Entry

What causes error 24, too many open files?

How can I increase the number of file descriptors available on linux?

Mar 2nd, 2003 10:51
Johannes Ullrich, Nathan Wallace, Tin Le

You are running out of file descriptors.  You need to reconfigure your
kernel.  If you are running Linux 2.2.x, it's very easy.  Just do
something like this:

$ echo 8192 > /proc/sys/fs/file-max
$ echo 32768 > /proc/sys/fs/inode-max

If you are using an earlier Linux, i.e. 2.0.x.  Then you will have to
rebuild your kernel with higher number.  Edit linux/fs.h and change the
appropriate values.

You need to find out how many fd you need.  The above numbers are what I
use, but you may need higher (or lower).  Make sure you increase the max
inodes appropriately, recommended number is 4 times max filedescriptors.

------
Note (added 3/2/2003): 2.4 kernels no longer use inode-max. inode-max
grows dynamically.