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NAME
getrlimit, setrlimit, prlimit - get/set resource limits
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/resource.h>
int getrlimit(int resource, struct rlimit *rlim);
int setrlimit(int resource, const struct rlimit *rlim);
int prlimit(pid_t pid, int resource, const struct rlimit *new_limit,
struct rlimit *old_limit);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
prlimit(): _GNU_SOURCE && _FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64
DESCRIPTION
The getrlimit() and setrlimit() system calls get and set resource limits respectively. Each resource has
an associated soft and hard limit, as defined by the rlimit structure:
struct rlimit {
rlim_t rlim_cur; /* Soft limit */
rlim_t rlim_max; /* Hard limit (ceiling for rlim_cur) */
};
The soft limit is the value that the kernel enforces for the corresponding resource. The hard limit acts
as a ceiling for the soft limit: an unprivileged process may set only its soft limit to a value in the
range from 0 up to the hard limit, and (irreversibly) lower its hard limit. A privileged process (under
Linux: one with the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability) may make arbitrary changes to either limit value.
The value RLIM_INFINITY denotes no limit on a resource (both in the structure returned by getrlimit() and
in the structure passed to setrlimit()).
The resource argument must be one of:
RLIMIT_AS
The maximum size of the process's virtual memory (address space) in bytes. This limit affects
calls to brk(2), mmap(2) and mremap(2), which fail with the error ENOMEM upon exceeding this
limit. Also automatic stack expansion will fail (and generate a SIGSEGV that kills the process if
no alternate stack has been made available via sigaltstack(2)). Since the value is a long, on
machines with a 32-bit long either this limit is at most 2 GiB, or this resource is unlimited.
RLIMIT_CORE
Maximum size of core file. When 0 no core dump files are created. When nonzero, larger dumps are
truncated to this size.
RLIMIT_CPU
CPU time limit in seconds. When the process reaches the soft limit, it is sent a SIGXCPU signal.
The default action for this signal is to terminate the process. However, the signal can be
caught, and the handler can return control to the main program. If the process continues to
consume CPU time, it will be sent SIGXCPU once per second until the hard limit is reached, at
which time it is sent SIGKILL. (This latter point describes Linux behavior. Implementations vary
in how they treat processes which continue to consume CPU time after reaching the soft limit.
Portable applications that need to catch this signal should perform an orderly termination upon
first receipt of SIGXCPU.)
RLIMIT_DATA
The maximum size of the process's data segment (initialized data, uninitialized data, and heap).
This limit affects calls to brk(2) and sbrk(2), which fail with the error ENOMEM upon encountering
the soft limit of this resource.
RLIMIT_FSIZE
The maximum size of files that the process may create. Attempts to extend a file beyond this
limit result in delivery of a SIGXFSZ signal. By default, this signal terminates a process, but a
process can catch this signal instead, in which case the relevant system call (e.g., write(2),
truncate(2)) fails with the error EFBIG.
RLIMIT_LOCKS (Early Linux 2.4 only)
A limit on the combined number of flock(2) locks and fcntl(2) leases that this process may
establish.
RLIMIT_MEMLOCK
The maximum number of bytes of memory that may be locked into RAM. In effect this limit is
rounded down to the nearest multiple of the system page size. This limit affects mlock(2) and
mlockall(2) and the mmap(2) MAP_LOCKED operation. Since Linux 2.6.9 it also affects the shmctl(2)
SHM_LOCK operation, where it sets a maximum on the total bytes in shared memory segments (see
shmget(2)) that may be locked by the real user ID of the calling process. The shmctl(2) SHM_LOCK
locks are accounted for separately from the per-process memory locks established by mlock(2),
mlockall(2), and mmap(2) MAP_LOCKED; a process can lock bytes up to this limit in each of these
two categories. In Linux kernels before 2.6.9, this limit controlled the amount of memory that
could be locked by a privileged process. Since Linux 2.6.9, no limits are placed on the amount of
memory that a privileged process may lock, and this limit instead governs the amount of memory
that an unprivileged process may lock.
RLIMIT_MSGQUEUE (Since Linux 2.6.8)
Specifies the limit on the number of bytes that can be allocated for POSIX message queues for the
real user ID of the calling process. This limit is enforced for mq_open(3). Each message queue
that the user creates counts (until it is removed) against this limit according to the formula:
bytes = attr.mq_maxmsg * sizeof(struct msg_msg *) +
attr.mq_maxmsg * attr.mq_msgsize
where attr is the mq_attr structure specified as the fourth argument to mq_open(3).
The first addend in the formula, which includes sizeof(struct msg_msg *) (4 bytes on Linux/i386),
ensures that the user cannot create an unlimited number of zero-length messages (such messages
nevertheless each consume some system memory for bookkeeping overhead).
RLIMIT_NICE (since Linux 2.6.12, but see BUGS below)
Specifies a ceiling to which the process's nice value can be raised using setpriority(2) or
nice(2). The actual ceiling for the nice value is calculated as 20 - rlim_cur. (This strangeness
occurs because negative numbers cannot be specified as resource limit values, since they typically
have special meanings. For example, RLIM_INFINITY typically is the same as -1.)
RLIMIT_NOFILE
Specifies a value one greater than the maximum file descriptor number that can be opened by this
process. Attempts (open(2), pipe(2), dup(2), etc.) to exceed this limit yield the error EMFILE.
(Historically, this limit was named RLIMIT_OFILE on BSD.)
RLIMIT_NPROC
The maximum number of processes (or, more precisely on Linux, threads) that can be created for the
real user ID of the calling process. Upon encountering this limit, fork(2) fails with the error
EAGAIN.
RLIMIT_RSS
Specifies the limit (in pages) of the process's resident set (the number of virtual pages resident
in RAM). This limit has effect only in Linux 2.4.x, x < 30, and there affects only calls to
madvise(2) specifying MADV_WILLNEED.
RLIMIT_RTPRIO (Since Linux 2.6.12, but see BUGS)
Specifies a ceiling on the real-time priority that may be set for this process using
sched_setscheduler(2) and sched_setparam(2).
RLIMIT_RTTIME (Since Linux 2.6.25)
Specifies a limit (in microseconds) on the amount of CPU time that a process scheduled under a
real-time scheduling policy may consume without making a blocking system call. For the purpose of
this limit, each time a process makes a blocking system call, the count of its consumed CPU time
is reset to zero. The CPU time count is not reset if the process continues trying to use the CPU
but is preempted, its time slice expires, or it calls sched_yield(2).
Upon reaching the soft limit, the process is sent a SIGXCPU signal. If the process catches or
ignores this signal and continues consuming CPU time, then SIGXCPU will be generated once each
second until the hard limit is reached, at which point the process is sent a SIGKILL signal.
The intended use of this limit is to stop a runaway real-time process from locking up the system.
RLIMIT_SIGPENDING (Since Linux 2.6.8)
Specifies the limit on the number of signals that may be queued for the real user ID of the
calling process. Both standard and real-time signals are counted for the purpose of checking this
limit. However, the limit is enforced only for sigqueue(3); it is always possible to use kill(2)
to queue one instance of any of the signals that are not already queued to the process.
RLIMIT_STACK
The maximum size of the process stack, in bytes. Upon reaching this limit, a SIGSEGV signal is
generated. To handle this signal, a process must employ an alternate signal stack
(sigaltstack(2)).
Since Linux 2.6.23, this limit also determines the amount of space used for the process's command-
line arguments and environment variables; for details, see execve(2).
prlimit()
The Linux-specific prlimit() system call combines and extends the functionality of setrlimit() and
getrlimit(). It can be used to both set and get the resource limits of an arbitrary process.
The resource argument has the same meaning as for setrlimit() and getrlimit().
If the new_limit argument is a not NULL, then the rlimit structure to which it points is used to set new
values for the soft and hard limits for resource. If the old_limit argument is a not NULL, then a
successful call to prlimit() places the previous soft and hard limits for resource in the rlimit
structure pointed to by old_limit.
The pid argument specifies the ID of the process on which the call is to operate. If pid is 0, then the
call applies to the calling process. To set or get the resources of a process other than itself, the
caller must have the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability, or the real, effective, and saved set user IDs of the
target process must match the real user ID of the caller and the real, effective, and saved set group IDs
of the target process must match the real group ID of the caller.
RETURN VALUE
On success, these system calls return 0. On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set appropriately.
ERRORS
EFAULT A pointer argument points to a location outside the accessible address space.
EINVAL The value specified in resource is not valid; or, for setrlimit() or prlimit(): rlim->rlim_cur was
greater than rlim->rlim_max.
EPERM An unprivileged process tried to raise the hard limit; the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability is required
to do this. Or, the caller tried to increase the hard RLIMIT_NOFILE limit above the current
kernel maximum (NR_OPEN). Or, the calling process did not have permission to set limits for the
process specified by pid.
ESRCH Could not find a process with the ID specified in pid.
VERSIONS
The prlimit() system call is available since Linux 2.6.36. Library support is available since glibc
2.13.
CONFORMING TO
getrlimit(), setrlimit(): SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.
prlimit(): Linux-specific.
RLIMIT_MEMLOCK and RLIMIT_NPROC derive from BSD and are not specified in POSIX.1-2001; they are present
on the BSDs and Linux, but on few other implementations. RLIMIT_RSS derives from BSD and is not
specified in POSIX.1-2001; it is nevertheless present on most implementations. RLIMIT_MSGQUEUE,
RLIMIT_NICE, RLIMIT_RTPRIO, RLIMIT_RTTIME, and RLIMIT_SIGPENDING are Linux-specific.
NOTES
A child process created via fork(2) inherits its parent's resource limits. Resource limits are preserved across execve(2). One can set the resource limits of the shell using the built-in ulimit command (limit in csh(1)). The shell's resource limits are inherited by the processes that it creates to execute commands. Since Linux 2.6.24, the resource limits of any process can be inspected via /proc/[pid]/limits; see proc(5). Ancient systems provided a vlimit() function with a similar purpose to setrlimit(). For backward compatibility, glibc also provides vlimit(). All new applications should be written using setrlimit().
BUGS
In older Linux kernels, the SIGXCPU and SIGKILL signals delivered when a process encountered the soft and
hard RLIMIT_CPU limits were delivered one (CPU) second later than they should have been. This was fixed
in kernel 2.6.8.
In 2.6.x kernels before 2.6.17, a RLIMIT_CPU limit of 0 is wrongly treated as "no limit" (like
RLIM_INFINITY). Since Linux 2.6.17, setting a limit of 0 does have an effect, but is actually treated as
a limit of 1 second.
A kernel bug means that RLIMIT_RTPRIO does not work in kernel 2.6.12; the problem is fixed in kernel
2.6.13.
In kernel 2.6.12, there was an off-by-one mismatch between the priority ranges returned by getpriority(2)
and RLIMIT_NICE. This had the effect that the actual ceiling for the nice value was calculated as
19 - rlim_cur. This was fixed in kernel 2.6.13.
Since Linux 2.6.12, if a process reaches its soft RLIMIT_CPU limit and has a handler installed for
SIGXCPU, then, in addition to invoking the signal handler, the kernel increases the soft limit by one
second. This behavior repeats if the process continues to consume CPU time, until the hard limit is
reached, at which point the process is killed. Other implementations do not change the RLIMIT_CPU soft
limit in this manner, and the Linux behavior is probably not standards conformant; portable applications
should avoid relying on this Linux-specific behavior. The Linux-specific RLIMIT_RTTIME limit exhibits
the same behavior when the soft limit is encountered.
Kernels before 2.4.22 did not diagnose the error EINVAL for setrlimit() when rlim->rlim_cur was greater
than rlim->rlim_max.
EXAMPLE
The program below demonstrates the use of prlimit().
#define _GNU_SOURCE
#define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/resource.h>
#define errExit(msg) do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \
} while (0)
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
struct rlimit old, new;
struct rlimit *newp;
pid_t pid;
if (!(argc == 2 || argc == 4)) {
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <pid> [<new-soft-limit> "
"<new-hard-limit>]\n", argv[0]);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
pid = atoi(argv[1]); /* PID of target process */
newp = NULL;
if (argc == 4) {
new.rlim_cur = atoi(argv[2]);
new.rlim_max = atoi(argv[3]);
newp = &new;
}
/* Set CPU time limit of target process; retrieve and display
previous limit */
if (prlimit(pid, RLIMIT_CPU, newp, &old) == -1)
errExit("prlimit-1");
printf("Previous limits: soft=%lld; hard=%lld\n",
(long long) old.rlim_cur, (long long) old.rlim_max);
/* Retrieve and display new CPU time limit */
if (prlimit(pid, RLIMIT_CPU, NULL, &old) == -1)
errExit("prlimit-2");
printf("New limits: soft=%lld; hard=%lld\n",
(long long) old.rlim_cur, (long long) old.rlim_max);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
SEE ALSO
prlimit(1), dup(2), fcntl(2), fork(2), getrusage(2), mlock(2), mmap(2), open(2), quotactl(2), sbrk(2), shmctl(2), malloc(3), sigqueue(3), ulimit(3), core(5), capabilities(7), signal(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.54 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, and
information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.