the problem was solved when I installed vmware tools.