189

This is happening on Ubuntu Release 12.04 (precise) 64-bit Kernel Linux 3.2.0-25-virtual

I'm trying to increase the number of open files allowed for a user. This is for my eclipse java application where the current limit of 1024 is not enough.

According to the posts I've found so far, I should be able to put lines into

/etc/security/limits.conf like this:

soft nofile 4096
hard nofile 4096

to increase the number of open files allowed for all users.

But that's not working for me and I think the problem is not related to that file.

For all users, the default limit is 1024, regardless of what is in /etc/security/limits.conf (I rebooted after changing that file)

$ ulimit -n
1024

Now, despite the entries in /etc/security/limits.conf I can't increase that:

$ ulimit -n 2048

-bash: ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Operation not permitted The weird part is that I can change the limit downwards, but can't change it upwards - even to go back to a number which is below the original limit:

$ ulimit -n 800
$ ulimit -n
800

$ ulimit -n 900

-bash: ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Operation not permitted

As root, I can change that limit to whatever I want, up or down. It doesn't even seem to care about the supposedly system-wide limit in /proc/sys/fs/file-max

# cat /proc/sys/fs/file-max
188897

# ulimit -n 188898
# ulimit -n 
188898

But even I get eclipse to run as root, my application still crashes because of "Too Many Open File" exception!

So far, I haven't found any way to increase the open files limit for a non-root user.

How should I properly do this? I have looked at several other posts but no luck!

3
  • 8
    Also, note that after you edit /etc/security/limits.conf, you may have to logout and then back in before you can use the new max limit. I did this, and was baffled by ulimit -Hs still showing 1000 when I had just raised it to 1000000! Then I logged out and back in, and ulimit showed the new amount.
    – Cerin
    Mar 15, 2014 at 21:28
  • 2
    For GUI session you may find also important (Ubuntu 16+) this thread. Mar 8, 2018 at 7:57
  • Very important! My solution came from Waldemar's link on superuser.com/questions/1200539/… Also, logging out was insufficient, I needed to reboot (restart) for it to work. Mar 10, 2023 at 22:14

4 Answers 4

172

The ulimit command by default changes the HARD limits, which you (a user) can lower, but cannot raise.

Use the -S option to change the SOFT limit, which can range from 0-{HARD}.

I have actually aliased ulimit to ulimit -S, so it defaults to the soft limits all the time.

alias ulimit='ulimit -S'

As for your issue, you're missing a column in your entries in /etc/security/limits.conf.

There should be FOUR columns, but the first is missing in your example.

* soft nofile 4096
* hard nofile 4096

The first column describes WHO the limit is to apply for. '*' is a wildcard, meaning all users. To raise the limits for root, you have to explicitly enter 'root' instead of '*'.

You also need to edit /etc/pam.d/common-session* and add the following line to the end:

session required pam_limits.so
15
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    How do I change the Hard limit for the maximum number of open file descriptors? My problem is that I need to allow my Eclipse application to have as many as open file as it wants but the limit of 4096 is not enough and I want to set it to as high as possible maybe 500000. My setting in the limits.conf is as you mentioned with the star and still the Hard limit is not moving.
    – iCode
    Jul 11, 2012 at 4:13
  • 2
    Well, you discovered the value of /proc/sys/fs/file-max was 188,897... So I'd say your upper limit is between 188,000 (allowed) and 500,000 (not allowed). Boggles the mind that you've got something that requires over 65000 open files simultaneously. Wow. Usually that's handled on big-iron. I'd be suspicious of a programming, uh, misconception. (With all due respect, please)
    – lornix
    Jul 11, 2012 at 21:13
  • 4
    that was it: session required pam_limits.so, thanks!
    – lethalman
    Nov 14, 2013 at 11:15
  • 18
    At first I missed the wildcard on the end of /etc/pam.d/common-session* and just edited common-session, and even after a reboot it didn't work. But after adding the same line (for pam_limits.so) to common-session-noninteractive, ulimit -n displayed the new value after a fresh login (no reboot required). FWIW I was trying to change the limit for root (only).
    – Lambart
    Jun 26, 2014 at 18:12
  • 3
    also check if value different if logged in as root. superuser.com/questions/1200539/…
    – Robbo_UK
    Jul 21, 2017 at 13:29
24

If you use soft and hard limits on a per user basis you can use something like:

su USER --shell /bin/bash --command "ulimit -n"

to check wether your settings are working for that specific user or not.

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  • 1
    I was also able to use this to unzip a file against ulimit rules su i --shell /bin/bash --command "ulimit -f 8000000 && gunzip -f file_name.gz"
    – Íhor Mé
    Mar 11, 2020 at 22:38
9
ulimit -S -n 4096

That should increase your soft limit for open files (-n) to 4096.

2
  • 4
    The soft limit is rarely the problem, in my experience. It's the hard limit that has to be increased. May 30, 2020 at 23:29
  • This helped in my case. My soft limit was 1024 and the hard limit was way higher than that (default Ubuntu 22.04 installation)
    – Orlando
    Nov 6, 2023 at 10:04
6

I have lots of trouble getting this to work.

Using the following allows you to update it regardless of your user permission.

sudo sysctl -w fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000
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    I tried this since I'm having same issue but it did not work $ sudo sysctl -w fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000 fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 100000 $ ulimit -n 1024
    – grepmaster
    Dec 7, 2015 at 11:12
  • This also worked for me on Ubuntu 20.04 inside WSL2, on a largeish React project which is using parcel for packaging. It does not necessarily seem to be the "open files" for me, but rather the "watched" files.
    – donmartin
    Sep 17, 2020 at 14:33
  • 1
    I don't think that inotify is related to ulimits.
    – jjmontes
    Feb 10, 2021 at 21:34

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