CTDB.SYSCONFIG(5)

✨ NAME ✨

ctdb.sysconfig — the CTDB daemon configuration file 💖 (yes bestie, it's a whole manpage in section 5 of the CTDB — clustered TDB database set)

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

Okay so this file? It holds the configuration that affects how CTDB operates. It's a distribution-specific service configuration file, like /etc/sysconfig/ctdb on Red Hat or /etc/default/ctdb on Debian, and it is, no cap, a shell script (go peek at sh(1) if you need a refresher 🐚).

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👑 GLOBAL CONFIGURATION 👑

• CTDB_INIT_STYLE=debian|redhat|suse — this is the init style your Linux distro (or other operating system, we don't discriminate 🫶) is using. It's usually figured out dynamically by checking the system, so it's giving "I already know who I am". This variable gets used by the initscript to decide which init system primitives to reach for. It's also used by some eventscripts to pick the name of initscripts for certain services, because those names can vary between distributions. Chaos, honestly. 😭

If CTDB's event scripts can't determine an appropriate default, then you can also place this option in a relevant ctdb-script.options(5) file. ✨

Default: NONE. It's guessed, based on features of the distribution.

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🔥 RESOURCE LIMITS 🔥

🦋 Maximum number of open files 🦋

CTDB can use a lot of file descriptors, especially when it's hanging out with Samba. If there are thousands of smbd processes connected to CTDB, that can mean thousands of file descriptors are in use. For CTDB it's often necessary to increase the limit on the maximum number of open files. It's giving popular. 💅

The maximum number of open files should be configured using an operating system mechanism. Not vibes. An actual mechanism.

systemd

The LimitNOFILE=LIMIT option can be used in a unit/service file to increase the maximum number of open files. See systemd.exec(5) for details. 📖

SYSV init

Use a command like ulimit -n LIMIT to increase the maximum number of open files. This command can be put in the relevant distribution-specific service configuration file. Slay. ✨

🌸 Allowing core dumps 🌸

Many distributions do not allow core dump files to be generated by default. To assist with debugging, core files can be enabled. This should be configured using an operating system mechanism (again — mechanism, bestie, not hope 🙈).

systemd

The LimitCORE=0|unlimited option can be used in a unit/service file. 0 disallows core files, unlimited allows them. Also the page says maximum number of open files. right here, and then sends you to systemd.exec(5) for details. Fr fr, that's what it says. 💀

SYSV init

Use a command like ulimit -c 0|unlimited to disable or enable core files as required. This command can be put in the relevant distribution-specific service configuration file. Iconic. 🎀

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/sysconfig/ctdb
• /etc/default/ctdb
• /etc/ctdb/script.options

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

ctdbd(1), ctdb-script.options(5), ctdb(7), http://ctdb.samba.org/ — go read them, they're the friend group 🫶

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💜 AUTHOR 💜

This documentation was written by Martin Schwenke. Thank you for your service, king. 👑

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⭐ COPYRIGHT ⭐

Copyright © 2007 Andrew Tridgell, Ronnie Sahlberg

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses.

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Okay so real talk: that's the whole page, every flag, every default, every path, all of it. Nothing skipped, nothing invented. Periodt. 💅

This has been ctdb on 09/09/2026, living its life as CTDB.SYSCONFIG(5). Bye bestie, go configure something responsibly 💖✨