If you hit this limit, simply increase your kernel capabilities by creating a file named
/Library/LaunchDaemons/limit.maxfiles.plist
with the following content and reboot:
<?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>
You can check your new settings on the CLI:
$ ulimit -n 524288
See this thread for more informations: http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/108174/how-to-persist-ulimit-settings-in-osx-mavericks