macOS — Firebird 5.0.1.1469 — Too many open Files

[devnoname120]

Posting this here so that other people who have that problem can find the solution because it really wasn't easy to find that the problem was with csh rather than sh, bash, or the system/kernel parameters.

I have the following error:

$ isql
SQL> CONNECT /Users/paul/STTDB3. FDB5;
Statement failed, SQLSTATE = 08001
I/0 error during "open" operation for file "/tmp/firebird/fb_tpc_0d000001ba2560600000000_8736"'
-Error while trying to open file
-Too many open files

And in JetBrains PyCharm and DataGrip I have this error:

DBMS: Firebird (no ver.)
Case sensitivity: plain=mixed, delimited=exact
[08001][335544344] I/O error during "open" operation for file "/tmp/firebird/fb_tpc_0f000001bae2560600000000_8729"; Error while trying to open file; Too many open files [SQLState:08001, ISC error code:335544344].

My configuration:

• Version: Firebird 5.0.1
  • Installation package: Firebird-5.0.1.1469-0-macos-arm64.pkg
• OS: macOS 14.7.1 (Sonoma) arm64
• Kernel: Darwin 23.6.0
• Model: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)

[devnoname120]

Solution ✅

How to fix the Firebird server service:

echo 'limit openfiles 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/csh.login

How to fix isql:

echo 'ulimit -n 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/profile
echo 'ulimit -n 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/zprofile

---

This should be enough. But if it still doesn't work you can attempt to run these in addition:

sudo launchctl limit maxfiles 65535 unlimited
sudo sysctl -w kern.maxfiles=245760
sudo sysctl -w kern.maxfilesperproc=122880

If these 3 last commands fixed it you will need to run them at boot to persist them. You can create two launch daemon files for that:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxfiles.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>limit.maxfiles</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/bin/launchctl</string>
        <string>limit</string>
        <string>maxfiles</string>
        <string>65535</string>
        <string>unlimited</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

and

/Library/LaunchDaemons/kern.maxfiles.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>kern.maxfiles</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/sbin/sysctl</string>
        <string>-w</string>
        <string>kern.maxfiles=245760</string>
        <string>kern.maxfilesperproc=122880</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

[devnoname120]

@mrotteveel Is it not considered a bug? I only have a single (admittedly big) database. I don't know why Firebird attempts to open so many files (caching maybe?) but shouldn't it restrict itself to the maximum allowed in the environment?

[aafemt]

The file in starting post is opened for TIP page cache, for example. Other files are opened to store monitoring tables data, interprocess communication, lock table, events, etc. You can list them all using system utilities.

[devnoname120]

@aafemt Thank you for the explanations. IMO it's an issue that Firebird tries to open more files than the default allows. I'd suggest to either explicitly ask the user to increase this limit, or do it automatically. What do you think?

[mrotteveel]

@mrotteveel Is it not considered a bug? I only have a single (admittedly big) database. I don't know why Firebird attempts to open so many files (caching maybe?) but shouldn't it restrict itself to the maximum allowed in the environment?

It doesn't read as a bug report or a request to the maintainers to fix/change something, but as a solution to a problem you have on macOS. As such, I thought it was more suitable to migrate it to a Discussion.

[devnoname120]

@mrotteveel Good point!

[mrotteveel]

In any case, if you think something should be changed in Firebird, create a new issue, and be explicit and specific about what you want to have addressed.

[AlexPeshkoff]

On 12/9/24 15:07, Paul wrote: @mrotteveel <https://github.com/mrotteveel> Good point!

Will be interesting to know - what particular files are opened?