Problem:

While following online instructions for installing E-Business Suite, it is advised to add the following code to /etc/profile:

if [ $USER = "oracle" ]; then
 if [ $SHELL = "/bin/ksh" ]; then
 ulimit -p 16384
 ulimit -n 65536
 else
 ulimit -u 16384 -n 65536
 fi
fi

However, when a user logs on, the following message appears:

-bash: ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Operation not permitted

Solution:

Set the limits in /etc/security/limits.conf, not /etc/profile. Follow E-Business Suite installation documentation on My Oracle Support, not online!