ipfs/kubo · error

invalid rlimits

Error message

invalid rlimits

What it means

freebsdGetLimit reads the process RLIMIT_NOFILE via unix.Getrlimit and returns this error when either the current (soft) or max (hard) rlimit value is negative. On FreeBSD rlimit fields are signed, and a negative value means the kernel returned an unusable/corrupt limit, so the caller refuses to proceed rather than compute on a bogus value.

Source

Thrown at cmd/ipfs/util/ulimit_freebsd.go:23

import (
	"errors"
	"math"

	unix "golang.org/x/sys/unix"
)

func init() {
	supportsFDManagement = true
	getLimit = freebsdGetLimit
	setLimit = freebsdSetLimit
}

func freebsdGetLimit() (uint64, uint64, error) {
	rlimit := unix.Rlimit{}
	err := unix.Getrlimit(unix.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlimit)
	if (rlimit.Cur < 0) || (rlimit.Max < 0) {
		return 0, 0, errors.New("invalid rlimits")
	}
	return uint64(rlimit.Cur), uint64(rlimit.Max), err
}

func freebsdSetLimit(soft uint64, max uint64) error {
	if (soft > math.MaxInt64) || (max > math.MaxInt64) {
		return errors.New("invalid rlimits")
	}
	rlimit := unix.Rlimit{
		Cur: int64(soft),
		Max: int64(max),
	}
	return unix.Setrlimit(unix.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlimit)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Inspect the actual rlimit with `limits -n` inside the jail/environment and correct it in the jail.conf rlimit settings.
2. Verify kernel/platform sanity; if RLIM_INFINITY is represented as -1 and trips this check, run the daemon with a finite nofile limit instead of unlimited.
3. Upgrade kubo/boxo to a version with current FreeBSD rlimit handling, and report the issue with the output of `uname -a` and `limits` if it persists.

Example fix

// before
ipfs daemon   # inside a jail with unlimited nofile (Cur/Max = -1)
// after
# in jail.conf:
#   rlimit;   or set explicit: exec.prestart + limits -n 8192
limits -n 8192 && ipfs daemon

var r unix.Rlimit
if err := unix.Getrlimit(unix.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &r); err != nil { return err }
if r.Cur < 0 || r.Max < 0 {
    return fmt.Errorf("kernel reported invalid rlimits: cur=%d max=%d", r.Cur, r.Max)
}

func validRlimit(r unix.Rlimit) bool { return r.Cur >= 0 && r.Max >= 0 }

changed, newLimit, err := util.ManageFdLimit()
if err != nil && err.Error() == "invalid rlimits" {
    return fmt.Errorf("freebsd rlimits unusable in this jail/environment: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ManageFdLimit() on FreeBSD when unix.Getrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE) returns rlimit.Cur < 0 or rlimit.Max < 0. Note the function still also returns the Getrlimit error if one occurred, but the sentinel fires purely on negative fields.

Common situations: Jails or sandboxed FreeBSD environments reporting odd rlimit values; platform-specific signed/unsigned mismatches when the rlimit is effectively unlimited (RLIM_INFINITY); running kubo on unusual FreeBSD derivatives.

Related errors

• error setting ulimit without hard limit: %w
• failed to raise ulimit to IPFS_FD_MAX (%d): set to %d
• failed to raise ulimit to minimum %d: set to %d
• error setting: ulimit: %w
• assets: could load Asset '%s': %s

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d5150a74a45ced0c. Report an issue: GitHub.