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Accepted
pkaramol
Asked: 2018-08-02 14:25:08 +0800 CST

Unable to modify ulimit

  • 772

I am on Ubuntu 18.04

Trying to modify max number of processes (hard limit) via the following command, and getting the respective error:

$ ulimit -H -u 500
bash: ulimit: max user processes: cannot modify limit: Invalid argument

In the mean time ...

$ ulimit -Hu
46955

Any idea why?

process ulimit

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You have to lower the soft limit before you can lower the hard limit.

    You can see the differences between them using the relevant flags. For example:

    $ ulimit -Su
900

$ ulimit -Hu
900

    Here, my hard limit and soft limit are the same. If I attempt to lower my soft limit, it succeeds:

    $ ulimit -Su 800
$ ulimit -Su
800

    But if I try to lower my hard limit below the soft limit, it fails:

    $ ulimit -Hu 700
bash: ulimit: max user processes: cannot modify limit: Invalid argument

    So, I first need to lower my soft limit so that I can set the new hard limit:

    $ ulimit -Su 700
$ ulimit -Hu 700
$ ulimit -Su
700
$ ulimit -Hu
700
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