Subject: Number of Linux processes allowed?

From: "Nathan O. Siemers" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 06 Sep 1996 19:13:08 -0700

Hello, 

I'm getting some "out of processes" errors lately in my debian
1.1 installation. Typically this is returned to the shell when I try
to open a new xterm, etc.

Linux secura-8 2.0.0 #3 Sun Jun 23 22:23:43 PDT 1996 i486

"top" says I only have about 50 procs running, and I doubt Linux would
have a limit that low. Couldn't find a reference to a kernel variable
in the source or in the FAQ. Anyone have any ideas why this is
happening? Typically I have netscape, fvwm, goodstuff, dxpc, and
xterms open...

Thanks,

nathan

p.s. did the deb-user list burp recently? My subscription stopped
functioning and I had to resubscribe...

---

From: [email-masked] (Bruce Perens)
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 96 21:30 PDT

[User is getting a "too many processes" error]

I am using "tcsh" for a shell, and when I run the "limit" command, I get
"maxproc 30". This seems a bit low. Try becoming root, and in csh or
tcsh running "limit maxproc 100", and see if you can actually run enough
processes.

This number is set to 256 by the kernel in 2.0.17 . I suspect something
is turning it down.

	Bruce