Login denied after setting nofile limits. Secure log shows the error "error: PAM: pam_open_session(): Permission denied"
Issue
-
Setting a hard limit in ulimit on
nofileto anything higher than 1048576 (includingunlimited) fails, and prevents logins from working. -
After setting the following in
/etc/security/limits.conf* soft nofile 5000000 * hard nofile 5000000
no one can login, and /var/log/secure file shows
sshd[3889]: error: PAM: pam_open_session(): Permission denied
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
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