Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!dell!baldur!dcm From: dcm@baldur.dell.com (Dave McCracken) Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386 Subject: Re: Unix 5.4 and ulimit Message-ID: Date: 25 Apr 91 14:10:36 GMT References: <1991Apr21.140740.6766@gold.sub.org> <1186@applix.com> <7387@auspex.auspex.com> Sender: @dell.dell.com Organization: Dell Computer Corporation, Austin, Texas 78759-7299 Lines: 24 guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris) writes: >As S5R4's resource-limiting code is derived from 4.3BSD's to a large >degree, and as the ulimit is, I think, the same as the RLIMIT_FSIZE >limit, if you wish can you just say "ulimits suck" and set the ulimit to >RLIMIT_INFINITY, i.e. 0x7fffffff (at least in 4.3BSD and many >derivatives), and not have a ulimit *at all*? Yes, you can. There is even a special syntax in the shells' ulimit commands that you can say 'unlimited' instead of a number, and it will set the appropriate resource limit to 0x7fffffff. Note that you can not generate that value with a numeric argument to ulimit since you have to specify it in blocks, and the shell will multiply it out to bytes. There is also a gotcha with this feature. If you set ulimit to 'unlimited', invoking ulimit with no arguments will print 'unlimited', which may break some shell scripts which assume the output is a number and try to do numeric things to it. -- Dave McCracken dcm@dell.dell.com (512) 343-3720 Dell Computer 9505 Arboretum Blvd Austin, TX 78759-7299