Strange Files 'Core.5002' in the root directory

[InfoStrides]

I am seeing some strange files in the root directory of my forum.

See the screenshot below for them:



What is the cause?

[alex809]

umm depends.

what version of smf do you have?

and in what directory are these strange files located?

[Kindred]

no, it does not depend....   Alex. We appreciate users trying to help out... that's how most of us got our start, but you need to address issues to which you have the background to answer.
These files actually have nothing to do with smf itself.

InfoStrides...   CORE files are created by your server when it enounters some sort of critical error.
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=851342
that discussion has some good information.
(searching google gives some more good info and descriptions --- core files on server)

That being said, I think you should check with your host, since a core file usually indicates some sort of server side error or misconfiguration.... or something which is causing your server to choke.

Have you installed any mods lately?

[MrPhil]

A core file means that a binary executable program died, and this is its corpse. This could be PHP, MySQL, the server, cron, shell, or almost anything else. Your host tech support should have the means to examine the core file and determine what program died, what it was doing, and possibly even what caused it to go belly up. Unless you're allowed to install executable programs yourself, there's nothing you should be able to do to cause a host-installed program to die, so this is something your host should be interested in resolving. E.g., if MySQL died and had to be restarted, it could happen to other customers and result in general unhappiness.

If you get a core file once in a Blue Moon, just erase it and don't worry about it. If you get a lot of them in a short time, your host should definitely be brought in.

[InfoStrides]

Thank you all for your quick responses. I actually contacted my host and had a quick response. Read the response below:

These are called core files. They are created by the server when a program crashes or 'core dumps'. They are the state of memory at the time when it crashed so that you can troubleshoot later. They seem to be caused by php and I'm investigating further now.

It looks like it was being caused by APC. Specifically, the version of APC as compared to the version of PHP you are running. I've fixed this, can you let me know if you see these files again? I've left the current ones in there, but I can clear them out if you would like.