There are a number of documents out there that show how to create a Solaris zone (container) with resource memory capping. I’ll only show that quickly here, what this goes into more is how to change the resources on the fly without rebooting the zone.

First you have to have created a zone with memory capping enabled. This would be done during the zonecfg setup:

zonecfg:my-zone> add capped-memory
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set physical=50m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set swap=100m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set locked=30m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> end

Once you zone is configured installed and running, you can view the resources of a zone:

# /bin/prctl -n zone.max-swap `pgrep -z <zone> init`

process: 999: /sbin/init
NAME    PRIVILEGE       VALUE    FLAG   ACTION                       RECIPIENT
zone.max-swap
        privileged      100.0MB      -   deny                                -
        system          16.0EB     max   deny                                -

# /bin/prctl -n zone.max-locked-memory `pgrep -z <zone> init`

process: 999: /sbin/init
NAME    PRIVILEGE       VALUE    FLAG   ACTION                       RECIPIENT
zone.max-locked-memory
        privileged      30.0MB      -   deny                                 -
        system          16.0EB    max   deny                                 -

# rcapstat -z 1 1

id zone            nproc    vm   rss   cap    at avgat    pg avgpg
2 <zone>            -      48M   36M   50M    0K    0K    0K    0K

To change the max-swap resource do the following:

# prctl -n zone.max-swap -r -v 200M `pgrep -z  <zone> init`

To change the max-locked-memory resource do the following:

# prctl -n zone.max-locked-memory -r -v 100M `pgrep -z  <zone> init`

Changing the physical memory capping is a little different, you’ll need to use the rcapadm command:

# rcapadm -z <zone> -m 100M

Then to view all the resources again, you should see the changes:

# /bin/prctl -n zone.max-swap `pgrep -z <zone> init`

process: 999: /sbin/init
NAME    PRIVILEGE       VALUE    FLAG   ACTION                       RECIPIENT
zone.max-swap
       privileged      200.0MB      -   deny                                 -
       system          16.0EB     max   deny                                 -

# /bin/prctl -n zone.max-locked-memory `pgrep -z <zone> init`

process: 999: /sbin/init
NAME    PRIVILEGE       VALUE    FLAG   ACTION                       RECIPIENT
zone.max-locked-memory
        privileged      100.0MB     -   deny                                 -
        system          16.0EB    max   deny                                 -

# rcapstat -z 1 1

id zone            nproc    vm   rss   cap    at avgat    pg avgpg
2 <zone>            -      48M   36M   100M   0K    0K    0K    0K

That’s it. To make the changes permanent, you’ll need to go into zonecfg and adjust the resources that way.

# zonecfg -z <zone>

zonecfg:my-zone> select capped-memory
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set physical=100m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set swap=200m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> set locked=100m
zonecfg:zone:capped-memory> end
zonecfg:zone:> commit

This will save the zone configuration file so the next time the zone boots the memory limit will be set, otherwise the changes are only temporary.