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To: jhs@regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de
cc: current@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Re: Possible kern.maxproc fatal bug 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 19 Feb 95 12:58:57 +0100."
             <199502191158.MAA12218@vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de> 
From: David Greenman <davidg@Root.COM>
Reply-To: davidg@Root.COM
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 15:32:35 -0800
Sender: current-owner@FreeBSD.org
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>I report this in case it points a finger towards inadequate limit checking in
>the kernel:
>	(how i managed to induce the bug, with my mangled ports make set up,
>	doesn't worry me, it's the kernel reaction that is of interest )
>
>As last line in my /etc/rc.local I used to have
>	sysctl  -w  kern.maxproc=300
>An innocent 
>	cd /usr/ports ; make -i
>would then always crash the system (even when compiled as normal user,
>& with everything in ports having been changed to owner jhs (thus no suid 0
>stuff lurking in /usr/ports)).

   Probably because the proc table is not dynamically sized. Basically, you
can't change maxproc - it probably should not by managed by sysctl.

>I would merely get on console:
>	Feb 19 11:38:32 vector kernel.nu: proc: table is full
>(The system was forking a series of nominal ncftp's & makes recursively)

   Increase the maxusers parameter in your kernel config file.

-DG