minfree
Parameter
- Description
-
Specifies the minimum acceptable memory level. When memory drops below this number, the system biases allocations toward allocations necessary to successfully complete pageout operations or to swap processes completely out of memory. Either allocation denies or blocks other allocation requests.
- Data Type
-
Unsigned integer
- Default
-
desfree
/ 2 - Range
-
The minimum value is 128 KB or 1/256th of physical memory, whichever is greater, expressed as pages using the page size returned by
getpagesize
.The maximum value is the number of physical memory pages. The maximum value should be no more than 7.5 percent of physical memory. The system does not enforce this range other than that described in the Validation section.
- Units
-
Pages
- Dynamic?
-
Yes, unless dynamic reconfiguration operations that add or delete memory occur. At that point, the value is reset to the value provided in
/etc/system.d/file
or calculated from the new physical memory value. - Validation
-
If
minfree
is greater thandesfree
,minfree
is set todesfree
/ 2. No message is displayed. - Implicit
-
The relationship of
lotsfree
being greater thandesfree
, which is greater thanminfree
, should be maintained at all times. - When to Change
-
The default value is generally adequate. For systems with relatively static workloads and large amounts of memory, lower this value. The minimum acceptable value is 128 KB, expressed as pages using the page size returned by
getpagesize
. - Commitment Level
-
Unstable