Why does SNMPD hangs with the error 'Too many open files' on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Why does SNMPD hangs with the error 'Too many open files' ?

  • snmpd fills up open file handles and ceases to function. Following messages are logged in /var/log/messages during the issue :

    snmpd[23681]: warning: cannot open /etc/hosts.allow: Too many open files 
snmpd[23681]: warning: cannot open /etc/hosts.deny: Too many open files 
snmpd[23681]: Connection from UDP: [x.x.x.x]:18328 REFUSED 
snmpd[23681]: /proc/stat: Too many open files 
snmpd[23681]: cannot open /proc/net/dev ... 
snmpd[23681]: could not open /proc/net/arp

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
  • net-snmp-5.3.2.2-9.el5

Subscriber exclusive content

A Red Hat subscription provides unlimited access to our knowledgebase of over 48,000 articles and solutions.

Current Customers and Partners

Log in for full access

Log In

New to Red Hat?

Learn more about Red Hat subscriptions

Close

Welcome! Check out the Getting Started with Red Hat page for quick tours and guides for common tasks.