1erl(1) User Commands erl(1)
2
3
4
6 erl - The Erlang emulator.
7
9 The erl program starts an Erlang runtime system. The exact details (for
10 example, whether erl is a script or a program and which other programs
11 it calls) are system-dependent.
12
13 Windows users probably want to use the werl program instead, which runs
14 in its own window with scrollbars and supports command-line editing.
15 The erl program on Windows provides no line editing in its shell, and
16 on Windows 95 there is no way to scroll back to text that has scrolled
17 off the screen. The erl program must be used, however, in pipelines or
18 if you want to redirect standard input or output.
19
20 Note:
21 As from ERTS 5.9 (Erlang/OTP R15B) the runtime system does by default
22 not bind schedulers to logical processors. For more information, see
23 system flag +sbt.
24
25
27 erl <arguments>
28
29 Starts an Erlang runtime system.
30
31 The arguments can be divided into emulator flags, flags, and
32 plain arguments:
33
34 * Any argument starting with character + is interpreted as an
35 emulator flag.
36
37 As indicated by the name, emulator flags control the behav‐
38 ior of the emulator.
39
40 * Any argument starting with character - (hyphen) is inter‐
41 preted as a flag, which is to be passed to the Erlang part
42 of the runtime system, more specifically to the init system
43 process, see init(3).
44
45 The init process itself interprets some of these flags, the
46 init flags. It also stores any remaining flags, the user
47 flags. The latter can be retrieved by calling init:get_argu‐
48 ment/1.
49
50 A small number of "-" flags exist, which now actually are
51 emulator flags, see the description below.
52
53 * Plain arguments are not interpreted in any way. They are
54 also stored by the init process and can be retrieved by
55 calling init:get_plain_arguments/0. Plain arguments can
56 occur before the first flag, or after a -- flag. Also, the
57 -extra flag causes everything that follows to become plain
58 arguments.
59
60 Examples:
61
62 % erl +W w -sname arnie +R 9 -s my_init -extra +bertie
63 (arnie@host)1> init:get_argument(sname).
64 {ok,[["arnie"]]}
65 (arnie@host)2> init:get_plain_arguments().
66 ["+bertie"]
67
68 Here +W w and +R 9 are emulator flags. -s my_init is an init
69 flag, interpreted by init. -sname arnie is a user flag, stored
70 by init. It is read by Kernel and causes the Erlang runtime sys‐
71 tem to become distributed. Finally, everything after -extra
72 (that is, +bertie) is considered as plain arguments.
73
74 % erl -myflag 1
75 1> init:get_argument(myflag).
76 {ok,[["1"]]}
77 2> init:get_plain_arguments().
78 []
79
80 Here the user flag -myflag 1 is passed to and stored by the init
81 process. It is a user-defined flag, presumably used by some
82 user-defined application.
83
85 In the following list, init flags are marked "(init flag)". Unless oth‐
86 erwise specified, all other flags are user flags, for which the values
87 can be retrieved by calling init:get_argument/1. Notice that the list
88 of user flags is not exhaustive, there can be more application-specific
89 flags that instead are described in the corresponding application docu‐
90 mentation.
91
92 -- (init flag):
93 Everything following -- up to the next flag (-flag or +flag) is
94 considered plain arguments and can be retrieved using
95 init:get_plain_arguments/0.
96
97 -Application Par Val:
98 Sets the application configuration parameter Par to the value Val
99 for the application Application; see app(4) and application(3).
100
101 -args_file FileName:
102 Command-line arguments are read from the file FileName. The argu‐
103 ments read from the file replace flag '-args_file FileName' on the
104 resulting command line.
105
106 The file FileName is to be a plain text file and can contain com‐
107 ments and command-line arguments. A comment begins with a # charac‐
108 ter and continues until the next end of line character. Backslash
109 (\\) is used as quoting character. All command-line arguments
110 accepted by erl are allowed, also flag -args_file FileName. Be
111 careful not to cause circular dependencies between files containing
112 flag -args_file, though.
113
114 The flag -extra is treated in special way. Its scope ends at the
115 end of the file. Arguments following an -extra flag are moved on
116 the command line into the -extra section, that is, the end of the
117 command line following after an -extra flag.
118
119 -async_shell_start:
120 The initial Erlang shell does not read user input until the system
121 boot procedure has been completed (Erlang/OTP 5.4 and later). This
122 flag disables the start synchronization feature and lets the shell
123 start in parallel with the rest of the system.
124
125 -boot File:
126 Specifies the name of the boot file, File.boot, which is used to
127 start the system; see init(3). Unless File contains an absolute
128 path, the system searches for File.boot in the current and
129 $ROOT/bin directories.
130
131 Defaults to $ROOT/bin/start.boot.
132
133 -boot_var Var Dir:
134 If the boot script contains a path variable Var other than $ROOT,
135 this variable is expanded to Dir. Used when applications are
136 installed in another directory than $ROOT/lib; see sys‐
137 tools:make_script/1,2 in SASL.
138
139 -code_path_cache:
140 Enables the code path cache of the code server; see code(3).
141
142 -compile Mod1 Mod2 ...:
143 Compiles the specified modules and then terminates (with non-zero
144 exit code if the compilation of some file did not succeed). Implies
145 -noinput.
146
147 Not recommended; use erlc instead.
148
149 -config Config:
150 Specifies the name of a configuration file, Config.config, which is
151 used to configure applications; see app(4) and application(3).
152
153 -connect_all false:
154 If this flag is present, global does not maintain a fully connected
155 network of distributed Erlang nodes, and then global name registra‐
156 tion cannot be used; see global(3).
157
158 -cookie Cookie:
159 Obsolete flag without any effect and common misspelling for -set‐
160 cookie. Use -setcookie instead.
161
162 -detached:
163 Starts the Erlang runtime system detached from the system console.
164 Useful for running daemons and backgrounds processes. Implies
165 -noinput.
166
167 -emu_args:
168 Useful for debugging. Prints the arguments sent to the emulator.
169
170 -emu_type Type:
171 Start an emulator of a different type. For example, to start the
172 lock-counter emualator, use -emu_type lcnt. (The emulator must
173 already be built. Use the configure option --enable-lock-counter to
174 build the lock-counter emulator.)
175
176 -env Variable Value:
177 Sets the host OS environment variable Variable to the value Value
178 for the Erlang runtime system. Example:
179
180 % erl -env DISPLAY gin:0
181
182 In this example, an Erlang runtime system is started with environ‐
183 ment variable DISPLAY set to gin:0.
184
185 -epmd_module Module (init flag):
186 Configures the module responsible to communicate to epmd. Defaults
187 to erl_epmd.
188
189 -eval Expr (init flag):
190 Makes init evaluate the expression Expr; see init(3).
191
192 -extra (init flag):
193 Everything following -extra is considered plain arguments and can
194 be retrieved using init:get_plain_arguments/0.
195
196 -heart:
197 Starts heartbeat monitoring of the Erlang runtime system; see
198 heart(3).
199
200 -hidden:
201 Starts the Erlang runtime system as a hidden node, if it is run as
202 a distributed node. Hidden nodes always establish hidden connec‐
203 tions to all other nodes except for nodes in the same global group.
204 Hidden connections are not published on any of the connected nodes,
205 that is, none of the connected nodes are part of the result from
206 nodes/0 on the other node. See also hidden global groups;
207 global_group(3).
208
209 -hosts Hosts:
210 Specifies the IP addresses for the hosts on which Erlang boot
211 servers are running, see erl_boot_server(3). This flag is mandatory
212 if flag -loader inet is present.
213
214 The IP addresses must be specified in the standard form (four deci‐
215 mal numbers separated by periods, for example, "150.236.20.74".
216 Hosts names are not acceptable, but a broadcast address (preferably
217 limited to the local network) is.
218
219 -id Id:
220 Specifies the identity of the Erlang runtime system. If it is run
221 as a distributed node, Id must be identical to the name supplied
222 together with flag -sname or -name.
223
224 -init_debug:
225 Makes init write some debug information while interpreting the boot
226 script.
227
228 -instr (emulator flag):
229 Selects an instrumented Erlang runtime system (virtual machine) to
230 run, instead of the ordinary one. When running an instrumented run‐
231 time system, some resource usage data can be obtained and analyzed
232 using the instrument module. Functionally, it behaves exactly like
233 an ordinary Erlang runtime system.
234
235 -loader Loader:
236 Specifies the method used by erl_prim_loader to load Erlang modules
237 into the system; see erl_prim_loader(3). Two Loader methods are
238 supported:
239
240 * efile, which means use the local file system, this is the
241 default.
242
243 * inet, which means use a boot server on another machine. The flags
244 -id, -hosts and -setcookie must also be specified.
245
246 If Loader is something else, the user-supplied Loader port program
247 is started.
248
249 -make:
250 Makes the Erlang runtime system invoke make:all() in the current
251 working directory and then terminate; see make(3). Implies -noin‐
252 put.
253
254 -man Module:
255 Displays the manual page for the Erlang module Module. Only sup‐
256 ported on Unix.
257
258 -mode interactive | embedded:
259 Modules are auto loaded when they are first referenced if the run‐
260 time system runs in interactive mode, which is the default. In
261 embedded mode modules are not auto loaded. The latter is recom‐
262 mended when the boot script preloads all modules, as conventionally
263 happens in OTP releases. See code(3).
264
265 -name Name:
266 Makes the Erlang runtime system into a distributed node. This flag
267 invokes all network servers necessary for a node to become distrib‐
268 uted; see net_kernel(3). It is also ensured that epmd runs on the
269 current host before Erlang is started; see epmd(1).and the
270 -start_epmd option.
271
272 The node name will be Name@Host, where Host is the fully qualified
273 host name of the current host. For short names, use flag -sname
274 instead.
275
276 Warning:
277 Starting a distributed node without also specifying -proto_dist
278 inet_tls will expose the node to attacks that may give the attacker
279 complete access to the node and in extension the cluster. When using
280 un-secure distributed nodes, make sure that the network is configured
281 to keep potential attackers out.
282
283
284 -noinput:
285 Ensures that the Erlang runtime system never tries to read any
286 input. Implies -noshell.
287
288 -noshell:
289 Starts an Erlang runtime system with no shell. This flag makes it
290 possible to have the Erlang runtime system as a component in a
291 series of Unix pipes.
292
293 -nostick:
294 Disables the sticky directory facility of the Erlang code server;
295 see code(3).
296
297 -oldshell:
298 Invokes the old Erlang shell from Erlang/OTP 3.3. The old shell can
299 still be used.
300
301 -pa Dir1 Dir2 ...:
302 Adds the specified directories to the beginning of the code path,
303 similar to code:add_pathsa/1. Note that the order of the given
304 directories will be reversed in the resulting path.
305
306 As an alternative to -pa, if several directories are to be
307 prepended to the code path and the directories have a common parent
308 directory, that parent directory can be specified in environment
309 variable ERL_LIBS; see code(3).
310
311 -pz Dir1 Dir2 ...:
312 Adds the specified directories to the end of the code path, similar
313 to code:add_pathsz/1; see code(3).
314
315 -path Dir1 Dir2 ...:
316 Replaces the path specified in the boot script; see script(4).
317
318 -proto_dist Proto:
319
320
321 Specifies a protocol for Erlang distribution:
322
323 inet_tcp:
324 TCP over IPv4 (the default)
325
326 inet_tls:
327 Distribution over TLS/SSL, See the Using SSL for Erlang Distri‐
328 bution User's Guide for details on how to setup a secure distrib‐
329 uted node.
330
331 inet6_tcp:
332 TCP over IPv6
333
334 For example, to start up IPv6 distributed nodes:
335
336 % erl -name test@ipv6node.example.com -proto_dist inet6_tcp
337
338 -remsh Node:
339 Starts Erlang with a remote shell connected to Node. Requires
340 either -name or -sname to be given. If Node does not contain a
341 hostname, one is automatically taken from -name or -sname
342
343 -rsh Program:
344 Specifies an alternative to ssh for starting a slave node on a
345 remote host; see slave(3).
346
347 -run Mod [Func [Arg1, Arg2, ...]] (init flag):
348 Makes init call the specified function. Func defaults to start. If
349 no arguments are provided, the function is assumed to be of arity
350 0. Otherwise it is assumed to be of arity 1, taking the list
351 [Arg1,Arg2,...] as argument. All arguments are passed as strings.
352 See init(3).
353
354 -s Mod [Func [Arg1, Arg2, ...]] (init flag):
355 Makes init call the specified function. Func defaults to start. If
356 no arguments are provided, the function is assumed to be of arity
357 0. Otherwise it is assumed to be of arity 1, taking the list
358 [Arg1,Arg2,...] as argument. All arguments are passed as atoms. See
359 init(3).
360
361 -setcookie Cookie:
362 Sets the magic cookie of the node to Cookie; see
363 erlang:set_cookie/2.
364
365 -shutdown_time Time:
366 Specifies how long time (in milliseconds) the init process is
367 allowed to spend shutting down the system. If Time milliseconds
368 have elapsed, all processes still existing are killed. Defaults to
369 infinity.
370
371 -sname Name:
372 Makes the Erlang runtime system into a distributed node, similar to
373 -name, but the host name portion of the node name Name@Host will be
374 the short name, not fully qualified.
375
376 This is sometimes the only way to run distributed Erlang if the
377 Domain Name System (DNS) is not running. No communication can exist
378 between nodes running with flag -sname and those running with flag
379 -name, as node names must be unique in distributed Erlang systems.
380
381 Warning:
382 Starting a distributed node without also specifying -proto_dist
383 inet_tls will expose the node to attacks that may give the attacker
384 complete access to the node and in extension the cluster. When using
385 un-secure distributed nodes, make sure that the network is configured
386 to keep potential attackers out.
387
388
389 -start_epmd true | false:
390 Specifies whether Erlang should start epmd on startup. By default
391 this is true, but if you prefer to start epmd manually, set this to
392 false.
393
394 This only applies if Erlang is started as a distributed node, i.e.
395 if -name or -sname is specified. Otherwise, epmd is not started
396 even if -start_epmd true is given.
397
398 Note that a distributed node will fail to start if epmd is not run‐
399 ning.
400
401 -version (emulator flag):
402 Makes the emulator print its version number. The same as erl +V.
403
405 erl invokes the code for the Erlang emulator (virtual machine), which
406 supports the following flags:
407
408 +a size:
409 Suggested stack size, in kilowords, for threads in the async thread
410 pool. Valid range is 16-8192 kilowords. The default suggested stack
411 size is 16 kilowords, that is, 64 kilobyte on 32-bit architectures.
412 This small default size has been chosen because the number of async
413 threads can be large. The default size is enough for drivers deliv‐
414 ered with Erlang/OTP, but might not be large enough for other
415 dynamically linked-in drivers that use the driver_async() function‐
416 ality. Notice that the value passed is only a suggestion, and it
417 can even be ignored on some platforms.
418
419 +A size:
420 Sets the number of threads in async thread pool. Valid range is
421 0-1024. Defaults to 1.
422
423 +B [c | d | i]:
424 Option c makes Ctrl-C interrupt the current shell instead of invok‐
425 ing the emulator break handler. Option d (same as specifying +B
426 without an extra option) disables the break handler. Option i makes
427 the emulator ignore any break signal.
428
429 If option c is used with oldshell on Unix, Ctrl-C will restart the
430 shell process rather than interrupt it.
431
432 Notice that on Windows, this flag is only applicable for werl, not
433 erl (oldshell). Notice also that Ctrl-Break is used instead of
434 Ctrl-C on Windows.
435
436 +c true | false:
437 Enables or disables time correction:
438
439 true:
440 Enables time correction. This is the default if time correction
441 is supported on the specific platform.
442
443 false:
444 Disables time correction.
445
446 For backward compatibility, the boolean value can be omitted. This
447 is interpreted as +c false.
448
449 +C no_time_warp | single_time_warp | multi_time_warp:
450 Sets time warp mode:
451
452 no_time_warp:
453 No time warp mode (the default)
454
455 single_time_warp:
456 Single time warp mode
457
458 multi_time_warp:
459 Multi-time warp mode
460
461 +d:
462 If the emulator detects an internal error (or runs out of memory),
463 it, by default, generates both a crash dump and a core dump. The
464 core dump is, however, not very useful as the content of process
465 heaps is destroyed by the crash dump generation.
466
467 Option +d instructs the emulator to produce only a core dump and no
468 crash dump if an internal error is detected.
469
470 Calling erlang:halt/1 with a string argument still produces a crash
471 dump. On Unix systems, sending an emulator process a SIGUSR1 signal
472 also forces a crash dump.
473
474 +rg DecentralizedCounterGroupsLimit:
475 Limits the number of decentralized counter groups used by decen‐
476 tralized counters optimized for update operations in the Erlang
477 runtime system. By default, the limit is 256.
478
479 When the number of schedulers is less than or equal to the limit,
480 each scheduler has its own group. When the number of schedulers is
481 larger than the groups limit, schedulers share groups. Shared
482 groups degrade the performance for updating counters while many
483 reader groups degrade the performance for reading counters. So, the
484 limit is a tradeoff between performance for update operations and
485 performance for read operations. Each group consumes 64 bytes in
486 each counter.
487
488 Notice that a runtime system using decentralized counter groups
489 benefits from binding schedulers to logical processors, as the
490 groups are distributed better between schedulers with this option.
491
492 This option only affects decentralized counters used for the coun‐
493 ters that are keeping track of the memory consumption and the num‐
494 ber of terms in ETS tables of type ordered_set with the write_con‐
495 currency option activated.
496
497 +e Number:
498 Sets the maximum number of ETS tables. This limit is partially
499 obsolete.
500
501 +ec:
502 Forces option compressed on all ETS tables. Only intended for test
503 and evaluation.
504
505 +fnl:
506 The virtual machine works with filenames as if they are encoded
507 using the ISO Latin-1 encoding, disallowing Unicode characters with
508 code points > 255.
509
510 For more information about Unicode filenames, see section Unicode
511 Filenames in the STDLIB User's Guide. Notice that this value also
512 applies to command-line parameters and environment variables (see
513 section Unicode in Environment and Parameters in the STDLIB User's
514 Guide).
515
516 +fnu[{w|i|e}]:
517 The virtual machine works with filenames as if they are encoded
518 using UTF-8 (or some other system-specific Unicode encoding). This
519 is the default on operating systems that enforce Unicode encoding,
520 that is, Windows and MacOS X.
521
522 The +fnu switch can be followed by w, i, or e to control how
523 wrongly encoded filenames are to be reported:
524
525 * w means that a warning is sent to the error_logger whenever a
526 wrongly encoded filename is "skipped" in directory listings. This
527 is the default.
528
529 * i means that those wrongly encoded filenames are silently
530 ignored.
531
532 * e means that the API function returns an error whenever a wrongly
533 encoded filename (or directory name) is encountered.
534
535 Notice that file:read_link/1 always returns an error if the link
536 points to an invalid filename.
537
538 For more information about Unicode filenames, see section Unicode
539 Filenames in the STDLIB User's Guide. Notice that this value also
540 applies to command-line parameters and environment variables (see
541 section Unicode in Environment and Parameters in the STDLIB User's
542 Guide).
543
544 +fna[{w|i|e}]:
545 Selection between +fnl and +fnu is done based on the current locale
546 settings in the OS. This means that if you have set your terminal
547 for UTF-8 encoding, the filesystem is expected to use the same
548 encoding for filenames. This is default on all operating systems,
549 except MacOS X and Windows.
550
551 The +fna switch can be followed by w, i, or e. This has effect if
552 the locale settings cause the behavior of +fnu to be selected; see
553 the description of +fnu above. If the locale settings cause the
554 behavior of +fnl to be selected, then w, i, or e have no effect.
555
556 For more information about Unicode filenames, see section Unicode
557 Filenames in the STDLIB User's Guide. Notice that this value also
558 applies to command-line parameters and environment variables (see
559 section Unicode in Environment and Parameters in the STDLIB User's
560 Guide).
561
562 +hms Size:
563 Sets the default heap size of processes to the size Size.
564
565 +hmbs Size:
566 Sets the default binary virtual heap size of processes to the size
567 Size.
568
569 +hmax Size:
570 Sets the default maximum heap size of processes to the size Size.
571 Defaults to 0, which means that no maximum heap size is used. For
572 more information, see process_flag(max_heap_size, MaxHeapSize).
573
574 +hmaxel true|false:
575 Sets whether to send an error logger message or not for processes
576 reaching the maximum heap size. Defaults to true. For more informa‐
577 tion, see process_flag(max_heap_size, MaxHeapSize).
578
579 +hmaxk true|false:
580 Sets whether to kill processes reaching the maximum heap size or
581 not. Default to true. For more information, see
582 process_flag(max_heap_size, MaxHeapSize).
583
584 +hpds Size:
585 Sets the initial process dictionary size of processes to the size
586 Size.
587
588 +hmqd off_heap|on_heap:
589 Sets the default value for process flag message_queue_data.
590 Defaults to on_heap. If +hmqd is not passed, on_heap will be the
591 default. For more information, see process_flag(message_queue_data,
592 MQD).
593
594 +IOp PollSets:
595 Sets the number of IO pollsets to use when polling for I/O. This
596 option is only used on platforms that support concurrent updates of
597 a pollset, otherwise the same number of pollsets are used as IO
598 poll threads. The default is 1.
599
600 +IOt PollThreads:
601 Sets the number of IO poll threads to use when polling for I/O. The
602 maximum number of poll threads allowed is 1024. The default is 1.
603
604 A good way to check if more IO poll threads are needed is to use
605 microstate accounting and see what the load of the IO poll thread
606 is. If it is high it could be a good idea to add more threads.
607
608 +IOPp PollSetsPercentage:
609 Similar to +IOp but uses percentages to set the number of IO
610 pollsets to create, based on the number of poll threads configured.
611 If both +IOPp and +IOp are used, +IOPp is ignored.
612
613 +IOPt PollThreadsPercentage:
614 Similar to +IOt but uses percentages to set the number of IO poll
615 threads to create, based on the number of schedulers configured. If
616 both +IOPt and +IOt are used, +IOPt is ignored.
617
618 +l:
619 Enables autoload tracing, displaying information while loading
620 code.
621
622 +L:
623 Prevents loading information about source filenames and line num‐
624 bers. This saves some memory, but exceptions do not contain infor‐
625 mation about the filenames and line numbers.
626
627 +MFlag Value:
628 Memory allocator-specific flags. For more information, see
629 erts_alloc(3).
630
631 +pc Range:
632 Sets the range of characters that the system considers printable in
633 heuristic detection of strings. This typically affects the shell,
634 debugger, and io:format functions (when ~tp is used in the format
635 string).
636
637 Two values are supported for Range:
638
639 latin1:
640 The default. Only characters in the ISO Latin-1 range can be con‐
641 sidered printable. This means that a character with a code point
642 > 255 is never considered printable and that lists containing
643 such characters are displayed as lists of integers rather than
644 text strings by tools.
645
646 unicode:
647 All printable Unicode characters are considered when determining
648 if a list of integers is to be displayed in string syntax. This
649 can give unexpected results if, for example, your font does not
650 cover all Unicode characters.
651
652 See also io:printable_range/0 in STDLIB.
653
654 +P Number:
655 Sets the maximum number of simultaneously existing processes for
656 this system if a Number is passed as value. Valid range for Number
657 is [1024-134217727]
658
659 NOTE: The actual maximum chosen may be much larger than the Number
660 passed. Currently the runtime system often, but not always, chooses
661 a value that is a power of 2. This might, however, be changed in
662 the future. The actual value chosen can be checked by calling
663 erlang:system_info(process_limit).
664
665 The default value is 262144
666
667 +Q Number:
668 Sets the maximum number of simultaneously existing ports for this
669 system if a Number is passed as value. Valid range for Number is
670 [1024-134217727]
671
672 NOTE: The actual maximum chosen may be much larger than the actual
673 Number passed. Currently the runtime system often, but not always,
674 chooses a value that is a power of 2. This might, however, be
675 changed in the future. The actual value chosen can be checked by
676 calling erlang:system_info(port_limit).
677
678 The default value used is normally 65536. However, if the runtime
679 system is able to determine maximum amount of file descriptors that
680 it is allowed to open and this value is larger than 65536, the cho‐
681 sen value will increased to a value larger or equal to the maximum
682 amount of file descriptors that can be opened.
683
684 On Windows the default value is set to 8196 because the normal OS
685 limitations are set higher than most machines can handle.
686
687 +R ReleaseNumber:
688 Sets the compatibility mode.
689
690 The distribution mechanism is not backward compatible by default.
691 This flag sets the emulator in compatibility mode with an earlier
692 Erlang/OTP release ReleaseNumber. The release number must be in the
693 range <current release>-2..<current release>. This limits the emu‐
694 lator, making it possible for it to communicate with Erlang nodes
695 (as well as C- and Java nodes) running that earlier release.
696
697 Note:
698 Ensure that all nodes (Erlang-, C-, and Java nodes) of a distributed
699 Erlang system is of the same Erlang/OTP release, or from two differ‐
700 ent Erlang/OTP releases X and Y, where all Y nodes have compatibility
701 mode X.
702
703
704 +r:
705 Forces ETS memory block to be moved on realloc.
706
707 +rg ReaderGroupsLimit:
708 Limits the number of reader groups used by read/write locks opti‐
709 mized for read operations in the Erlang runtime system. By default
710 the reader groups limit is 64.
711
712 When the number of schedulers is less than or equal to the reader
713 groups limit, each scheduler has its own reader group. When the
714 number of schedulers is larger than the reader groups limit, sched‐
715 ulers share reader groups. Shared reader groups degrade read lock
716 and read unlock performance while many reader groups degrade write
717 lock performance. So, the limit is a tradeoff between performance
718 for read operations and performance for write operations. Each
719 reader group consumes 64 byte in each read/write lock.
720
721 Notice that a runtime system using shared reader groups benefits
722 from binding schedulers to logical processors, as the reader groups
723 are distributed better between schedulers.
724
725 +S Schedulers:SchedulerOnline:
726 Sets the number of scheduler threads to create and scheduler
727 threads to set online. The maximum for both values is 1024. If the
728 Erlang runtime system is able to determine the number of logical
729 processors configured and logical processors available, Schedulers
730 defaults to logical processors configured, and SchedulersOnline
731 defaults to logical processors available; otherwise the default
732 values are 1. Schedulers can be omitted if :SchedulerOnline is not
733 and conversely. The number of schedulers online can be changed at
734 runtime through erlang:system_flag(schedulers_online, SchedulersOn‐
735 line).
736
737 If Schedulers or SchedulersOnline is specified as a negative num‐
738 ber, the value is subtracted from the default number of logical
739 processors configured or logical processors available, respec‐
740 tively.
741
742 Specifying value 0 for Schedulers or SchedulersOnline resets the
743 number of scheduler threads or scheduler threads online, respec‐
744 tively, to its default value.
745
746 +SP SchedulersPercentage:SchedulersOnlinePercentage:
747 Similar to +S but uses percentages to set the number of scheduler
748 threads to create, based on logical processors configured, and
749 scheduler threads to set online, based on logical processors avail‐
750 able. Specified values must be > 0. For example, +SP 50:25 sets the
751 number of scheduler threads to 50% of the logical processors con‐
752 figured, and the number of scheduler threads online to 25% of the
753 logical processors available. SchedulersPercentage can be omitted
754 if :SchedulersOnlinePercentage is not and conversely. The number of
755 schedulers online can be changed at runtime through erlang:sys‐
756 tem_flag(schedulers_online, SchedulersOnline).
757
758 This option interacts with +S settings. For example, on a system
759 with 8 logical cores configured and 8 logical cores available, the
760 combination of the options +S 4:4 +SP 50:25 (in either order)
761 results in 2 scheduler threads (50% of 4) and 1 scheduler thread
762 online (25% of 4).
763
764 +SDcpu DirtyCPUSchedulers:DirtyCPUSchedulersOnline:
765 Sets the number of dirty CPU scheduler threads to create and dirty
766 CPU scheduler threads to set online. The maximum for both values is
767 1024, and each value is further limited by the settings for normal
768 schedulers:
769
770 * The number of dirty CPU scheduler threads created cannot exceed
771 the number of normal scheduler threads created.
772
773 * The number of dirty CPU scheduler threads online cannot exceed
774 the number of normal scheduler threads online.
775
776 For details, see the +S and +SP. By default, the number of dirty
777 CPU scheduler threads created equals the number of normal scheduler
778 threads created, and the number of dirty CPU scheduler threads
779 online equals the number of normal scheduler threads online. Dirty‐
780 CPUSchedulers can be omitted if :DirtyCPUSchedulersOnline is not
781 and conversely. The number of dirty CPU schedulers online can be
782 changed at runtime through erlang:system_flag(dirty_cpu_sched‐
783 ulers_online, DirtyCPUSchedulersOnline).
784
785 The amount of dirty CPU schedulers is limited by the amount of nor‐
786 mal schedulers in order to limit the effect on processes executing
787 on ordinary schedulers. If the amount of dirty CPU schedulers was
788 allowed to be unlimited, dirty CPU bound jobs would potentially
789 starve normal jobs.
790
791 +SDPcpu DirtyCPUSchedulersPercentage:DirtyCPUSchedulersOnlinePercent‐
792 age:
793 Similar to +SDcpu but uses percentages to set the number of dirty
794 CPU scheduler threads to create and the number of dirty CPU sched‐
795 uler threads to set online. Specified values must be > 0. For exam‐
796 ple, +SDPcpu 50:25 sets the number of dirty CPU scheduler threads
797 to 50% of the logical processors configured and the number of dirty
798 CPU scheduler threads online to 25% of the logical processors
799 available. DirtyCPUSchedulersPercentage can be omitted if :DirtyC‐
800 PUSchedulersOnlinePercentage is not and conversely. The number of
801 dirty CPU schedulers online can be changed at runtime through
802 erlang:system_flag(dirty_cpu_schedulers_online, DirtyCPUScheduler‐
803 sOnline).
804
805 This option interacts with +SDcpu settings. For example, on a sys‐
806 tem with 8 logical cores configured and 8 logical cores available,
807 the combination of the options +SDcpu 4:4 +SDPcpu 50:25 (in either
808 order) results in 2 dirty CPU scheduler threads (50% of 4) and 1
809 dirty CPU scheduler thread online (25% of 4).
810
811 +SDio DirtyIOSchedulers:
812 Sets the number of dirty I/O scheduler threads to create. Valid
813 range is 0-1024. By default, the number of dirty I/O scheduler
814 threads created is 10, same as the default number of threads in the
815 async thread pool.
816
817 The amount of dirty IO schedulers is not limited by the amount of
818 normal schedulers like the amount of dirty CPU schedulers. This
819 since only I/O bound work is expected to execute on dirty I/O
820 schedulers. If the user should schedule CPU bound jobs on dirty I/O
821 schedulers, these jobs might starve ordinary jobs executing on
822 ordinary schedulers.
823
824 +sFlag Value:
825 Scheduling specific flags.
826
827 +sbt BindType:
828 Sets scheduler bind type.
829
830 Schedulers can also be bound using flag +stbt. The only differ‐
831 ence between these two flags is how the following errors are han‐
832 dled:
833
834 * Binding of schedulers is not supported on the specific plat‐
835 form.
836
837 * No available CPU topology. That is, the runtime system was not
838 able to detect the CPU topology automatically, and no user-
839 defined CPU topology was set.
840
841 If any of these errors occur when +sbt has been passed, the run‐
842 time system prints an error message, and refuses to start. If any
843 of these errors occur when +stbt has been passed, the runtime
844 system silently ignores the error, and start up using unbound
845 schedulers.
846
847 Valid BindTypes:
848
849 u:
850 unbound - Schedulers are not bound to logical processors, that
851 is, the operating system decides where the scheduler threads
852 execute, and when to migrate them. This is the default.
853
854 ns:
855 no_spread - Schedulers with close scheduler identifiers are
856 bound as close as possible in hardware.
857
858 ts:
859 thread_spread - Thread refers to hardware threads (such as
860 Intel's hyper-threads). Schedulers with low scheduler identi‐
861 fiers, are bound to the first hardware thread of each core,
862 then schedulers with higher scheduler identifiers are bound to
863 the second hardware thread of each core,and so on.
864
865 ps:
866 processor_spread - Schedulers are spread like thread_spread,
867 but also over physical processor chips.
868
869 s:
870 spread - Schedulers are spread as much as possible.
871
872 nnts:
873 no_node_thread_spread - Like thread_spread, but if multiple
874 Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) nodes exist, schedulers are
875 spread over one NUMA node at a time, that is, all logical pro‐
876 cessors of one NUMA node are bound to schedulers in sequence.
877
878 nnps:
879 no_node_processor_spread - Like processor_spread, but if multi‐
880 ple NUMA nodes exist, schedulers are spread over one NUMA node
881 at a time, that is, all logical processors of one NUMA node are
882 bound to schedulers in sequence.
883
884 tnnps:
885 thread_no_node_processor_spread - A combination of
886 thread_spread, and no_node_processor_spread. Schedulers are
887 spread over hardware threads across NUMA nodes, but schedulers
888 are only spread over processors internally in one NUMA node at
889 a time.
890
891 db:
892 default_bind - Binds schedulers the default way. Defaults to
893 thread_no_node_processor_spread (which can change in the
894 future).
895
896 Binding of schedulers is only supported on newer Linux, Solaris,
897 FreeBSD, and Windows systems.
898
899 If no CPU topology is available when flag +sbt is processed and
900 BindType is any other type than u, the runtime system fails to
901 start. CPU topology can be defined using flag +sct. Notice that
902 flag +sct can have to be passed before flag +sbt on the command
903 line (if no CPU topology has been automatically detected).
904
905 The runtime system does by default not bind schedulers to logical
906 processors.
907
908 Note:
909 If the Erlang runtime system is the only operating system process
910 that binds threads to logical processors, this improves the perfor‐
911 mance of the runtime system. However, if other operating system
912 processes (for example another Erlang runtime system) also bind
913 threads to logical processors, there can be a performance penalty
914 instead. This performance penalty can sometimes be severe. If so,
915 you are advised not to bind the schedulers.
916
917
918 How schedulers are bound matters. For example, in situations when
919 there are fewer running processes than schedulers online, the
920 runtime system tries to migrate processes to schedulers with low
921 scheduler identifiers. The more the schedulers are spread over
922 the hardware, the more resources are available to the runtime
923 system in such situations.
924
925 Note:
926 If a scheduler fails to bind, this is often silently ignored, as it
927 is not always possible to verify valid logical processor identi‐
928 fiers. If an error is reported, it is reported to the error_logger.
929 If you want to verify that the schedulers have bound as requested,
930 call erlang:system_info(scheduler_bindings).
931
932
933 +sbwt none|very_short|short|medium|long|very_long:
934 Sets scheduler busy wait threshold. Defaults to medium. The
935 threshold determines how long schedulers are to busy wait when
936 running out of work before going to sleep.
937
938 Note:
939 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
940 notice.
941
942
943 +sbwtdcpu none|very_short|short|medium|long|very_long:
944 As +sbwt but affects dirty CPU schedulers. Defaults to short.
945
946 Note:
947 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
948 notice.
949
950
951 +sbwtdio none|very_short|short|medium|long|very_long:
952 As +sbwt but affects dirty IO schedulers. Defaults to short.
953
954 Note:
955 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
956 notice.
957
958
959 +scl true|false:
960 Enables or disables scheduler compaction of load. By default
961 scheduler compaction of load is enabled. When enabled, load bal‐
962 ancing strives for a load distribution, which causes as many
963 scheduler threads as possible to be fully loaded (that is, not
964 run out of work). This is accomplished by migrating load (for
965 example, runnable processes) into a smaller set of schedulers
966 when schedulers frequently run out of work. When disabled, the
967 frequency with which schedulers run out of work is not taken into
968 account by the load balancing logic.
969
970 +scl false is similar to +sub true, but +sub true also balances
971 scheduler utilization between schedulers.
972
973 +sct CpuTopology:
974
975
976 * <Id> = integer(); when 0 =< <Id> =< 65535
977
978 * <IdRange> = <Id>-<Id>
979
980 * <IdOrIdRange> = <Id> | <IdRange>
981
982 * <IdList> = <IdOrIdRange>,<IdOrIdRange> | <IdOrIdRange>
983
984 * <LogicalIds> = L<IdList>
985
986 * <ThreadIds> = T<IdList> | t<IdList>
987
988 * <CoreIds> = C<IdList> | c<IdList>
989
990 * <ProcessorIds> = P<IdList> | p<IdList>
991
992 * <NodeIds> = N<IdList> | n<IdList>
993
994 * <IdDefs> = <LogicalIds><ThreadIds><CoreIds><Proces‐
995 sorIds><NodeIds> | <LogicalIds><ThreadIds><Cor‐
996 eIds><NodeIds><ProcessorIds>
997
998 * CpuTopology = <IdDefs>:<IdDefs> | <IdDefs>
999
1000 Sets a user-defined CPU topology. The user-defined CPU topology
1001 overrides any automatically detected CPU topology. The CPU topol‐
1002 ogy is used when binding schedulers to logical processors.
1003
1004 Uppercase letters signify real identifiers and lowercase letters
1005 signify fake identifiers only used for description of the topol‐
1006 ogy. Identifiers passed as real identifiers can be used by the
1007 runtime system when trying to access specific hardware; if they
1008 are incorrect the behavior is undefined. Faked logical CPU iden‐
1009 tifiers are not accepted, as there is no point in defining the
1010 CPU topology without real logical CPU identifiers. Thread, core,
1011 processor, and node identifiers can be omitted. If omitted, the
1012 thread ID defaults to t0, the core ID defaults to c0, the proces‐
1013 sor ID defaults to p0, and the node ID is left undefined. Either
1014 each logical processor must belong to only one NUMA node, or no
1015 logical processors must belong to any NUMA nodes.
1016
1017 Both increasing and decreasing <IdRange>s are allowed.
1018
1019 NUMA node identifiers are system wide. That is, each NUMA node on
1020 the system must have a unique identifier. Processor identifiers
1021 are also system wide. Core identifiers are processor wide. Thread
1022 identifiers are core wide.
1023
1024 The order of the identifier types implies the hierarchy of the
1025 CPU topology. The valid orders are as follows:
1026
1027 * <LogicalIds><ThreadIds><CoreIds><ProcessorIds><NodeIds>, that
1028 is, thread is part of a core that is part of a processor, which
1029 is part of a NUMA node.
1030
1031 * <LogicalIds><ThreadIds><CoreIds><NodeIds><ProcessorIds>, that
1032 is, thread is part of a core that is part of a NUMA node, which
1033 is part of a processor.
1034
1035 A CPU topology can consist of both processor external, and pro‐
1036 cessor internal NUMA nodes as long as each logical processor
1037 belongs to only one NUMA node. If <ProcessorIds> is omitted, its
1038 default position is before <NodeIds>. That is, the default is
1039 processor external NUMA nodes.
1040
1041 If a list of identifiers is used in an <IdDefs>:
1042
1043 * <LogicalIds> must be a list of identifiers.
1044
1045 * At least one other identifier type besides <LogicalIds> must
1046 also have a list of identifiers.
1047
1048 * All lists of identifiers must produce the same number of iden‐
1049 tifiers.
1050
1051 A simple example. A single quad core processor can be described
1052 as follows:
1053
1054 % erl +sct L0-3c0-3
1055 1> erlang:system_info(cpu_topology).
1056 [{processor,[{core,{logical,0}},
1057 {core,{logical,1}},
1058 {core,{logical,2}},
1059 {core,{logical,3}}]}]
1060
1061 A more complicated example with two quad core processors, each
1062 processor in its own NUMA node. The ordering of logical proces‐
1063 sors is a bit weird. This to give a better example of identifier
1064 lists:
1065
1066 % erl +sct L0-1,3-2c0-3p0N0:L7,4,6-5c0-3p1N1
1067 1> erlang:system_info(cpu_topology).
1068 [{node,[{processor,[{core,{logical,0}},
1069 {core,{logical,1}},
1070 {core,{logical,3}},
1071 {core,{logical,2}}]}]},
1072 {node,[{processor,[{core,{logical,7}},
1073 {core,{logical,4}},
1074 {core,{logical,6}},
1075 {core,{logical,5}}]}]}]
1076
1077 As long as real identifiers are correct, it is OK to pass a CPU
1078 topology that is not a correct description of the CPU topology.
1079 When used with care this can be very useful. This to trick the
1080 emulator to bind its schedulers as you want. For example, if you
1081 want to run multiple Erlang runtime systems on the same machine,
1082 you want to reduce the number of schedulers used and manipulate
1083 the CPU topology so that they bind to different logical CPUs. An
1084 example, with two Erlang runtime systems on a quad core machine:
1085
1086 % erl +sct L0-3c0-3 +sbt db +S3:2 -detached -noinput -noshell -sname one
1087 % erl +sct L3-0c0-3 +sbt db +S3:2 -detached -noinput -noshell -sname two
1088
1089 In this example, each runtime system have two schedulers each
1090 online, and all schedulers online will run on different cores. If
1091 we change to one scheduler online on one runtime system, and
1092 three schedulers online on the other, all schedulers online will
1093 still run on different cores.
1094
1095 Notice that a faked CPU topology that does not reflect how the
1096 real CPU topology looks like is likely to decrease the perfor‐
1097 mance of the runtime system.
1098
1099 For more information, see erlang:system_info(cpu_topology).
1100
1101 +sfwi Interval:
1102 Sets scheduler-forced wakeup interval. All run queues are scanned
1103 each Interval milliseconds. While there are sleeping schedulers
1104 in the system, one scheduler is woken for each non-empty run
1105 queue found. Interval default to 0, meaning this feature is dis‐
1106 abled.
1107
1108 Note:
1109 This feature has been introduced as a temporary workaround for
1110 long-executing native code, and native code that does not bump
1111 reductions properly in OTP. When these bugs have be fixed, this
1112 flag will be removed.
1113
1114
1115 +spp Bool:
1116 Sets default scheduler hint for port parallelism. If set to true,
1117 the virtual machine schedules port tasks when it improves paral‐
1118 lelism in the system. If set to false, the virtual machine tries
1119 to perform port tasks immediately, improving latency at the
1120 expense of parallelism. Default to false. The default used can be
1121 inspected in runtime by calling erlang:system_info(port_parallel‐
1122 ism). The default can be overridden on port creation by passing
1123 option parallelism to erlang:open_port/2.
1124
1125 +sss size:
1126 Suggested stack size, in kilowords, for scheduler threads. Valid
1127 range is 20-8192 kilowords. The default suggested stack size is
1128 128 kilowords.
1129
1130 +sssdcpu size:
1131 Suggested stack size, in kilowords, for dirty CPU scheduler
1132 threads. Valid range is 20-8192 kilowords. The default suggested
1133 stack size is 40 kilowords.
1134
1135 +sssdio size:
1136 Suggested stack size, in kilowords, for dirty IO scheduler
1137 threads. Valid range is 20-8192 kilowords. The default suggested
1138 stack size is 40 kilowords.
1139
1140 +stbt BindType:
1141 Tries to set the scheduler bind type. The same as flag +sbt
1142 except how some errors are handled. For more information, see
1143 +sbt.
1144
1145 +sub true|false:
1146 Enables or disables scheduler utilization balancing of load. By
1147 default scheduler utilization balancing is disabled and instead
1148 scheduler compaction of load is enabled, which strives for a load
1149 distribution that causes as many scheduler threads as possible to
1150 be fully loaded (that is, not run out of work). When scheduler
1151 utilization balancing is enabled, the system instead tries to
1152 balance scheduler utilization between schedulers. That is, strive
1153 for equal scheduler utilization on all schedulers.
1154
1155 +sub true is only supported on systems where the runtime system
1156 detects and uses a monotonically increasing high-resolution
1157 clock. On other systems, the runtime system fails to start.
1158
1159 +sub true implies +scl false. The difference between +sub true
1160 and +scl false is that +scl false does not try to balance the
1161 scheduler utilization.
1162
1163 +swct very_eager|eager|medium|lazy|very_lazy:
1164 Sets scheduler wake cleanup threshold. Defaults to medium. Con‐
1165 trols how eager schedulers are to be requesting wakeup because of
1166 certain cleanup operations. When a lazy setting is used, more
1167 outstanding cleanup operations can be left undone while a sched‐
1168 uler is idling. When an eager setting is used, schedulers are
1169 more frequently woken, potentially increasing CPU-utilization.
1170
1171 Note:
1172 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
1173 notice.
1174
1175
1176 +sws default|legacy:
1177 Sets scheduler wakeup strategy. Default strategy changed in ERTS
1178 5.10 (Erlang/OTP R16A). This strategy was known as proposal in
1179 Erlang/OTP R15. The legacy strategy was used as default from R13
1180 up to and including R15.
1181
1182 Note:
1183 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
1184 notice.
1185
1186
1187 +swt very_low|low|medium|high|very_high:
1188 Sets scheduler wakeup threshold. Defaults to medium. The thresh‐
1189 old determines when to wake up sleeping schedulers when more work
1190 than can be handled by currently awake schedulers exists. A low
1191 threshold causes earlier wakeups, and a high threshold causes
1192 later wakeups. Early wakeups distribute work over multiple sched‐
1193 ulers faster, but work does more easily bounce between sched‐
1194 ulers.
1195
1196 Note:
1197 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
1198 notice.
1199
1200
1201 +swtdcpu very_low|low|medium|high|very_high:
1202 As +swt but affects dirty CPU schedulers. Defaults to medium.
1203
1204 Note:
1205 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
1206 notice.
1207
1208
1209 +swtdio very_low|low|medium|high|very_high:
1210 As +swt but affects dirty IO schedulers. Defaults to medium.
1211
1212 Note:
1213 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior
1214 notice.
1215
1216
1217 +t size:
1218 Sets the maximum number of atoms the virtual machine can handle.
1219 Defaults to 1,048,576.
1220
1221 +T Level:
1222 Enables modified timing and sets the modified timing level. Valid
1223 range is 0-9. The timing of the runtime system is changed. A high
1224 level usually means a greater change than a low level. Changing the
1225 timing can be very useful for finding timing-related bugs.
1226
1227 Modified timing affects the following:
1228
1229 Process spawning:
1230 A process calling spawn, spawn_link, spawn_monitor, or spawn_opt
1231 is scheduled out immediately after completing the call. When
1232 higher modified timing levels are used, the caller also sleeps
1233 for a while after it is scheduled out.
1234
1235 Context reductions:
1236 The number of reductions a process is allowed to use before it is
1237 scheduled out is increased or reduced.
1238
1239 Input reductions:
1240 The number of reductions performed before checking I/O is
1241 increased or reduced.
1242
1243 Note:
1244 Performance suffers when modified timing is enabled. This flag is
1245 only intended for testing and debugging.
1246
1247 return_to and return_from trace messages are lost when tracing on the
1248 spawn BIFs.
1249
1250 This flag can be removed or changed at any time without prior notice.
1251
1252
1253 +v:
1254 Verbose.
1255
1256 +V:
1257 Makes the emulator print its version number.
1258
1259 +W w | i | e:
1260 Sets the mapping of warning messages for error_logger. Messages
1261 sent to the error logger using one of the warning routines can be
1262 mapped to errors (+W e), warnings (+W w), or information reports
1263 (+W i). Defaults to warnings. The current mapping can be retrieved
1264 using error_logger:warning_map/0. For more information, see
1265 error_logger:warning_map/0 in Kernel.
1266
1267 +zFlag Value:
1268 Miscellaneous flags:
1269
1270 +zdbbl size:
1271 Sets the distribution buffer busy limit (dist_buf_busy_limit) in
1272 kilobytes. Valid range is 1-2097151. Defaults to 1024.
1273
1274 A larger buffer limit allows processes to buffer more outgoing
1275 messages over the distribution. When the buffer limit has been
1276 reached, sending processes will be suspended until the buffer
1277 size has shrunk. The buffer limit is per distribution channel. A
1278 higher limit gives lower latency and higher throughput at the
1279 expense of higher memory use.
1280
1281 +zdntgc time:
1282 Sets the delayed node table garbage collection time
1283 (delayed_node_table_gc) in seconds. Valid values are either
1284 infinity or an integer in the range 0-100000000. Defaults to 60.
1285
1286 Node table entries that are not referred linger in the table for
1287 at least the amount of time that this parameter determines. The
1288 lingering prevents repeated deletions and insertions in the
1289 tables from occurring.
1290
1292 ERL_CRASH_DUMP:
1293 If the emulator needs to write a crash dump, the value of this
1294 variable is the filename of the crash dump file. If the variable is
1295 not set, the name of the crash dump file is erl_crash.dump in the
1296 current directory.
1297
1298 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_NICE:
1299 Unix systems: If the emulator needs to write a crash dump, it uses
1300 the value of this variable to set the nice value for the process,
1301 thus lowering its priority. Valid range is 1-39 (higher values are
1302 replaced with 39). The highest value, 39, gives the process the
1303 lowest priority.
1304
1305 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS:
1306 Unix systems: This variable gives the number of seconds that the
1307 emulator is allowed to spend writing a crash dump. When the given
1308 number of seconds have elapsed, the emulator is terminated.
1309
1310 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS=0:
1311 If the variable is set to 0 seconds, the runtime system does not
1312 even attempt to write the crash dump file. It only terminates.
1313 This is the default if option -heart is passed to erl and
1314 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS is not set.
1315
1316 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS=S:
1317 If the variable is set to a positive value S, wait for S seconds
1318 to complete the crash dump file and then terminates the runtime
1319 system with a SIGALRM signal.
1320
1321 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS=-1:
1322 A negative value causes the termination of the runtime system to
1323 wait indefinitely until the crash dump file has been completly
1324 written. This is the default if option -heart is not passed to
1325 erl and ERL_CRASH_DUMP_SECONDS is not set.
1326
1327 See also heart(3).
1328
1329 ERL_CRASH_DUMP_BYTES:
1330 This variable sets the maximum size of a crash dump file in bytes.
1331 The crash dump will be truncated if this limit is exceeded. If the
1332 variable is not set, no size limit is enforced by default. If the
1333 variable is set to 0, the runtime system does not even attempt to
1334 write a crash dump file.
1335
1336 Introduced in ERTS 8.1.2 (Erlang/OTP 19.2).
1337
1338 ERL_AFLAGS:
1339 The content of this variable is added to the beginning of the com‐
1340 mand line for erl.
1341
1342 Flag -extra is treated in a special way. Its scope ends at the end
1343 of the environment variable content. Arguments following an -extra
1344 flag are moved on the command line into section -extra, that is,
1345 the end of the command line following an -extra flag.
1346
1347 ERL_ZFLAGS and ERL_FLAGS:
1348 The content of these variables are added to the end of the command
1349 line for erl.
1350
1351 Flag -extra is treated in a special way. Its scope ends at the end
1352 of the environment variable content. Arguments following an -extra
1353 flag are moved on the command line into section -extra, that is,
1354 the end of the command line following an -extra flag.
1355
1356 ERL_LIBS:
1357 Contains a list of additional library directories that the code
1358 server searches for applications and adds to the code path; see
1359 code(3).
1360
1361 ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS:
1362 Can be set to a comma-separated list of IP addresses, in which case
1363 the epmd daemon listens only on the specified address(es) and on
1364 the loopback address (which is implicitly added to the list if it
1365 has not been specified).
1366
1367 ERL_EPMD_PORT:
1368 Can contain the port number to use when communicating with epmd.
1369 The default port works fine in most cases. A different port can be
1370 specified to allow nodes of independent clusters to co-exist on the
1371 same host. All nodes in a cluster must use the same epmd port num‐
1372 ber.
1373
1375 On Unix systems, the Erlang runtime will interpret two types of sig‐
1376 nals.
1377
1378 SIGUSR1:
1379 A SIGUSR1 signal forces a crash dump.
1380
1381 SIGTERM:
1382 A SIGTERM will produce a stop message to the init process. This is
1383 equivalent to a init:stop/0 call.
1384
1385 Introduced in ERTS 8.3 (Erlang/OTP 19.3)
1386
1387 The signal SIGUSR2 is reserved for internal usage. No other signals are
1388 handled.
1389
1391 The standard Erlang/OTP system can be reconfigured to change the
1392 default behavior on startup.
1393
1394 The .erlang startup file:
1395 When Erlang/OTP is started, the system searches for a file named
1396 .erlang in the user's home directory.
1397
1398 If an .erlang file is found, it is assumed to contain valid Erlang
1399 expressions. These expressions are evaluated as if they were input
1400 to the shell.
1401
1402 A typical .erlang file contains a set of search paths, for example:
1403
1404 io:format("executing user profile in HOME/.erlang\n",[]).
1405 code:add_path("/home/calvin/test/ebin").
1406 code:add_path("/home/hobbes/bigappl-1.2/ebin").
1407 io:format(".erlang rc finished\n",[]).
1408
1409 user_default and shell_default:
1410 Functions in the shell that are not prefixed by a module name are
1411 assumed to be functional objects (funs), built-in functions (BIFs),
1412 or belong to the module user_default or shell_default.
1413
1414 To include private shell commands, define them in a module
1415 user_default and add the following argument as the first line in
1416 the .erlang file:
1417
1418 code:load_abs("..../user_default").
1419
1420 erl:
1421 If the contents of .erlang are changed and a private version of
1422 user_default is defined, the Erlang/OTP environment can be custom‐
1423 ized. More powerful changes can be made by supplying command-line
1424 arguments in the startup script erl. For more information, see
1425 init(3).
1426
1428 epmd(1), erl_prim_loader(3), erts_alloc(3), init(3), application(3),
1429 auth(3), code(3), erl_boot_server(3), heart(3), net_kernel(3), make(3)
1430
1431
1432
1433Ericsson AB erts 10.5.6 erl(1)