kernel panic

On Unix-derived operating systems, an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error, where the system halts, displays an error, and dumps kernel memory to disk.

Noun

  1. On Unix-derived operating systems, an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error, where the system halts, displays an error, and dumps kernel memory to disk.
    • If the timer doesn't get updated, watchdog will notice and force a kernel panic. - 2005, Karl Kopper, The Linux Enterprise Cluster, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 178:

    Synonyms: panic

Forms

kernel panics