Documentation/sysctl/README - linux - Git at Google

 Documentation for /proc/sys/		kernel version 2.2.10
 	(c) 1998, 1999,  Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>

 'Why', I hear you ask, 'would anyone even _want_ documentation
 for them sysctl files? If anybody really needs it, it's all in
 the source...'

 Well, this documentation is written because some people either
 don't know they need to tweak something, or because they don't
 have the time or knowledge to read the source code.

 Furthermore, the programmers who built sysctl have built it to
 be actually used, not just for the fun of programming it :-)

 ==============================================================

 Legal blurb:

 As usual, there are two main things to consider:
 1. you get what you pay for
 2. it's free

 The consequences are that I won't guarantee the correctness of
 this document, and if you come to me complaining about how you
 screwed up your system because of wrong documentation, I won't
 feel sorry for you. I might even laugh at you...

 But of course, if you _do_ manage to screw up your system using
 only the sysctl options used in this file, I'd like to hear of
 it. Not only to have a great laugh, but also to make sure that
 you're the last RTFMing person to screw up.

 In short, e-mail your suggestions, corrections and / or horror
 stories to: <riel@nl.linux.org>

 Rik van Riel.

 ==============================================================

 Introduction:

 Sysctl is a means of configuring certain aspects of the kernel
 at run-time, and the /proc/sys/ directory is there so that you
 don't even need special tools to do it!
 In fact, there are only four things needed to use these config
 facilities:
 - a running Linux system
 - root access
 - common sense (this is especially hard to come by these days)
 - knowledge of what all those values mean

 As a quick 'ls /proc/sys' will show, the directory consists of
 several (arch-dependent?) subdirs. Each subdir is mainly about
 one part of the kernel, so you can do configuration on a piece
 by piece basis, or just some 'thematic frobbing'.

 The subdirs are about:
 abi/		execution domains & personalities
 debug/		<empty>
 dev/		device specific information (eg dev/cdrom/info)
 fs/		specific filesystems
 		filehandle, inode, dentry and quota tuning
 		binfmt_misc <Documentation/admin-guide/binfmt-misc.rst>
 kernel/		global kernel info / tuning
 		miscellaneous stuff
 net/		networking stuff, for documentation look in:
 		<Documentation/networking/>
 proc/		<empty>
 sunrpc/		SUN Remote Procedure Call (NFS)
 vm/		memory management tuning
 		buffer and cache management
 user/		Per user per user namespace limits

 These are the subdirs I have on my system. There might be more
 or other subdirs in another setup. If you see another dir, I'd
 really like to hear about it :-)
	Documentation for /proc/sys/ kernel version 2.2.10
	(c) 1998, 1999, Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>

	'Why', I hear you ask, 'would anyone even _want_ documentation
	for them sysctl files? If anybody really needs it, it's all in
	the source...'

	Well, this documentation is written because some people either
	don't know they need to tweak something, or because they don't
	have the time or knowledge to read the source code.

	Furthermore, the programmers who built sysctl have built it to
	be actually used, not just for the fun of programming it :-)

	==============================================================

	Legal blurb:

	As usual, there are two main things to consider:
	1. you get what you pay for
	2. it's free

	The consequences are that I won't guarantee the correctness of
	this document, and if you come to me complaining about how you
	screwed up your system because of wrong documentation, I won't
	feel sorry for you. I might even laugh at you...

	But of course, if you _do_ manage to screw up your system using
	only the sysctl options used in this file, I'd like to hear of
	it. Not only to have a great laugh, but also to make sure that
	you're the last RTFMing person to screw up.

	In short, e-mail your suggestions, corrections and / or horror
	stories to: <riel@nl.linux.org>

	Rik van Riel.

	==============================================================

	Introduction:

	Sysctl is a means of configuring certain aspects of the kernel
	at run-time, and the /proc/sys/ directory is there so that you
	don't even need special tools to do it!
	In fact, there are only four things needed to use these config
	facilities:
	- a running Linux system
	- root access
	- common sense (this is especially hard to come by these days)
	- knowledge of what all those values mean

	As a quick 'ls /proc/sys' will show, the directory consists of
	several (arch-dependent?) subdirs. Each subdir is mainly about
	one part of the kernel, so you can do configuration on a piece
	by piece basis, or just some 'thematic frobbing'.

	The subdirs are about:
	abi/ execution domains & personalities
	debug/ <empty>
	dev/ device specific information (eg dev/cdrom/info)
	fs/ specific filesystems
	filehandle, inode, dentry and quota tuning
	binfmt_misc <Documentation/admin-guide/binfmt-misc.rst>
	kernel/ global kernel info / tuning
	miscellaneous stuff
	net/ networking stuff, for documentation look in:
	<Documentation/networking/>
	proc/ <empty>
	sunrpc/ SUN Remote Procedure Call (NFS)
	vm/ memory management tuning
	buffer and cache management
	user/ Per user per user namespace limits

	These are the subdirs I have on my system. There might be more
	or other subdirs in another setup. If you see another dir, I'd
	really like to hear about it :-)