Specifies the value of the largest possible process ID.
pidmax sets the value for the maxpid variable. Once maxpid is set, pidmax is ignored. maxpid is used elsewhere in the kernel to determine the maximum process ID and for validation checking.
Any attempts to set maxpid by adding an entry to the /etc/system file have no effect.
Signed integer
30,000
5 to 999,999
Processes
No. Used only at boot time to set the value of pidmax.
Yes. Value is compared to the value of reserved_procs and 999,999. If less than reserved_procs or greater than 999,999, the value is set to 999,999.
max_nprocs range checking ensures that max_nprocs is always less than or equal to this value.
Required to enable support for more than 30,000 processes on a system. See also max_nprocs.
Unstable