[Bug]: Frigate under HAOS 16.0 crash due to "Too many open files" (ulimit)

[ytifle]

Checklist

• I have updated to the latest available Frigate version.
• I have cleared the cache of my browser.
• I have tried a different browser to see if it is related to my browser.
• I have tried reproducing the issue in incognito mode to rule out problems with any third party extensions or plugins I have installed.

Describe the problem you are having

Frigate running under Home Assistant OS v16.0 is reporting that the system is running out of file handlers.

2025-07-09 20:30:25.113592896  Too many open files (src/ipc_listener.cpp:299)
2025-07-09 20:30:25.113598155  Fatal Python error: Aborted

The WebUI is unable to load, and it will crash loop if the watchdog is enabled.
By reducing the amount of cameras, the system will be able to boot without issues.
9 cameras are under use (no audio, ffmpeg), with a Coral TPU.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Home Assistant OS v16.0
2. Install Frigate 0.15.1 or 0.16.0-beta3 (FA or regular)
3. Launch Frigate.
4. The log will report that the frigate container OS is running out of file handlers - Too many open files (src/ipc_listener.cpp:299). The crash may occur at several points of the start process, but it always refers to the same error.
5. Removing some cameras allows the plugin to work without issues.

Version

0.16.0-beta3

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

No response

Frigate config file

#The config file was working with the previous HAOS. Regular config with a Coral TPU, no custom models.

mqtt:
  enabled: true
  host: homeassistant.local
  user: mqtt_user_login
  password: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi

detectors:
  coral:
    type: edgetpu
    device: usb

record:
  enabled: true
  sync_recordings: true
  retain:
    days: xx
    mode: motion
  alerts:
    retain:
      days: xx
  detections:
    retain:
      days: xx

snapshots:
  enabled: true
  retain:
    default: xx

cameras:
  camera_1:
    enabled: true

    detect:
      enabled: true
      width: 1280
      height: 720
      fps: 5

    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: 
            rtsp://admin:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@192.168.xxx.xxx/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0     # this is the main stream
          roles:
            - detect

### other 8 cameras removed. Similar config.

semantic_search:
  enabled: false
  reindex: false
  model_size: small
detect:
  enabled: true
version: 0.16-0

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

N/A

Relevant Frigate log output

2025-07-09 20:30:59.907740762  [2025-07-09 22:30:59] frigate.util.config            INFO    : Checking if frigate config needs migration...
2025-07-09 20:30:59.952438888  [2025-07-09 22:30:59] frigate.util.config            INFO    : copying config as backup...
2025-07-09 20:30:59.973396244  [2025-07-09 22:30:59] frigate.util.config            INFO    : Finished frigate config migration...
2025-07-09 20:31:00.022433668  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] frigate.app                    INFO    : Starting Frigate (0.15.0-6cb5cfb)
2025-07-09 20:31:00.022456214  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] frigate.app                    INFO    : Creating directory: /tmp/cache
2025-07-09 20:31:00.044997483  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : Starting migrations
2025-07-09 20:31:00.045405111  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : There is nothing to migrate
2025-07-09 20:31:00.051155045  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] frigate.app                    INFO    : Recording process started: 355
2025-07-09 20:31:00.056903572  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] frigate.app                    INFO    : Review process started: 357
2025-07-09 20:31:00.060921692  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] frigate.app                    INFO    : go2rtc process pid: 98
2025-07-09 20:31:00.075871021  [2025-07-09 22:31:00] detector.coral                 INFO    : Starting detection process: 371
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325385551  Traceback (most recent call last):
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325390648    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/runpy.py", line 197, in _run_module_as_main
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325394066      return _run_code(code, main_globals, None,
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325398994    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325402234      exec(code, run_globals)
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325404638    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/__main__.py", line 64, in <module>
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325422861      main()
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325425134    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/__main__.py", line 60, in main
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325427830      FrigateApp(config).start()
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325430005    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/app.py", line 610, in start
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325432123      self.start_camera_capture_processes()
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325434585    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/app.py", line 440, in start_camera_capture_processes
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325461326      self.frame_manager.create(f"{config.name}_frame{i}", frame_size)
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325463681    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/util/image.py", line 810, in create
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325466732    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/util/image.py", line 789, in __init__
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325469137    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/multiprocessing/shared_memory.py", line 114, in __init__
2025-07-09 20:31:00.325490902  OSError: [Errno 24] Too many open files
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346139370  Too many open files (src/ipc_listener.cpp:299)
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346144047  Fatal Python error: Aborted
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346146013  
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346148210  Thread 0x00007f25477fe6c0 (most recent call first):
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346150380    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/selectors.py", line 416 in select
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346152474    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/multiprocessing/connection.py", line 931 in wait
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346154813    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/multiprocessing/connection.py", line 424 in _poll
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346157193    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/multiprocessing/connection.py", line 257 in poll
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346159408    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/multiprocessing/queues.py", line 113 in get
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346161944    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/object_processing.py", line 792 in run
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346164210    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/threading.py", line 954 in _bootstrap_inner
2025-07-09 20:31:00.346166202    File "/usr/lib/python3.9/threading.py", line 912 in _bootstrap

Relevant go2rtc log output

N/A

Operating system

Home Assistant OS

Install method

Home Assistant Add-on

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Dahua

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

N/A

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

[hawkeye217]

This is a known issue with HAOS 16. Frigate hasn't changed, so it has something to do with HAOS 16's changes.

You can follow the issue here: home-assistant/operating-system#4110

[ytifle]

Thanks! Sorry, could not find any associated issues.

[LucaFulchir]

I just had this problem and came across this bug.

I'd like to point out that nixos also has this "problem", since by default systemd services have a soft ulimit of 1024 open files.

I have upgraded both the system and frigate, so I don't know if this is a new limit or not.

I run a home frigate with 8 cameras and home-assistant, and frigate uses just over 1024 files.

$ ls /proc/$(pgrep -f 'python3.12 -m frigate')/fd | wc -l
1087

The solution was to increase max open files for all systemd units:
(non nixos: /etc/security/limits.conf)

system.extraConfig = ''
  DefaultLimitNOFILE=2048:524288
'';

remember to run systemctl daemon-reload before systemctl restart frigate

apparently changing systemd frigate.service and adding:

[Service]
LimitNOFILE=2048

did not work for me.

So that is my solution, but it seems multiple distributions are moving to tighter default limits than what you were used to.

You might want to try and bring that number of fd down if you can, or mention it in the documentation somewhere.

[hawkeye217]

This has already been fixed in Frigate 0.15.2 with #19105. It's also currently available in the latest dev build, and will also be available in Frigate 0.16 beta 4 when it is released.

[LucaFulchir]

I was already on 0.15.2. Although now I don't remember if I had it on the same python modules or elsewhere. I think one of the last times I had it on the opening of the sqlite db.

I also actually had to upgrade to 4096 since with 2048 one or two cameras at random would not show, no errors or logs.