Process Quota Exceeded during sys$creprc call

[Craigers]

I am running VAX/VM V6.2. I have an application that fails after running for weeks. The error is "%SYSTEM-F-EXQUOTA, process quota exceeded". This occurs when my program execuates a sys$creprc. When I look at the account that runs the application has a "Prclm" of 100. When I look at the process it typically has about 11 processes in the job. Sub processes terminate occasionally and others are started over time; but it seems to maintain ~11 concurrent. "Help" suggests this is a limit of concurrent subprocesses. Is this true, or is it in fact cummulative?

Any other ideas on what is causing the error or a remedy?

[Ian Miller.]

prclm is the limit on the number of subprocesses. the EXQUOTA errors indicates a quota was exceeded but does not say which one. It one of the process quotas especially one of the pooled (shared between all jobs in tree) quotas.

Watch quota usage of the process that is creating processes to see which quota. You could use SHOW_QUOTA.COM available from
http://dcl.openvms.org/stories.php?story=03/06/03/0022504
and other places or use AMDS or Availability Manager.

[Volker Halle]

From the documentation of the $CREPRC system service:

SS$_EXQUOTA may be returned if:

At least one of the following conditions is true:

- The process has exceeded its quota for the creation of subprocesses.

- A quota value specified for the creation of a subprocess exceeds the creating process's corresponding quota.

- The quota is deductible and the remaining quota for the creating process would be less than the minimum.

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/82FINAL/4527/4527pro_026.html

The OpenVMS documentation is generally quite good at describing possible reasons for returning an error status.

As a first guess, I would check PGFLQUOTA...

Volker.

[comarow]

Could your limit of processes be reached?

When if fails, does SDA show a quota exhausted?

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Still find it disappointing (of HP) that after all these years the quota name isn't specified.

Wim

[John Gillings]

>after all these years the quota name isn't specified.

Wim,

There are process quota specific error messages for all quotas, and have been for several years. BUT engineering hasn't been back over all the ancient code paths to "fix" them. $CREPRC is obviously very, very old. Would you rather engineering spend resources polishing ancient history (and potentially breaking very fundamental things), fixing things that people report as broken, or building new things?

Note the customer is running a decade old version of OpenVMS, so it's feasible (but I think unlikely) that this code path HAS been updated...

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

John,

I choose that they finish the old stuff first. How many people already lost time because of those bad messages. I did. In the eighties !

Wim

[Craigers]

Thanks for your replies, you may have set me on the right track. I am using SHOW_QUOTA.COM now to monitor my process as suggested. My PGFLQUOTA is creeping up slowly (I'm at 60%; of 100K). Only time will tell, as this process takes a month or so to die.

If we determine PGFLQUOTA increases over time, does it imply a memory leak?

Thanks!

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

No. Each time your program consumes memory via e.g. a mallloc of memory and puts data in it the pgflq will increase.

Wim

[Ian Miller.]

pagefile usage should increase then stop increasing. If it does not then either there is a memory leak or your current pgflquo is too small.