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Exploring /proc

between the command line arguments and various arguments.

lrwx------ 1 root root 0 Nov 30 12:20 exe -> /usr/sbin/named

"exe", this is a symbolic link to the executable file that the current

process is linked to.

dr-x------ 2 root root 0 Nov 30 12:20 fd

"fd", this directory contains the list file descriptors as opened by the

particular process.

pr--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Nov 30 12:20 maps

"maps", when you print the contents of this named pipe, you can see the

parts of the process' address space which are currently mapped to a file.

The fields, from left to right, are: the address space associated to this

mapping, the permissions associated to this mapping, the offset from the

beginning of the file where the mapping starts, the device on which the

mapped file is located, the inode number of the file and finally, the name

of the file itself.

lrwx------ 1 root root 0 Nov 30 12:20 root -> /

"root", this is a symbolic link pointing to the directory which is the

root file system for the particular process.

-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Nov 30 12:20 status

"status", this file gives information regarding the name of the process,

its current status, i.e sleeping or awake, its PID, its UID, its PPID and

a lot of other general information. This information can be viewed in a

simpler and structured manner by using tools like, "ps" and "top".

Generic information about the various /proc/* directories

This information has been sourced from the LASG, Chapter 3

The /proc filesystem

/proc/cpuinfo

Information about the processor, such as its type, make, model, and

performance.

/proc/devices

List of device drivers configured into the currently running kernel.

/proc/dma

Shows which DMA channels are being used at the moment.

/proc/filesystems

Filesystems configured into the kernel.

/proc/interrupts

Shows which interrupts are in use, and how many of each there have been.

/proc/ioports

Which I/O ports are in use at the moment.

Hope this article has been informative guide to the /proc File system.

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