Some of the configuration tools of the Linux NET-2 and NET-3 release
rely on the /proc filesystem for communicating
with the kernel. This interface permits access to kernel runtime
information through a filesystem-like mechanism. When mounted, you can
list its files like any other filesystem, or display their contents.
Typical items include the loadavg file, which
contains the system load average, and meminfo,
which shows current core memory and swap usage.
To this, the networking code adds the net directory.
It contains a number of files that show things like the kernel ARP tables,
the state of TCP connections, and the routing tables. Most network
administration tools get their information from these files.
The proc filesystem (or procfs, as
it is also known) is usually mounted on /proc at system
boot time. The best method is to add the following line to
/etc/fstab :
# procfs mount point:
none /proc proc defaults |
Then execute
mount /proc from your
/etc/rc script.
The procfs is now configured into most kernels by
default. If the procfs is not in your kernel, you
will get a message such as: mount: fs type procfs not
supported by kernel. You will then have to recompile the
kernel and answer “yes” when asked for
procfs support.
