-- Apache: Not enough file descriptors --

[Günter Knauf <ef...@gmx.net>]

Hi all,
the following was posted in one of our Novell newsgroups; 
but as Randy has found that it's not only related to NetWare platform, I post it here...
any hints or tips solving this issue are welcome (I'm in contact with Randy and will forward to him; he's not subscribed to the list).
Guenter.

Randolf Richardson wrote 2 Sep 2001 21:27:38 GMT:

        I've run into a scalability problem with Apache Web Server, and have 
discovered that it's not unique to the NetWare platform either -- it seems 
that Solaris, FreeBSD, Linux, and other flavours of Unix have seen this 
problem too.

        I've included a lot of links (below) that document "too many open files" 
bugs/errors which were reported to the Apache software foundation.  In 
particular, please follow the very last link in the list which discusses 
compiled code not recognizing a work-around parameter.

        I believe that Apache is the problem because I've written an NLM in the 
past which opens 2,500 files and keeps them all open until the administrator 
presses a key, thus proving that a single thread in NetWare can handle this 
many files without a problem (and NetWare handles it very quickly too).

        Currently, I'm still suffering with Novell's Web Server 3.1 product, a 
now discontinued HTTP server which was originally designed for NetWare 4.11, 
and it's handling more than 500 internet sites, each of which have separate 
ERROR and ACCESS logs, thus the web server has a MINIMUM of more than 1,000 
files open at any one time, and it's stable.  In my opinion, Novell Web 
Server 3.1 is still the best and most reliable web server on the NetWare 
platform.  Apache, on the other hand, causes the server to freeze (cold boot 
is required at this point) if more than 32 virtual hosts are configured (each 
host has two log files, ERROR and ACCESS, and one Listen directive, which 
accounts for three file descriptors per host, plus additional file 
descriptors required to send content to browsers).

        As soon as Apache can meet my scalability needs, I will be switching to 
it, so I'm really hoping this issue can get some immediate attention.  All 
other aspects of Apache satisfy me, and far exceed the features currently 
available in Novell Web Server 3.1.

        The links...

                Too many open files
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/2609

                Open files limited
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/5503

                Not enough file descriptors??
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/2430
                (Suggests reducing number of log files, but this isn't an 
acceptable or realistic solution for larger ISPs)

                Apache dies, too many open files in error log
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/6109
                (Possibly resolved by removing JServ/Java support before 
compiling)

                Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions
                http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html
                (See problem described in item E.1:  Why can't I run more than <n> 
virtual hosts?)

                Too many virtual hosts cause cgi scripts to stop working
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/1181

                exits with "Too many open files: unable to open a file descriptor 
above 15 ..."
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/4199
                (Suggests reducing number of log files, but this isn't an 
acceptable/realistic solution)

                Not enough file descriptors
                http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/4195

        Thanks in advance.

-- 
Randolf Richardson - rr@8x.ca
Inter-Corporate Computer & Network Services, Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
http://www.8x.ca/