rlim_fd_cur

Description

Defines the “soft” limit on file descriptors that a single process can have open. A process might adjust its file descriptor limit to any value up to the “hard” limit defined by rlim_fd_max by using the setrlimit() call or by issuing the limit command in whatever shell it is running. You do not require superuser privilege to adjust the limit to any value less than or equal to the hard limit.

Data Type

Signed integer

Default

256

Range

1 to MAXINT

Units

File descriptors

Dynamic?

No

Validation

Compared to rlim_fd_max. If rlim_fd_cur is greater than rlim_fd_max, rlim_fd_cur is reset to rlim_fd_max.

When to Change

When the default number of open files for a process is not enough. Increasing this value means only that it might not be necessary for a program to use setrlimit to increase the maximum number of file descriptors available to it.

Commitment Level

Unstable