PRLIMIT(1)

✨ PRLIMIT(1) ✨

okay bestie, gather round, because prlimit is literally the manual page we're doing today and she is so useful 💅 she lives in the User Commands section of the manual, which is exactly where a queen like her belongs 👑

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🌸 NAME 🌸

prlimit — get and set process resource limits 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

prlimit [options] [--resource[=limits]] [--pid PID]

prlimit [options] [--resource[=limits]] command [argument...]

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the vibe: you hand her a process ID plus one or more resources, and prlimit will try to retrieve and/or modify the limits. like, she's gonna attempt it, that's the energy 😌

When command is given, prlimit will run this command with the given arguments. yes, she's also a runner. main character behavior honestly 🏃‍♀️✨

The limits parameter is composed of a soft and a hard value, separated by a colon (:), in order to modify the existing values. If no limits are given, prlimit will display the current values. If one of the values is not given, then the existing one will be used. To specify the unlimited or infinity limit (RLIM_INFINITY), the -1 or 'unlimited' string can be passed. no cap, that's literally the whole trick 🫶

Because of the nature of limits, the soft limit must be lower or equal to the high limit (also called the ceiling). this is not a suggestion bestie, this is the law 😭 To see all available resource limits, refer to the RESOURCE OPTIONS section.

so the limits syntax shapes are:

• soft:hard — Specify both limits. 💖
• soft: — Specify only the soft limit.
• :hard — Specify only the hard limit.
• value — Specify both limits to the same value.

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✨ GENERAL OPTIONS ✨

• --noheadings — Do not print a header line. no header, just vibes 🙈
• -o, --output list — Define the output columns to use. If no output arrangement is specified, then a default set is used. Use --help to get a list of all supported columns. (yes, --help is the plug, go ask her 👑)
• -p, --pid PID — Specify the process ID. Without this option (and without a command), the running process will be used. so if you're lazy, she just looks at herself. relatable 💅
• --raw — Use the raw output format.
• --verbose — Verbose mode. she will yap. affectionately 🗣️💜
• -h, --help — Display help text and exit.
• -V, --version — Display version and exit.

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🌈 RESOURCE OPTIONS 🌈

one bullet per resource, no skipping, we're thorough in this house 🎀

• -c, --core[=limits] — Maximum size of a core file.
• -d, --data[=limits] — Maximum data size.
• -e, --nice[=limits] — Maximum nice priority allowed to raise.
• -f, --fsize[=limits] — Maximum file size.
• -i, --sigpending[=limits] — Maximum number of pending signals.
• -l, --memlock[=limits] — Maximum locked-in-memory address space.
• -m, --rss[=limits] — Maximum Resident Set Size (RSS).
• -n, --nofile[=limits] — Maximum number of open files.
• -q, --msgqueue[=limits] — Maximum number of bytes in POSIX message queues.
• -r, --rtprio[=limits] — Maximum real-time priority.
• -s, --stack[=limits] — Maximum size of the stack.
• -t, --cpu[=limits] — CPU time, in seconds.
• -u, --nproc[=limits] — Maximum number of processes.
• -v, --as[=limits] — Address space limit.
• -x, --locks[=limits] — Maximum number of file locks held.
• -y, --rttime[=limits] — Timeout for real-time tasks.

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💀 NOTES 💀

The prlimit(2) system call is supported since Linux 2.6.36, older kernels will break this program. not in a cute way. in a broken way 😭 so check your kernel before you come for her.

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

okay these are the moment, watch closely:

prlimit --pid 13134

Display limit values for all current resources. ✨

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prlimit --pid 13134 --rss --nofile=1024:4095

Display the limits of the RSS, and set the soft and hard limits for the number of open files to 1024 and 4095, respectively. soft girl, hard ceiling, we love a range 💅

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prlimit --pid 13134 --nproc=512:

Modify only the soft limit for the number of processes. just the soft one. gentle. 🎀

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prlimit --pid $$ --nproc=unlimited

Set for the current process both the soft and ceiling values for the number of processes to unlimited. $$ is giving shell magic and she ate 🔥

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prlimit --cpu=10 sort -u hugefile

Set both the soft and hard CPU time limit to ten seconds and run sort(1). queen behavior: setting limits AND running your whole pipeline for you 👑

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🫶 AUTHORS 🫶

Davidlohr Bueso <dave@gnu.org> — In memory of Dennis M. Ritchie. 🤍 that's genuinely so sweet, rest in power.

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• ulimit(1p)
• prlimit(2)

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🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

For bug reports, use the issue tracker <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>. don't be shy, they wanna hear it 💖

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⭐ AVAILABILITY ⭐

The prlimit command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.

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anyway bestie, that's the whole page — this was util-linux 2.42.4, dated 2026-09-21, and that's PRLIMIT(1) signing off 🦋💜 stay unlimited (but only where it's allowed, soft ≤ hard, you know the rules) 💅✨