| Alexey Dobriyan | 6eedf8d | 2008-07-25 01:48:30 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | config PROC_FS |
| 2 | bool "/proc file system support" if EMBEDDED |
| 3 | default y |
| 4 | help |
| 5 | This is a virtual file system providing information about the status |
| 6 | of the system. "Virtual" means that it doesn't take up any space on |
| 7 | your hard disk: the files are created on the fly by the kernel when |
| 8 | you try to access them. Also, you cannot read the files with older |
| 9 | version of the program less: you need to use more or cat. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | It's totally cool; for example, "cat /proc/interrupts" gives |
| 12 | information about what the different IRQs are used for at the moment |
| 13 | (there is a small number of Interrupt ReQuest lines in your computer |
| 14 | that are used by the attached devices to gain the CPU's attention -- |
| 15 | often a source of trouble if two devices are mistakenly configured |
| 16 | to use the same IRQ). The program procinfo to display some |
| 17 | information about your system gathered from the /proc file system. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Before you can use the /proc file system, it has to be mounted, |
| 20 | meaning it has to be given a location in the directory hierarchy. |
| 21 | That location should be /proc. A command such as "mount -t proc proc |
| 22 | /proc" or the equivalent line in /etc/fstab does the job. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | The /proc file system is explained in the file |
| 25 | <file:Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt> and on the proc(5) manpage |
| 26 | ("man 5 proc"). |
| 27 | |
| 28 | This option will enlarge your kernel by about 67 KB. Several |
| 29 | programs depend on this, so everyone should say Y here. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | config PROC_KCORE |
| 32 | bool "/proc/kcore support" if !ARM |
| 33 | depends on PROC_FS && MMU |
| 34 | |
| 35 | config PROC_VMCORE |
| 36 | bool "/proc/vmcore support (EXPERIMENTAL)" |
| 37 | depends on PROC_FS && CRASH_DUMP |
| 38 | default y |
| 39 | help |
| 40 | Exports the dump image of crashed kernel in ELF format. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | config PROC_SYSCTL |
| 43 | bool "Sysctl support (/proc/sys)" if EMBEDDED |
| 44 | depends on PROC_FS |
| 45 | select SYSCTL |
| 46 | default y |
| 47 | ---help--- |
| 48 | The sysctl interface provides a means of dynamically changing |
| 49 | certain kernel parameters and variables on the fly without requiring |
| 50 | a recompile of the kernel or reboot of the system. The primary |
| 51 | interface is through /proc/sys. If you say Y here a tree of |
| 52 | modifiable sysctl entries will be generated beneath the |
| 53 | /proc/sys directory. They are explained in the files |
| 54 | in <file:Documentation/sysctl/>. Note that enabling this |
| 55 | option will enlarge the kernel by at least 8 KB. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | As it is generally a good thing, you should say Y here unless |
| 58 | building a kernel for install/rescue disks or your system is very |
| 59 | limited in memory. |