Memory Threshold Notifications

Last Updated: August 09, 2011

The Memory Threshold Notifications feature allows you to reserve memory for critical notifications and to configure a router to issue notifications when available memory falls below a specified threshold.

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the Feature Information Table at the end of this document.

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Information About Memory Threshold Notifications

The Memory Threshold Notifications feature provides two ways to mitigate low-memory conditions on a router: notifications can be sent to indicate that free memory has fallen below a configured threshold, and memory can be reserved to ensure that sufficient memory is available to issue critical notifications. To implement the Memory Threshold Notifications feature, you should understand the following concepts:

Memory Threshold Notifications

Notifications are messages issued by the router. When you specify a memory threshold using the memory free low-watermark command, for example, the router issues a notification when available free memory falls below the specified threshold, and again once available free memory rises to 5 percent above the specified threshold. The following are examples of memory threshold notifications:

Available Free Memory Less Than the Specified Threshold

000029: *Aug 12 22:31:19.559: %SYS-4-FREEMEMLOW: Free Memory has dropped below 2000k
Pool: Processor  Free: 66814056  freemem_lwm: 204800000

Available Free Memory Recovered to More Than the Specified Threshold

000032: *Aug 12 22:33:29.411: %SYS-5-FREEMEMRECOVER: Free Memory has recovered 2000k
Pool: Processor  Free: 66813960  freemem_lwm: 0

Memory Reservation

Memory reservation for critical operations ensures that management processes, such as event logging, continue to function even when router memory is exhausted.

How to Define Memory Threshold Notifications

Setting a Low Free Memory Threshold

To set a low free memory threshold, perform the following steps:

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    enable

2.    configure terminal

3.   Do one of the following:

  • memory free low-watermark processor threshold
  • memory free low-watermark io threshold


DETAILED STEPS
  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1
enable


Example:

Router> enable

 

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.
 
Step 2
configure terminal


Example:

Router# configure terminal

 

Enters global configuration mode.

 
Step 3
Do one of the following:
  • memory free low-watermark processor threshold
  • memory free low-watermark io threshold


Example:

Router(config)# memory free low-watermark processor 20000



Example:



Example:

Router(config)# memory free low-watermark io 20000

 

Specifies a threshold in kilobytes of free processor or input/output (I/O) memory. To view acceptable values for the memory threshold, enter the following command:

  • memory free low-watermark processor ?

or

  • memory free low-watermark io ?
 

Reserving Memory for Critical Notifications

When a router is overloaded by processes, the amount of available memory might fall to levels insufficient for it to issue critical notifications. To reserve a region of memory to be used by the router for the issuing of critical notifications, perform the following steps:

SUMMARY STEPS

1.    enable

2.    configure terminal

3.    memory reserve critical kilobytes


DETAILED STEPS
  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1
enable


Example:

Router> enable

 

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.
 
Step 2
configure terminal


Example:

Router# configure terminal

 

Enters global configuration mode.

 
Step 3
memory reserve critical kilobytes


Example:

Router(config)# memory reserve critical 1000

 

Reserves the specified amount of memory in kilobytes so that the router can issue critical notifications.

  • The amount of memory reserved for critical notifications cannot exceed 25 percent of total available memory.
 

Configuration Examples for Memory Threshold Notifications

The following examples show how to configure a router to issue notifications when available memory falls below a specified threshold and how to reserve memory for critical notifications:

Setting a Low Free Memory Threshold Examples

The following example specifies a threshold of 20000 KB of free processor memory before the router issues notifications:

Threshold for Free Processor Memory

Router(config)# memory free low-watermark processor 20000

The following example specifies a threshold of 20000 KB of free I/O memory before the router issues notifications:

Threshold for Free IO Memory

Router(config)# memory free low-watermark io 20000

If available free memory falls below the specified threshold, the router sends a notification message like this one:

000029: *Aug 12 22:31:19.559: %SYS-4-FREEMEMLOW: Free Memory has dropped below 20000k
Pool: Processor  Free: 66814056  freemem_lwm: 204800000

Once available free memory rises to above 5 percent of the threshold, another notification message like this is sent:

000032: *Aug 12 22:33:29.411: %SYS-5-FREEMEMRECOVER: Free Memory has recovered 20000k
Pool: Processor  Free: 66813960  freemem_lwm: 0

Reserving Memory for Critical Notifications Example

The following example reserves 1000 KB of memory for critical notifications:

Router# memory reserved critical 1000

Note


The amount of memory reserved for critical notifications cannot exceed 25 percent of total available memory.

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to the Memory Threshold Notifications feature:

Related Documents

Related Topic

Document Title

Logging system messages

Troubleshooting and Fault Management module

Standards

Standards

Title

No new or modified standards are supported by this feature and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature.

--

MIBs

MIBs

MIBs Link

No new or modified MIBs are supported by this feature and support for existing MIBs has not been modified by this feature.

To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

RFCs

RFCs

Title

No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature and support for existing RFCs has not been modified by this feature.

--

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies.

To receive security and technical information about your products, you can subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds.

Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

Feature Information for Memory Threshold Notifications

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Table 1 Feature Information for Memory Threshold Notifications

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

Memory Threshold Notifications

12.2(18)S 12.0(26)S 12.3(4)T

The Memory Threshold Notifications feature allows you to reserve memory for critical notifications and to configure a router to issue notifications when available memory falls below a specified threshold.

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