NAME

       wd_keepalive - a simplified software watchdog daemon

SYNOPSIS

       wd_keepalive [-c filename|--config-file filename]

DESCRIPTION

       This is a simplified version of the watchdog daemon. If configured so it only opens
        .IR  /dev/watchdog  ,  and  keeps  writing  to  it  often  enough to keep the kernel from
       resetting, at least once per minute. Each write delays the  reboot  time  another  minute.
       After  a minute of inactivity the watchdog hardware will cause a reset. In the case of the
       software watchdog the ability to reboot will depend on  the  state  of  the  machines  and
       interrupts.

       The   wd_keepalive  daemon  can  be  stopped  without  causing  a  reboot  if  the  device
       /dev/watchdog  is  closed  correctly,  unless   your   kernel   is   compiled   with   the
       CONFIG_WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT option enabled.

       Under high system load wd_keepalive might be swapped out of memory and may fail to make it
       back in in time. Under these circumstances the Linux kernel will  reset  the  machine.  To
       make  sure  you won't get unnecessary reboots make sure you have the variable realtime set
       to yes  in  the  configuration  file  watchdog.conf.   This  adds  real  time  support  to
       wd_keepalive:  it  will lock itself into memory and there should  be no problem even under
       the highest of loads.

       On system running out of memory the kernel will try  to  free  enough  memory  by  killing
       process.  The  wd_keepalive  daemon  itself  is exempted from this so-called out-of-memory
       killer.

OPTIONS

       Available command line options are the following:

       -c config-file, --config-file config-file
              Use   config-file   as   the   configuration   file   instead   of   the    default
              /etc/watchdog.conf.

FILES

       /dev/watchdog
              The watchdog device.

       /var/run/wd_keepalive.pid
              The pid file of the running wd_keepalive.

SEE ALSO

       watchdog.conf(5)

       watchdog(8)