limits.conf - configuration file for the pam_limits module
DESCRIPTION
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.
<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-exisiting
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)
stack
maximum stack size (KB)
cpu
maximum CPU time (minutes)
nproc
maximum number of processes
as
address space limit
maxlogins
maximum number of logins for this user
maxsyslogins
maximum number of 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)
msqqueue
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)
rtprio
maximum realtime priority allowed for non-privileged processes (Linux 2.6.12 and higher)
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.
#include <the> limits
configuration file, the '#' character introduces a comment - after which the rest of the line is ignored.
The pam_limits module does its best to report configuration problems found in its configuration file via
syslog(3).
EXAMPLES
These are some example lines which might be specified in
/etc/security/limits.conf.
* soft core 0
* hard rss 10000
@student hard nproc 20
@faculty soft nproc 20
@faculty hard nproc 50
ftp hard nproc 0
@student - maxlogins 4