Re: Too many open files?

[Adrian Merrall <pigeonracer@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Do you COMPACT the tables?  Another possibility is that files (and file
> descriptors) are created when a live backup of the database is made.  If
> you perform nightly backups then a bug may be causing the file
> descriptor pool to become exhausted.  One solution would be to shutdown
> and restart the database after a backup.  Does it happen after a number
> of days of uptime?
> 
> Toby.
> 

IIRC this was on a Linux box.

Could it either be the process or the kernel running out of file
handles (although you did mention it was lightly loaded)?

For a process, a ulimit -a should tell you.
For the kernel, look in /proc/sys/fs/file-nr.  This has 3 numbers, the
first is the number of handles that have been in use at any one time,
the second is the current number and the third is the max.  If the
first = the third number then you have exhausted the pool at some
time.  To up permanently it add a line to /etc/sysctl.conf like
fs.file-max = 65536.  Run  sysctl -p to up it without having to
reboot.  IIRC if you use up the kernel handles there will be a message
in the kernel output - use dmesg to check.

Regards,

Adrian Merrall