NAME
ulimit – get and set process limits
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <ulimit.h>
long
ulimit(int cmd, ...);
DESCRIPTION
The ulimit() function will get and set process limits. Currently, this is limited to the maximum file size. The cmd argument is one of the following:
- UL_GETFSIZE
-
will return the maximum file size of the current process, in units of 512-byte blocks.
- UL_SETFSIZE
-
will attempt to set the maximum file size of the current process and its children, using the second argument (expressed as a long).
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, ulimit() returns the value requested; otherwise, the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
The ulimit() function will fail if:
- [EINVAL]
-
The command specified was invalid.
- [EPERM]
-
The limit specified to ulimit() would have raised the maximum limit value, and the caller is not the super-user.
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
The ulimit() function conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”).
HISTORY
The ulimit() function first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0.
BUGS
The ulimit() function provides limited precision for setting and retrieving process limits. If there is a need for greater precision than the type long provides, the getrlimit(2) and setrlimit(2) functions should be considered.