get rid of NR_OPEN and introduce a sysctl_nr_open

NR_OPEN (historically set to 1024*1024) actually forbids processes to open
more than 1024*1024 handles.

Unfortunatly some production servers hit the not so 'ridiculously high
value' of 1024*1024 file descriptors per process.

Changing NR_OPEN is not considered safe because of vmalloc space potential
exhaust.

This patch introduces a new sysctl (/proc/sys/fs/nr_open) wich defaults to
1024*1024, so that admins can decide to change this limit if their workload
needs it.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: export it for sparc64]
Signed-off-by: Eric Dumazet <dada1@cosmosbay.com>
Cc: Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc: Richard Henderson <rth@twiddle.net>
Cc: Ivan Kokshaysky <ink@jurassic.park.msu.ru>
Cc: "David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>
Cc: Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>

2 files changed, 18 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
index e2799b5fafea..5681e2fa1496 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
@@ -1029,6 +1029,14 @@ nr_inodes
 Denotes the  number  of  inodes the system has allocated. This number will
 grow and shrink dynamically.
 
+nr_open
+-------
+
+Denotes the maximum number of file-handles a process can
+allocate. Default value is 1024*1024 (1048576) which should be
+enough for most machines. Actual limit depends on RLIMIT_NOFILE
+resource limit.
+
 nr_free_inodes
 --------------
 
diff --git a/Documentation/sysctl/fs.txt b/Documentation/sysctl/fs.txt
index aa986a35e994..f99254327ae5 100644
--- a/Documentation/sysctl/fs.txt
+++ b/Documentation/sysctl/fs.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Currently, these files are in /proc/sys/fs:
 - inode-max
 - inode-nr
 - inode-state
+- nr_open
 - overflowuid
 - overflowgid
 - suid_dumpable
@@ -91,6 +92,15 @@ usage of file handles and you don't need to increase the maximum.
 
 ==============================================================
 
+nr_open:
+
+This denotes the maximum number of file-handles a process can
+allocate. Default value is 1024*1024 (1048576) which should be
+enough for most machines. Actual limit depends on RLIMIT_NOFILE
+resource limit.
+
+==============================================================
+
 inode-max, inode-nr & inode-state:
 
 As with file handles, the kernel allocates the inode structures