---
title: Setting the maximum user processes
description: Set the maximum user processes higher than the default to improve memory when running multiple servers on a machine.
component: pingauthorize
version: 10.1
page_id: pingauthorize:installing_and_uninstalling_pingauthorize:paz_setting_maximum_user_processes
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingauthorize/10.1/installing_and_uninstalling_pingauthorize/paz_setting_maximum_user_processes.html
revdate: January 26, 2023
section_ids:
  about-this-task: About this task
  steps: Steps
---

# Setting the maximum user processes

Set the maximum user processes higher than the default to improve memory when running multiple servers on a machine.

## About this task

On some Linux distributions, such as RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server/CentOS 6.0 or later, the default maximum number of user processes is set to `1024`, which is considerably lower than the same parameter on earlier distributions, such as RHEL/CentOS 5.x. The default value of `1024` leads to some Java virtual machine (JVM) memory errors when running multiple servers on a machine, due to each Linux thread being counted as a user process.

At startup, PingAuthorize Server attempts to raise this limit to `16383` if the value reported by `ulimit` is less than that number. If the value cannot be set, an error message is displayed. In such a scenario, you must explicitly set the limit in `/etc/security/limit.conf`, as the following example shows.

```
* soft nproc 100000
* hard nproc 100000
```

## Steps

* Set the `1683` value in the `NUM_USER_PROCESSES` environment variable.

* Set the `1683` value in `config/num-user-processes`.