How to Fix “Too Many Open Files” Error in Nginx
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2025 3:56 pm
When hosting many websites on a myVesta server, Nginx may eventually hit the system-imposed limit on the number of simultaneously open files. This can cause the web server to fail with the following error message:
This happens when the NOFILE (number of open files) limit is too low for the number of virtual hosts or log files being accessed.
Solution:
To raise the limit without overwriting existing configuration, first check if the override file already exists:
If /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf already exists, edit it manually and add or adjust the LimitNOFILE value to at least 65535 or some value which suits you
Then apply the changes:
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[emerg] ... open() "... .error.log" failed (24: Too many open files)Solution:
To raise the limit without overwriting existing configuration, first check if the override file already exists:
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if [ ! -f "/etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf" ]; then
mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/
echo "[Service]" > /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf
echo "LimitNOFILE=65535" >> /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/limits.conf
fi
Then apply the changes:
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systemctl daemon-reexec
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl restart nginx