On newer Linux'es, when you set the limits in /etc/security/limits.conf
look (especially if changes don't seem to work) into /etc/security/limits.d/
. Files in this directory are processed after limits.conf
, and override any changes in order.
Specifically to address https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=432903, there was a soft cap put on nproc
for all the users besides root, to
prevent accidental fork bombs.
In other words, always check /etc/security/limits.conf
and /etc/security/limits.d/
for your ulimits (and thoroughly read limits.conf(5) which I should have done in the beginning).