How to increase the gcc executable stack size?

Question

I have large Boost/Spirit metaprogram that is blowing gcc's stack when I try to compile it.

How can I increase gcc's stack size, so I can compile this program?

Note: There's no infinite recursion going on, but there is enough incidental recursion to exhaust gcc's stack.

I'm curious - what are you working on? Having your metaprograms blow the stack on the compiler is quite a feat. — Michael Kohne, Jul 21 '09 at 01:28
I'm working on a DSL for real-time event analysis in a distributed rules engine. — Jeff Leonard, Jul 21 '09 at 03:55

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 21 '09 at 01:19

12

On Linux, you can expand the stack size in /etc/security/limits.conf.

You can check your current stack size by using

$ ulimit -s
8192

Then expand the stack to be double than that:

youruser    soft    stack    16384

And then relog.

This will increase stack size for all executable you're running, not just GCC's.

edited Jul 21 '09 at 01:19

Crashworks

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answered Jul 21 '09 at 01:01

LiraNuna

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If it's a soft-limit, it can be increased without re-logging in by entering ulimit -s . This only applies for the current shell of course. – bdonlan Jul 21 '09 at 01:17
I just used some very big value: `sourav soft stack 2000000`. Then I was unable to launch apps like chromium and falkon and edge browsers on Linux! They were all writing 10 GB to my SSD when I launched them... – S.Goswami Nov 28 '20 at 13:33

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 25 '15 at 05:04

1

I use that in my compiler script:

CFLAGS += -Wl,--stack,10485760

answered Mar 25 '15 at 05:04

Tanguy

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 21 '09 at 01:24

0

The stack size can be configured during linking. You should look at details regarding the linker scripts. That will only change the stack size for your single programme.

answered Jul 21 '09 at 01:24

sybreon

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How to increase the gcc executable stack size?

3 Answers3

Linked