tmpfs question

[Ronny T. Lampert]

>> I figured I'd give the tmpfs trick a try.  The wiki says to add this to
>> /etc/fstab:
>>
>>   none /var/spool/MailScanner/incoming tmpfs defaults 0 0
>>
>> I don't see where it assigns a specific amount of ram.  Does it just
>> take what it needs?  How do you limit it so the system doesn't start
>> swapping?
>>   
> It just takes what it needs. You don't need to limit it, it will work it 
> all out for itself.

Ah, almost right!
Docs say that without any mount options 1/2 of system memory can be used 
by tmpfs mountpoints.
If you want to restrict the maximum size to 1GB just use e.g.

#> mount tmpfs /var/spool/MailScanner/incoming -t tmpfs -o size=1g

man-page will list all options.

Really *IN USE* (as in, not available to others) is only as much as you 
really have on the tmpfs. If memory is scarce tmpfs is fully swap-backed.

Cheers,
Ronny