mysqld is being killed by the kernel (in the parlor with a candlestick)

[Roan Horning <roan@horning.us>]

Hi,

I've recently installed mysql 4.1 on my debian stable box.  It is being 
used with a php4 application running on Apache2.

Mysql installs fine.  I can use the command line client to log into 
mysqld.  Create databases, create users etc.

After getting my php4 app running, configure and initially working. I 
start getting this error.

   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6782 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6785 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6786 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6787 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6788 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6789 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6792 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6793 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6794 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6795 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:43 alpha mysqld_safe[6806]: Number of processes running 
now: 0
   Jul 29 00:09:44 alpha mysqld_safe[6808]: restarted

It would run a little and then:

   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6811 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6813 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6814 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6815 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6816 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:51 alpha kernel: Out of Memory: Killed process 6817 
(mysqld).
   Jul 29 00:09:52 alpha mysqld_safe[6821]: ended

I can restart mysqld from /etc/init.d/mysql.   It seems to run until I 
submit a file to be uploaded using the php4 application. I've read 
through and tried various memory settings for php, mysql, and apache2 
but nothing seems to solve the problem.  The file isn't saved in the 
mysql database, just a reference to it.

Here's a snapshot from top. This is with mysql and apache2 running, but 
not using the php4 app:

   top - 11:54:58 up 366 days,  5:32,  1 user,  load average: 0.64, 
0.67, 0.39
   Tasks: 101 total,   1 running,  96 sleeping,   0 stopped,   4 zombie
   Cpu(s):   0.7% user,   1.3% system,   0.0% nice,  98.0% idle
   Mem:    240108k total,   235692k used,     4416k free,     3672k buffers
   Swap:   104416k total,   102804k used,     1612k free,    67228k cached

Here's a snapshot from top while the php4 app is processing the upload.

   top - 12:01:20 up 366 days,  5:38,  1 user,  load average: 1.03, 
0.94, 0.59
   Tasks:  94 total,   3 running,  87 sleeping,   0 stopped,   4 zombie
   Cpu(s):  97.7% user,   2.3% system,   0.0% nice,   0.0% idle
   Mem:    240108k total,   236860k used,     3248k free,     3276k buffers
   Swap:   104416k total,   104416k used,        0k free,    31444k cached
...
    5020 www-data  20   0 21088  17m 4724 R 97.4  7.5   0:09.89 apache2

Has anyone run into this problem?  My head is sore from beating it 
against my desk.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,  Roan