Use the/proc file system to control the system

By Graham White (gwhite at uk.ibm.com)
IT expert, Hursley, IBM
August 2003

The/proc file system is one of the excellent features of Linux. This article describes some of its most practical basics in detail. With/proc, you no longer need to shut down and reboot the machine to manage many details about the operating system, which is useful for administrators who require the highest availability of the system.

Anyone who has ever managed a system of commercial importance knows the value of the normal running time of the Computer-or, in turn, knows that the time of failure may cause you a lot of headaches. One of the main reasons that companies use UNIX servers is their reliability and stability. If you manage these servers carefully, you do not need to restart them for a long time. To achieve perfection, you can execute some management tasks in real time, or even tasks at the kernel level, to maintain server availability. Although you still need to restart the system because you upgrade the hardware or because someone is kicking the power cord, it is always helpful to know that many management tasks can be executed without interfering with the service.

This article provides tips and tips for executing various management tasks and changing the system without requiring a reboot. Linux provides various methods to change the value and settings of the underlying operating system while the system is running normally. These methods have two basic forms, one of which is common to all Linux systems and is provided in the Linux Kernel (you can find