From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the creation of pseudo file systems in the Linux kernel, see
kernfs (Linux).
In the
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and its descendants, kernfs is a
pseudo file system that provides access to information on the currently running
kernel. The
file system itself and its content are dynamically generated when the
operating system is
booted, and the kernfs is often
mounted at the /kern directory.
[1]
[2] As a result of its nature, kernfs does not consist of actual files on a
storage device, allowing instead
processes to retrieve system information by accessing
virtual files.
[3]
kernfs first appeared in
4.4BSD,
[1] and
NetBSD 6.0 continues to use kernfs by default while mounting it at the canonical /kern
mount point.
[4]
See also
-
procfs – a special file system in Unix-like operating systems that presents information about processes and other system information
-
tmpfs – a common name for a temporary file storage facility on many Unix-like operating systems
References
- ^
a
b
"kernfs(5) – kernel file system". gsp.com. December 14, 1996. Archived from
the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
-
^
"Rewrite kernfs and procfs". netbsd.org. September 8, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
-
^ Joshua Train; Joseph D. Touch; Lars Eggert; Yu-Shun Wang (December 9, 2003).
"NetFS: Networking through the File System, Section 6.1 Procfs and Kernfs" (PDF). isi.edu. p. 8. Archived from
the original (PDF) on July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
-
^
"mount_kernfs(8) – mount the /kern file system". netbsd.gw.com. September 8, 2003. Archived from
the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2015.