Description of problem: In limits.conf, this does not work: * - nproc 9000 This does: 0:65535 - nproc 9000 Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 1.1.5-5.fc15 Also occurs on CentOS 6.2 with package: pam-1.1.1-10.el6_2.1 How reproducible: always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Use ulimit -a to view your limit, or car /proc/$$/limits 2. Put in limits.conf: * - nproc 9000 3. Open new session. Observe that there was no change 4. In previous line, replace * with 0:65535 5. Open new session, Observe that nproc is now set to 9000 Additional info: https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=35462 http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=5137
That's because the default values set with the * entry is overriden in the limits.d/90-nproc.conf file. You have to edit the default entry there.