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Linux Intermediate

What is Procfs (/proc)?

A virtual filesystem in Linux that provides an interface to kernel data structures, exposing process and system information as files.

The /proc filesystem does not exist on disk — it is generated dynamically by the kernel. Each running process has a directory (/proc/PID/) containing its status, memory maps, file descriptors, command line, and environment. System-wide files include /proc/cpuinfo (CPU details), /proc/meminfo (memory usage), /proc/loadavg (system load), /proc/net/ (network statistics), and /proc/sys/ (tunable kernel parameters). Many Linux commands read from /proc: top reads /proc/stat, free reads /proc/meminfo, and lsof reads /proc/PID/fd. Writing to /proc/sys/ allows runtime kernel tuning (equivalent to sysctl commands).

Related Terms

Network Namespace
A Linux kernel feature that provides isolated network stacks with independent interfaces, routing tables, and firewall rules.
Netstat
A command-line tool that displays network connections, routing tables, and interface statistics on a system.
Package Manager
A tool that automates the process of installing, updating, configuring, and removing software packages.
Sysfs (/sys)
A virtual filesystem that exports information about kernel subsystems, hardware devices, and device drivers in a structured hierarchy.
AppArmor
A Linux security module that restricts program capabilities using per-application profiles, simpler to configure than SELinux.
ACL (Access Control List)
An extension to standard Linux file permissions that allows setting fine-grained access rights for specific users and groups beyond owner/group/other.
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