1 config PROC_FS 2 bool "/proc file system support" if EXPERT 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" 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 EXPERT 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. 60 61 config PROC_PAGE_MONITOR 62 default y 63 depends on PROC_FS && MMU 64 bool "Enable /proc page monitoring" if EXPERT 65 help 66 Various /proc files exist to monitor process memory utilization: 67 /proc/pid/smaps, /proc/pid/clear_refs, /proc/pid/pagemap, 68 /proc/kpagecount, and /proc/kpageflags. Disabling these 69 interfaces will reduce the size of the kernel by approximately 4kb. 70