Describe kernel parameters

Question

Describe kernel parameters? Where its situated and how would you discover it?

Answer 1

Linux is a parameter driven system. Kernel parameters utilized for system configuration are found in /proc/sys/kernel, where you will determine an individual file for each of the configuration parameter.

Since these parameters encompass a direct effect on system performance & viability, you ought to have root access to change them. Sporadically, a prerequisite to a package installation needs the modification of kernel parameters. Because each parameter file hold a single line of data consisting of either a text string or numeric values, it is frequently easy to modify a parameter by merely using the echo command:

                 echo 2048 > /proc/sys/kernel/msgmax

The abovementioned command will set the value of the msgmax parameter to 2048. Linux also provides the sysctl command to change kernel parameters at runtime. Sysctl employ parameter information stored in a file called /etc/sysctl.conf. If, for instance, we desired to change the value of the msgmax parameter as we did above, but this time by using sysctl, the command would look like this: