How do I use the softdog module?

I am trying to use the software watchdog kernel module called softdog. I am not sure how to use it properly.

I have removed the module from ...

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf

Then I have run...

modprobe softdog

This resulted in the following line in dmesg...

│[60656.721980] softdog: initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=0)

So it seems like softdog was initialized correctly.

Once softdog initializes the files /dev/watchdog and /dev/watchdog0 are created.

But I have not started a watchdog daemon, so I assume no one is feeding these files (no clue why there is two).

I am expecting that because I do not have a watchdog daemon installed, that softdog will reboot the system....but this is not what I am seeing. (fyi I plan on installing a watchdog daemon once I can confirm that softdog module is capable of restarting the system).

Has anyone ever successfully configured the softdog module to work as a software watchdog?

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