Updates on Impact of "npty kernel parameter" to the system

[jok]

same question;
using ll /dev/pty* | wc -l , result 175
using who | wc -l, result is 133, our npty value is 60. Would this settings have an impact on our machine(HP'N)..

thanks,

jok

[Kenneth Platz]

Jok,

There are actually two kernel parameters which affect how many users can be signed onto a system at one time:

npty: The max # of (traditional) pty's
nstrpty: The max # of streams pty's.

Regular pty's live in /dev/pty and /dev/ptym, while streams pty use the /dev/ptmx and /dev/pts/?? device files. Also, the usage depends on the application -- older applications (such as xterm and hpterm) will use regular pty's, while most of the rest of the applications (at least on 11.0), such as dtterm, telnet, and rlogin use streams pty's.

I hope this helps.