CODEWITHSUNDEEP
macospython-3.xmatplotlib
spfraib
spfraib

Reputation: 119

Python OSError: [Errno 24] Too many open files

I use Ipython Notebook on Mac OS 10.11.2. I run Python 3.5.1 and Matplotlib 1.5.1 and Seaborn version 0.6.0:

%matplotlib inline

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import seaborn as sns

I recently started having issues when plotting using Matplotlib/Seaborn. After generating a few plots within the same notebook, the notebook cell where my latest plot is being generated crashes with the error: 

OSError: [Errno 24] Too many open files: '/Library/Fonts/Arial.ttf'

I am still able to run other cells but the same error is raised every time I try to plot something within this notebook until I restart it.

I tried increasing the files limit by running:

sudo launchctl limit maxfiles 10000000 10000000

It seems to have helped a bit the issue persists. Any suggestion on how to solve the issue once and for all would be appreciated. Thanks !

Below is the exact output of the error:

OSError                                   Traceback (most recent call last)
/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/IPython/core/formatters.py in __call__(self, obj)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/IPython/core/pylabtools.py in <lambda>(fig)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/IPython/core/pylabtools.py in print_figure(fig, fmt, bbox_inches, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/backend_bases.py in print_figure(self, filename, dpi, facecolor, edgecolor, orientation, format, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_agg.py in print_png(self, filename_or_obj, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_agg.py in draw(self)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py in draw_wrapper(artist, renderer, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/figure.py in draw(self, renderer)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py in draw_wrapper(artist, renderer, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/axes/_base.py in draw(self, renderer, inframe)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py in draw_wrapper(artist, renderer, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/axis.py in draw(self, renderer, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/axis.py in _get_tick_bboxes(self, ticks, renderer)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/text.py in get_window_extent(self, renderer, dpi)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/text.py in _get_layout(self, renderer)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_agg.py in get_text_width_height_descent(self, s, prop, ismath)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/mathtext.py in parse(self, s, dpi, prop)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/mathtext.py in __init__(self, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/mathtext.py in __init__(self, *args, **kwargs)

/Users/spfraib/anaconda/lib/python3.5/site-packages/matplotlib/mathtext.py in __init__(self, default_font_prop, mathtext_backend)

OSError: [Errno 24] Too many open files: '/Library/Fonts/Arial.ttf'

Upvotes: 3

Views: 8141

Answers (2)

oleq
oleq

Reputation: 15895

The solution described in the blog post solved the problem for me. I experienced these errors while using Sublime Text editor, which uses a python–driven plugin system.

Create /Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxfiles.plist with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"  
        "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">  
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>limit.maxfiles</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
      <string>launchctl</string>
      <string>limit</string>
      <string>maxfiles</string>
      <string>524288</string>
      <string>524288</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>ServiceIPC</key>
    <false/>
  </dict>
</plist>

Create /Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxproc.plist with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple/DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">  
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
      <string>limit.maxproc</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
      <array>
        <string>launchctl</string>
        <string>limit</string>
        <string>maxproc</string>
        <string>2048</string>
        <string>2048</string>
      </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
      <true />
    <key>ServiceIPC</key>
      <false />
  </dict>
</plist>

Make sure the permissions are right,

-rw-r--r--   1 root  wheel   541 Oct  5 14:14 limit.maxfiles.plist
-rw-r--r--   1 root  wheel   586 Oct  5 14:14 limit.maxproc.plist

and then:

sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxfiles.plist
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxproc.plist

At first, it didn't work for me (check ulimit -a) but after the reboot, it worked like a charm. No more annoying errors.

Upvotes: 1

cimarron
cimarron

Reputation: 431

Before starting ipython try increasing the file limit, e.g. ulimit -n 4096 for up to 4096 file descriptors. El Capitan defaults to a limit of 256 file descriptors.

Upvotes: 2

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