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How to explore /proc File system in Linux

To explore /proc File system in Linux

In all linux systems, /proc directory is used. This directory is not a real file system. It is a virtual file system in that procfs are information about processes. /proc is mapped and mount on boot. How to Explore /proc File system in Linux is discussed in this tutorial.

Go to /proc directory

root@linuxhelp:~# ls /
bin    dev   initrd.img  lib64       media  proc  sbin  tmp  var
boot   etc   lib         libx32      mnt    root  srv   u01  vmlinuz
cdrom  home  lib32       lost+found  opt    run   sys   usr

root@linuxhelp:~# cd /proc/
root@linuxhelp:/proc# ls
1      1372  152   169   187   2249  6854       cgroups      mtrr
10     1377  153   1690  1871  23    7          cmdline      net
1059   1378  154   17    188   238   75         consoles     pagetypeinfo
11     1383  155   170   189   239   76         cpuinfo      partitions
1105   1385  1556  1709  19    24    763        crypto       sched_debug
1133   1387  156   171   190   241   781        devices      schedstat
11345  1391  1564  1710  191   249   789        diskstats    scsi
.
.
.
13     1489  1639  182   205   46    953        loadavg      zoneinfo
1300   149   164   183   206   47    954        locks
1312   1490  1647  1832  207   48    985        mdstat
1341   15    165   1838  208   49    994        meminfo
1342   150   1653  184   209   5     acpi       misc
1352   1506  166   1846  21    54    asound     modules
1354   151   167   185   210   55    buddyinfo  mounts
1370   1514  168   186   22    608   bus        mpt

As shown above numbered directories represent processes and it is known as PIDs. CPU information (cpuinfo), memory (meminfo), Filesystems that contain system information.

/proc/meminfo contains a bunch of information about your system’ s memory.

Run the cat command on any of the files in /proc to list the information' s as per your requirement.

root@linuxhelp:/proc# cat meminfo
MemTotal:        2039992 kB
MemFree:          339036 kB
MemAvailable:    1450180 kB
Buffers:           51440 kB
Cached:          1056704 kB
SwapCached:         7812 kB
Active:           543216 kB
Inactive:         988652 kB
Active(anon):     192520 kB
.
.
HardwareCorrupted:     0 kB
AnonHugePages:    206848 kB
CmaTotal:              0 kB
CmaFree:               0 kB
HugePages_Total:       0
HugePages_Free:        0
HugePages_Rsvd:        0
HugePages_Surp:        0
Hugepagesize:       2048 kB
DirectMap4k:       75648 kB
DirectMap2M:     2021376 kB

/proc/cpuinfo contains a bunch of information about your CPU.

root@linuxhelp:/proc# cat cpuinfo 
processor    : 0
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 58
model name    : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz
stepping    : 9
microcode    : 0x1b
cpu MHz        : 2993.201
cache size    : 6144 KB
physical id    : 0
.
.
.
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

On /proc’ s files

/proc/cmdline &ndash Kernel command line information.
/proc/console &ndash Information about current consoles including tty.
/proc/dma &ndash Info about current DMA channels.
/proc/devices &ndash Device drivers currently configured for the running kernel.
/proc/fb &ndash Framebuffer devices.
/proc/filesystems &ndash Current filesystems supported by the kernel.
/proc/iomem &ndash Current system memory map for devices.
/proc/ioports &ndash Registered port regions for input output communication with device.
/proc/locks &ndash Files currently locked by kernel.
/proc/loadavg &ndash System load average.
/proc/misc &ndash Miscellaneous drivers registered for miscellaneous major device.
/proc/meminfo &ndash Info about system memory (see above example).
/proc/mounts &ndash List of all mounts in use by system.
/proc/modules &ndash Currently loaded kernel modules.
/proc/pci &ndash Information about every PCI device.
/proc/partitions &ndash Detailed info about partitions available to the system.
/proc/swap &ndash Information about swap space.
/proc/stat &ndash Record or various statistics kept from last reboot.
/proc/version &ndash Kernel version, gcc version, and Linux distribution installed.
/proc/uptime &ndash Uptime information (in seconds).

For example, here we will run the following command to check the status for PID 1597.

root@linuxhelp:/proc# cat 1597/status
Name:    gconfd-2
State:    S (sleeping)
Tgid:    1597
Ngid:    0
Pid:    1597
PPid:    1216
TracerPid:    0
Uid:    1000    1000    1000    1000
Gid:    1000    1000    1000    1000
FDSize:    64
.
.
.
CapEff:    0000000000000000
CapBnd:    0000003fffffffff
Seccomp:    0
Cpus_allowed:    00000000,00000001
Cpus_allowed_list:    0
Mems_allowed:    00000000,00000001
Mems_allowed_list:    0
voluntary_ctxt_switches:    228
nonvoluntary_ctxt_switches:    34
Tag : PROC
FAQ
Q
How to check the kernel version?
A
By this command, you can check the kernal version.
"/proc/version"
Q
Where can I find the Wireless connections data?
A
Here you can find the Wireless interface data
"/proc/net/wireless"
Q
How to list the ipv6 interface?
A
To List of IPv6 interface addresses
"/proc/net/if_inet6"
Q
Where can I find the mounted file system?
A
In this path, you can find the mounted file system
"/proc/mounts"
Q
Where to link the present directory file system in Linux?
A
To Link to the current working directory.

Syntax: "/proc/PID/cwd" By this, you can link.