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limit(1)			 User Commands			      limit(1)

NAME
       limit, ulimit, unlimit - set or get limitations on the system resources
       available to the current shell and its descendents

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/bin/ulimit [-f] [blocks]

   sh
       ulimit [- [HS] [a | cdfnstv]]

       ulimit [- [HS] [c | d | f | n | s | t | v]] limit

   csh
       limit [-h] [resource [limit]]

       unlimit [-h] [resource]

   ksh
       ulimit [-HSacdfnstv] [limit]

   ksh93
       ulimit [-HSacdfmnpstv] [limit]

DESCRIPTION
   /usr/bin/ulimit
       The ulimit utility sets or reports the file-size writing limit  imposed
       on  files  written  by  the shell and its child processes (files of any
       size can be read). Only	a  process  with  appropriate  privileges  can
       increase the limit.

   sh
       The Bourne shell built-in function, ulimit, prints or sets hard or soft
       resource limits. These limits are described in getrlimit(2).

       If limit is not present, ulimit prints the specified limits. Any number
       of limits can be printed at one time. The -a option prints all limits.

       If  limit  is  present,	ulimit	sets  the specified limit tolimit. The
       string unlimited requests that the current limit, if any,  be  removed.
       Any  user  can  set a soft limit to any value less than or equal to the
       hard limit. Any user can lower a hard limit. Only a user with appropri‐
       ate privileges can raise or remove a hard limit. See getrlimit(2).

       The  -H	option	specifies a hard limit. The -S option specifies a soft
       limit. If neither option is specified,  ulimit  sets  both  limits  and
       prints the soft limit.

       The  following  options	specify	 the  resource	whose limits are to be
       printed or set. If no option is	specified,  the	 file  size  limit  is
       printed or set.

       -c    Maximum core file size (in 512-byte blocks)

       -d    Maximum size of data segment or heap (in Kbytes)

       -f    Maximum file size (in 512-byte blocks)

       -n    Maximum file descriptor plus 1

       -s    Maximum size of stack segment (in Kbytes)

       -t    Maximum CPU time (in seconds)

       -v    Maximum size of virtual memory (in Kbytes)

   csh
       The  C-shell  built-in  function,  limit, limits the consumption by the
       current process or any process it spawns, each not to exceed  limit  on
       the  specified resource. The string unlimited requests that the current
       limit, if any, be removed. If limit  is	omitted,  prints  the  current
       limit. If resource is omitted, displays all limits.

       -h    Use hard limits instead of the current limits. Hard limits impose
	     a ceiling on the values of the current limits.  Only  the	privi‐
	     leged user can raise the hard limits.

       resource is one of:

       cputime	       Maximum CPU seconds per process.

       filesize	       Largest single file allowed. Limited to the size of the
		       filesystem (see df(1M)).

       datasize	       The maximum size of a process's heap in kilobytes.

       stacksize       Maximum stack size for the process. The	default	 stack
		       size is 2^64.

       coredumpsize    Maximum	size of a core dump (file). This is limited to
		       the size of the filesystem.

       descriptors     Maximum number of file descriptors. Run the  sysdef(1M)
		       command	to obtain the maximum possible limits for your
		       system. The values reported are in hexadecimal, but can
		       be translated into decimal numbers using the bc(1) com‐
		       mand.

       memorysize      Maximum size of virtual memory.

       limit is a number, with an optional scaling factor, as follows:

       nh	Hours (for cputime).

       nk	n kilobytes. This is the default for all but cputime.

       nm	n megabytes or minutes (for cputime).

       mm:ss	Minutes and seconds (for cputime).

       unlimit removes a limitation on resource. If no resource is  specified,
       then  all  resource limitations are removed. See the description of the
       limit command for the list of resource names.

       -h    Remove corresponding hard limits. Only the privileged user can do
	     this.

   ksh
       The  Korn  shell built-in function, ulimit, sets or displays a resource
       limit. The available resources limits are listed below. Many systems do
       not  contain  one  or  more  of these limits. The limit for a specified
       resource is set when limit is specified. The value of limit  can	 be  a
       number  in  the	unit  specified below with each resource, or the value
       unlimited. The string unlimited requests that  the  current  limit,  if
       any,  be removed. The -H and -S flags specify whether the hard limit or
       the soft limit for the specified resource is set. A hard	 limit	cannot
       be  increased  once  it is set. A soft limit can be increased up to the
       value of the hard limit. If neither the -H or -S options is  specified,
       the  limit  applies to both. The current resource limit is printed when
       limit is omitted. In this case, the soft limit is printed unless -H  is
       specified.  When	 more  than  one resource is specified, then the limit
       name and unit is printed before the value.

       -a    Lists all of the current resource limits.

       -c    The number of 512-byte blocks on the size of core dumps.

       -d    The number of K-bytes on the size of the data area.

       -f    The number of 512-byte blocks on files written by child processes
	     (files of any size can be read).

       -n    The number of file descriptors plus 1.

       -s    The number of K-bytes on the size of the stack area.

       -t    The number of seconds (CPU time) to be used by each process.

       -v    The number of K-bytes for virtual memory.

       If no option is specified, -f is assumed.

   Per-Shell Memory Parameters
       The  heapsize,  datasize,  and stacksize parameters are not system tun‐
       ables. The only controls for these are hard  limits,  set  in  a	 shell
       startup	file,  or system-wide soft limits, which, for the current ver‐
       sion of the Solaris OS, is 2^64bytes.

   ksh93
       ulimit sets or displays resource limits. These limits apply to the cur‐
       rent process and to each child process created after the resource limit
       has been set. If limit is specified, the resource limit is set,	other‐
       wise, its current value is displayed on standard output.

       Increasing  the	limit  for  a resource usually requires special privi‐
       leges. Some systems allow  you  to  lower  resource  limits  and	 later
       increase	 them.	These are called soft limits. Once a hard limit is set
       the resource cannot be increased.

       Different systems allow you to specify  different  resources  and  some
       restrict how much you can raise the limit of the resource.

       The  value of limit depends on the unit of the resource listed for each
       resource. In addition, limit can be "unlimited" to  indicate  no	 limit
       for that resource.

       If  you do not specify -H or -S, -S is used for listing and both -S and
       -H are used for setting resources.

       If you do not specify any resource, the default is -f.

       The following options are available for ulimit in ksh93:

       -a	    Displays all current resource limits.

       -b	    Specifies the socket buffer size in bytes.
       --sbsize

       -c	    Specifies the core file size in blocks.
       --core

       -d	    Specifies the data size in kbytes.
       --data

       -f	    Specifies the file size in blocks.
       --fsize

       -H	    Displays or sets a hard limit.

       -L	    Specifies the number of file locks.
       --locks

       -l	    Specifies the locked address space in Kbytes.
       --memlock

       -M	    Specifies the address space limit in Kbytes.
       --as

       -n	    Specifies the number of open files.
       --nofile

       -p	    Specifies the pipe buffer size in bytes.
       --pipe

       -m	    Specifies the resident set size in Kbytes
       --rss

       -S	    Displays or sets a soft limit.

       -s	    Specifies the stack size in Kbytes.
       --stack

       -T	    Specifies the number of threads.
       --threads

       -t	    Specifies the CPU time in seconds.
       --cpu

       -u	    Specifies the number of processes.
       --nproc

       -v	    Specifies the process size in Kbytes.
       --vmem

OPTIONS
       The following option is supported by /usr/bin/ulimit:

       -f    Sets (or reports, if no blocks operand is present), the file size
	     limit in blocks. The -f option is also the default case.

OPERANDS
       The following operand is supported by /usr/bin/ulimit:

       blocks	 The  number  of  512-byte  blocks to use as the new file size
		 limit.

EXAMPLES
   /usr/bin/ulimit
       Example 1 Limiting the Stack Size

       The following example limits the stack size to 512 kilobytes:

	 example% ulimit -s 512
	 example% ulimit -a
	 time(seconds)	       unlimited
	 file(blocks)		 100
	 data(kbytes)		 523256
	 stack(kbytes)		 512
	 coredump(blocks)	 200
	 nofiles(descriptors)	 64
	 memory(kbytes)		 unlimited

   sh/ksh
       Example 2 Limiting the Number of File Descriptors

       The following command limits the number of file descriptors to 12:

	 example$ ulimit -n 12
	 example$ ulimit -a
	 time(seconds)		  unlimited
	 file(blocks)		  41943
	 data(kbytes)		  523256
	 stack(kbytes)		  8192
	 coredump(blocks)	  200
	 nofiles(descriptors)	  12
	 vmemory(kbytes)	  unlimited

   csh
       Example 3 Limiting the Core Dump File Size

       The following command limits the size of a core dump  file  size	 to  0
       kilobytes:

	 example% limit coredumpsize 0
	 example% limit
	 cputime		 unlimited
	 filesize		 unlimited
	 datasize		 523256 kbytes
	 stacksize		 8192 kbytes
	 coredumpsize		 0 kbytes
	 descriptors		 64
	 memorysize		 unlimited

       Example 4 Removing the limitation for core file size

       The  following  command	removes the above limitation for the core file
       size:

	 example% unlimit coredumpsize
	 example% limit
	 cputime		 unlimited
	 filesize		 unlimited
	 datasize		 523256 kbytes
	 stacksize		 8192 kbytes
	 coredumpsize		 unlimited
	 descriptors		 64
	 memorysize		 unlimited

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment  variables
       that  affect  the  execution of ulimit: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MES‐
       SAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS
       The following exit values are returned by ulimit:

       0     Successful completion.

       >0    A request for a higher limit was rejected or an error occurred.

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

   /usr/bin/ulimit, csh, ksh, sh
       ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
       │      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     │	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Availability		     │SUNWcs			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Interface Stability	     │Committed			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Standard		     │See standards(5).		   │
       └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

   ksh93
       ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
       │      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     │	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Availability		     │SUNWcsu			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Interface Stability	     │Uncommitted		   │
       └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

SEE ALSO
       bc(1), csh(1), ksh(1), ksh93(1), sh(1), df(1M), su(1M), swap(1M),  sys‐
       def(1M), getrlimit(2), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)

SunOS 5.11			  2 Nov 2007			      limit(1)
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