Shenanigans

How many files are open ?

Most probably to find the answer in Linux, you will type this command at terminal (shell):

lsof | wc -l

lsof will give a row of open files and the result is piped(|) to word count (wc) command that counts the rows/lines (-l)

jit@jit-desktop:~$ lsof | wc -l
5476jit@jit-desktop:~$

So it seems 5476 files are open, but is it really within the max limit of open descriptor for the kernel ?

Lets checkout another way the opened descriptor:

cat /proc/sys/fs/file-nr

jit@jit-desktop:~$ cat /proc/sys/fs/file-nr
5760    0       99842
jit@jit-desktop:~$

So here the first column (5760) is the total allocated file descriptors

0 is the total free allocated file descriptors

99842 is the max file descriptors that can be opened.

There is a difference in the value obtained by lsof and the one retrieved from /proc filesystem.

Explanation:

lsof gives all the opened files whether they are associated with descriptor (a handle to file) or not.

While /proc/sys/fs/file-nr gives the total allocated descriptor count and total free allocated descriptor, last column is maximum descriptor allowed.

PS- The result shown above has confused m…lol, guess i need an explanation. will come back soon with proof.

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