On Linux - set maximum open files to unlimited. Possible?

Question

Is it possible to set the maximum number of open files to some \"infinite\" value or must it be a number?

I had a requirement to set the descriptor limit for a daemon us

Answer 1

Try the line

    -

replacing with the username, in the simplest case.

The limits.conf man page says

-
    for enforcing both soft and hard resource limits together.

    Note, if you specify a type of '-' but neglect to supply the
    item and value fields then the module will never enforce any
    limits on the specified user/group etc. .