Linux in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition

Name

limit

Synopsis

                  limit [-h] [resource [limit]]

Display limits or set a limit on resources used by the current process and by each process it creates. If no limit is given, the current limit is printed for resource. If resource also is omitted, all limits are printed. By default, the current limits are shown or set; with -h, hard limits are used. A hard limit imposes an absolute limit that can’t be exceeded. Only a privileged user may raise it. See also unlimit.

Option

-h

Use hard, not current, limits.

Resources

coredumpsize

Maximum size of a core dump file.

cputime

Maximum number of seconds the CPU can spend; can be abbreviated as cpu.

datasize

Maximum size of data (including stack).

descriptors

Maximum number of open files.

filesize

Maximum size of any one file.

maxproc

Maximum number of processes.

memorylocked

Maximum size a process can lock into memory.

memoryuse

Maximum amount of physical memory that can be allocated to a process.

vmemoryuse

Maximum amount of virtual memory that can be allocated to a process.

stacksize

Maximum size of stack.

Limit

A number followed by an optional character (a unit specifier).

For cputime:	n h (for n hours)
	n m (for n minutes)
	mm:ss (minutes and seconds)
For others:	n k (for n kilobytes, the default)
	n m (for n megabytes)