ChildLife

Set a maximum lifetime for Interchange child processes.

Synopsis

The parameter is expected to be a time interval.  The default is "0" (unlimited).

Scope

This directive is only available for use in the global (interchange.cfg) configuration file, and will affect all websites running under the Interchange installation.  It will not work in a website's local (catalog.cfg) configuration file. 

Description

This directive sets a maximum lifetime for all child processes so that they periodically die and get respawned afresh, regardless of the PIDcheck setting.  This helps prevent lockups and memory leaks from becoming a serious problem.

If ChildLife is not set then child processes will live forever (subject to other considerations, such as MaxRequestsPerChild etc.) - even if they are stuck in a loop.

If ChildLife is set then the HouseKeeping routine will check each each child process' start time.  If the maximum lifetime has been exceeded then the process will be terminated and respawned.  This is pretty much like MaxRequestsPerChild, except that it uses a time interval, rather than the request count.

Note This directive is only used when Interchange is running in PreFork mode.