/proc Directory: Explained

Virtual filesystem that contains information about the system's processes, memory, and other hardware components

The /proc directory is a virtual filesystem that contains information about the system's processes, memory, and other hardware components. It is dynamically generated by the kernel and does not exist as a traditional directory on disk.

Here is a list of important files and directories in the /proc directory and their meanings:

  • /proc/bus - Contains information about the system's buses, such as PCI and USB.
  • /proc/cmdline - Contains the command-line arguments that were passed to the kernel at boot time.
  • /proc/cpuinfo - Contains information about the processor, including the model, vendor, and features.
  • /proc/devices - Lists the device drivers that are currently loaded on the system.
  • /proc/diskstats - Contains statistics about the block devices on the system.
  • /proc/dma - Contains information about the Direct Memory Access channels on the system.
  • /proc/filesystems - Lists the filesystems supported by the kernel.
  • /proc/interrupts - Lists the interrupts that are currently in use on the system.
  • /proc/meminfo - Contains information about the system's memory usage and availability.
  • /proc/modules - Lists the kernel modules that are currently loaded on the system.
  • /proc/mounts - Lists the filesystems that are currently mounted on the system.
  • /proc/net - Contains information about the network interfaces and protocols on the system.
  • /proc/partitions - Lists the disk partitions on the system.
  • /proc/scsi - Contains information about the SCSI devices on the system.
  • /proc/stat - Contains various statistics about the system, including CPU usage and process counts.
  • /proc/swaps - Lists the swap spaces on the system.
  • /proc/sys - Contains various system parameters that can be configured through the sysctl command.
  • /proc/sysrq-trigger - Can be used to trigger a kernel panic by writing a character to this file.
  • /proc/uptime - Contains the uptime of the system, in seconds.
  • /proc/version - Contains the version of the Linux kernel and the compiler that was used to build it.
  • /proc/vmstat - Contains statistics about the virtual memory subsystem.
  • /proc/zoneinfo - Contains information about the system's memory zones.
  • /proc/[pid] - Each process on the system has a directory under /proc with the process ID as the name. These directories contain information about the corresponding process, such as its memory usage and status.