Foundation: Land #497 CI memory caps (finite memory_limit, ci-docker-safe.sh)

[PurHur]

Problem

#497 documented a host OOM incident: parallel docker run … ./script/ci-fast.sh containers with memory_limit=-1 in src/cli.php let bin/vm.php children grow to 40+ GiB RSS. The issue is closed as design accepted, but the repo still has:

• ini_set('memory_limit', '-1') in src/cli.php
• PHP_COMPILER_CI_RAM_GB ulimit applied only before LLVM phases (not VM/fast CI)
• No script/ci-docker-safe.sh wrapper with docker run -m …

#500 tracks profiling; this issue ships the caps.

Goal

Bounded, predictable memory for local/Docker CI without relying on GitHub Actions.

Scope

• ci_prepare_test_runtime in script/ci-common.sh — set finite memory_limit for VM/compliance (e.g. 1536M), higher cap for LLVM phases (e.g. 4096M)
• Call at start of ci-fast.sh and ci-local.sh (before PHPUnit)
• Default PHP_COMPILER_CI_RAM_GB → 8 GiB ulimit -v (down from 30) with README note
• Add script/ci-docker-safe.sh — wraps docker run -m 10g --cpus … + warns if another php-compiler:22.04-dev CI container is running
• Makefile target make test-docker-safe (optional alias)
• Document in #245 local CI matrix

Acceptance criteria

make docker-build-22
./script/ci-docker-safe.sh ./script/ci-fast.sh

• No memory_limit=-1 in CI subprocesses (grep php -i inside container)
• Parallel-run warning prints when a second CI container starts
• Full gate still passes: ./script/ci-docker-safe.sh ./script/ci-local.sh

Verification (local / Docker only)

docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/compiler" -w /compiler php-compiler:22.04-dev ./script/ci-fast.sh

Do not add .github/workflows/*.

Dependencies

• Follow-up profiling: Investigate vm.php RSS growth in compliance PHPT subprocesses #500
• Docs: Docs: Local CI matrix (host, Docker, GHA skips) in README #245, 🗺️ ROADMAP: Self-host + web-capable PHP subset (living) #78 ROADMAP Phase 0

Related

• CI memory safety: cap vm.php and avoid parallel full-suite Docker runs #497 (closed design), Test Compiling Speed #436 tiered CI