aws / aws/containers-roadmap

[Batch] [request]: Allow to disable Docker memory limit that is passed from Batch via ECS to container

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Description

### Community Note

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**Tell us about your request**
We are using AWS Batch to run applications that are based proprietary software that always tries to used the maximum available memory from the operating system when needed. We have very little control about this software memory footprint.

Feature request:
- allow to disable that the memory settings in Batch is used to set the hard memory limit in Docker if the job runs on EC2
- use Batch memory the setting only to select the size of the EC2 in the Compute Environment/ECS

Example:
- Batch job is configured to use max. 25 GB RAM
- EC2 instance via ECS with 32 RAM is used/created to run the container
- process inside the containers tries to use all 32 GB (minus OS overhead), because it has no knowledge about the limit set in Docker
- container or job is killed from OOM killer when containers consumes more then 25 GB

**Which service(s) is this request for?**
Batch, ECS, EC2, Docker

**Tell us about the problem you're trying to solve. What are you trying to do, and why is it hard?**
Removing this limit would allow us to run these kind of containers where we have very limited control about the process memory usage much more efficient and without dealing with unexpected OOM kills and avoiding trial and error.

**Are you currently working around this issue?**
Setting unnecessary high limits for these kind of jobs and specify a memory limit close to (EC2 RAM - OS overhead).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

The request concerns AWS Batch, ECS, EC2, and Docker, but it names no repository files, tests, or entry points. Start by locating the component that translates Batch memory settings into ECS container limits and confirm how EC2 sizing uses the same value. Done means providing an explicit way to disable the Docker hard limit while retaining Batch-based instance sizing.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
aws, docker
Domain
cloud, infrastructure
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
28/100

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