5.3 Core Configuration

The principal location for system core configuration information is in /etc/sysctl.conf. This file contains a wide range of configuration information, principally used at system startup to configure the system.

The sysctl utility itself retrieves kernel state and allows processes with appropriate privilege to set kernel state. The state to be retrieved or set is described using a ``Management Information Base'' (``MIB'') style name, described as a dotted set of components.

An administrator should make entries in the sysctl.conf file and will have access to sysctl. Some of the variables are not changable like kern.ostype, kern.osrelease, kern.osrevision and etc ...

For example:

# sysctl -a |more

kern.ostype = MicroBSD
kern.osrelease = 0.6
kern.osrevision = 200212
kern.version = MicroBSD 0.6 (GENERIC) #6: Wed Jan  1 15:27:57 PST 2003
    root@RooTchO.microbsd.net:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC

kern.maxvnodes = 1310
kern.maxproc = 532
kern.maxfiles = 1772
kern.argmax = 262144
kern.securelevel = 1
kern.hostname = LAB11
kern.hostid = 0
kern.clockrate = tick = 10000, tickadj = 40, hz = 100, profhz = 1024, stathz = 128
kern.posix1version = 199009
kern.ngroups = 16
kern.job_control = 1
kern.saved_ids = 1
.....................

In this example the only changable options are kern.maxvnodes, kern.maxproc, kern.maxfiles, kern.hostname, kern.hostid.

For example:

# sysctl -w kern.maxfiles=65535

kern.maxfiles: 1772 -> 65535

This will set kern.maxfiles to 65535 as shown above. The information available from sysctl consists of integers, strings, and tables. The tabular information can only be retrieved by special purpose programs such as ps, systat, and netstat. For a detailed description of these variable see sysctl man page.

This, and other documents, can be downloaded from MicroBSD.

For questions about MicroBSD, read the documentation before contacting <MicroBSD Support>.
Copyright © 1995-2003 by The FreeBSD Documentation Project, OpenBSD FAQ Copyright © 1998-2003 OpenBSD, Modified for MicroBSD