Augment maxfiles limit on OS X

augment-maxfiles-limit.md

How to augment maxfiles limit in OS X

1. Create a plist file in /Library/LaunchDaemon (/Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxfiles.plist for example) with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>limit.maxfiles</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>launchctl</string>
        <string>limit</string>
        <string>maxfiles</string>
        <string>65536</string>
        <string>65536</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>ServiceIPC</key>
    <false/>
</dict>
</plist>

2. Restart your computer

3. Use the command $ launchctl limit: the limit should be correctly set.