How Solaris 10 (and later) Integrates System V Inter-Process Communication (IPC) Resource Controls (Doc ID 1006158.1)

Last updated on JUNE 24, 2024

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Goal

Many system administrators, particularly those managing large database servers, have had difficulty tuning shared memory and semaphore parameters in /etc/system. Often, these difficulties are experienced before starting an application instance. The Solaris[TM] 10 Operating System addresses this issue by integrating the System V IPC tunables into a powerful and flexible framework for easy administration.

Solaris 10 raises the system defaults for these parameters so that most applications can run out of the box. Solaris 10 also obsoletes many of the older IPC tunables.

The Solaris 10 Operating System extends the resource control (rctl) facility, introduced in the Solaris 9 Operating System, to incorporate the IPC tunables.  These new IPC rctls can now be modified within the Solaris Resource Management framework using the standard resource management commands and features. They can be administered on a per-process or per-project basis to provide fine grained control.

The book "System Administration Guide: Oracle Solaris Containers-Resource Management and Oracle Solaris Zones" contains a comprehensive description of resource management commands and the rctl facility in general. "System Administration Guide: Oracle Solaris Containers-Resource Management and Oracle Solaris Zones" is available with the resource management information in the "Resource Management" section.

Solution