Deep System Discovery on your Linux Server With /proc

“/proc is a virtual filesystem generated at boot and updated
regularly by the kernel. With /proc you can investigate exactly
what hardware your Linux kernel sees, what processes it is running,
boot options, and also manipulate kernel events.

“With Linux, everything is a file – and that includes
devices, processes, and system information. /proc allows you to
take a look at these ‘files’. /proc (short for “process
filesystem”) isn’t ‘real’; it’s a virtual filesystem, generated at
boot and updated regularly by the kernel. Instead of storing
information on disk, when you look at something in /proc, it
fetches the information from the kernel to output as a file. This
is great both for system communication (utilities can operate in
userspace, rather than in kernel space), and for investigating your
system’s innards.

“/proc and processes

“If you type ls /proc, you’ll see a set of numbered directories.
These are your processes: one directory per process ID. Look at
your process list with ps -A, and pick one to investigate. (Note
that unless you have root/sudo access, you’re best off choosing a
process that you own.) Here’s a sample process from my ps
output:”

Complete
Story