Provided by: libpam-modules_1.1.8-3.2ubuntu2.3_amd64 
NAME
limits.conf - configuration file for the pam_limits module
DESCRIPTION
The pam_limits.so module applies ulimit limits, nice priority and number of simultaneous
login sessions limit to user login sessions. This description of the configuration file
syntax applies to the /etc/security/limits.conf file and *.conf files in the
/etc/security/limits.d directory.
The syntax of the lines is as follows:
<domain><type><item><value>
The fields listed above should be filled as follows:
<domain>
• a username
• a groupname, with @group syntax. This should not be confused with netgroups.
• the wildcard *, for default entry.
• the wildcard %, for maxlogins limit only, can also be used with %group syntax. If
the % wildcard is used alone it is identical to using * with maxsyslogins limit.
With a group specified after % it limits the total number of logins of all users
that are member of the group.
• an uid range specified as <min_uid>:<max_uid>. If min_uid is omitted, the match is
exact for the max_uid. If max_uid is omitted, all uids greater than or equal
min_uid match.
• a gid range specified as @<min_gid>:<max_gid>. If min_gid is omitted, the match is
exact for the max_gid. If max_gid is omitted, all gids greater than or equal
min_gid match. For the exact match all groups including the user's supplementary
groups are examined. For the range matches only the user's primary group is
examined.
• a gid specified as %:<gid> applicable to maxlogins limit only. It limits the total
number of logins of all users that are member of the group with the specified gid.
NOTE: group and wildcard limits are not applied to the root user. To set a limit for
the root user, this field must contain the literal username root.
<type>
hard
for enforcing hard resource limits. These limits are set by the superuser and
enforced by the Kernel. The user cannot raise his requirement of system resources
above such values.
soft
for enforcing soft resource limits. These limits are ones that the user can move
up or down within the permitted range by any pre-existing hard limits. The values
specified with this token can be thought of as default values, for normal system
usage.
-
for enforcing both soft and hard resource limits together.
Note, if you specify a type of '-' but neglect to supply the item and value fields
then the module will never enforce any limits on the specified user/group etc. .
<item>
core
limits the core file size (KB)
data
maximum data size (KB)
fsize
maximum filesize (KB)
memlock
maximum locked-in-memory address space (KB)
nofile
maximum number of open files
rss
maximum resident set size (KB) (Ignored in Linux 2.4.30 and higher)
stack
maximum stack size (KB)
cpu
maximum CPU time (minutes)
nproc
maximum number of processes
as
address space limit (KB)
maxlogins
maximum number of logins for this user except for this with uid=0
maxsyslogins
maximum number of all logins on system
priority
the priority to run user process with (negative values boost process priority)
locks
maximum locked files (Linux 2.4 and higher)
sigpending
maximum number of pending signals (Linux 2.6 and higher)
msgqueue
maximum memory used by POSIX message queues (bytes) (Linux 2.6 and higher)
nice
maximum nice priority allowed to raise to (Linux 2.6.12 and higher) values:
[-20,19]
rtprio
maximum realtime priority allowed for non-privileged processes (Linux 2.6.12 and
higher)
chroot
the directory to chroot the user to
All items support the values -1, unlimited or infinity indicating no limit, except for
priority and nice.
If a hard limit or soft limit of a resource is set to a valid value, but outside of the
supported range of the local system, the system may reject the new limit or unexpected
behavior may occur. If the control value required is used, the module will reject the
login if a limit could not be set.
In general, individual limits have priority over group limits, so if you impose no limits
for admin group, but one of the members in this group have a limits line, the user will
have its limits set according to this line.
Also, please note that all limit settings are set per login. They are not global, nor are
they permanent; existing only for the duration of the session. One exception is the
maxlogin option, this one is system wide. But there is a race, concurrent logins at the
same time will not always be detect as such but only counted as one.
In the limits configuration file, the '#' character introduces a comment - after which the
rest of the line is ignored.
The pam_limits module does report configuration problems found in its configuration file
and errors via syslog(3).
EXAMPLES
These are some example lines which might be specified in /etc/security/limits.conf.
* soft core 0
root hard core 100000
* hard nofile 512
@student hard nproc 20
@faculty soft nproc 20
@faculty hard nproc 50
ftp hard nproc 0
@student - maxlogins 4
:123 hard cpu 5000
@500: soft cpu 10000
600:700 hard locks 10
SEE ALSO
pam_limits(8), pam.d(5), pam(7), getrlimit(2)getrlimit(3p)
AUTHOR
pam_limits was initially written by Cristian Gafton <gafton@redhat.com>