net: arc_emac: add phy reset is optional for device tree
[linux-2.6-block.git] / Documentation / sysctl / kernel.txt
CommitLineData
1da177e4
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1Documentation for /proc/sys/kernel/* kernel version 2.2.10
2 (c) 1998, 1999, Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>
760df93e 3 (c) 2009, Shen Feng<shen@cn.fujitsu.com>
1da177e4
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4
5For general info and legal blurb, please look in README.
6
7==============================================================
8
9This file contains documentation for the sysctl files in
10/proc/sys/kernel/ and is valid for Linux kernel version 2.2.
11
12The files in this directory can be used to tune and monitor
13miscellaneous and general things in the operation of the Linux
14kernel. Since some of the files _can_ be used to screw up your
15system, it is advisable to read both documentation and source
16before actually making adjustments.
17
18Currently, these files might (depending on your configuration)
19show up in /proc/sys/kernel:
807094c0 20
1da177e4 21- acct
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22- acpi_video_flags
23- auto_msgmni
d75757ab
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24- bootloader_type [ X86 only ]
25- bootloader_version [ X86 only ]
c114728a 26- callhome [ S390 only ]
73efc039 27- cap_last_cap
1da177e4 28- core_pattern
a293980c 29- core_pipe_limit
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30- core_uses_pid
31- ctrl-alt-del
eaf06b24 32- dmesg_restrict
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33- domainname
34- hostname
35- hotplug
55537871 36- hardlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
270750db
AT
37- hung_task_panic
38- hung_task_check_count
39- hung_task_timeout_secs
40- hung_task_warnings
7984754b 41- kexec_load_disabled
455cd5ab 42- kptr_restrict
0741f4d2 43- kstack_depth_to_print [ X86 only ]
1da177e4 44- l2cr [ PPC only ]
ac76cff2 45- modprobe ==> Documentation/debugging-modules.txt
3d43321b 46- modules_disabled
03f59566 47- msg_next_id [ sysv ipc ]
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48- msgmax
49- msgmnb
50- msgmni
760df93e 51- nmi_watchdog
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52- osrelease
53- ostype
54- overflowgid
55- overflowuid
56- panic
807094c0 57- panic_on_oops
55af7796 58- panic_on_stackoverflow
9e3961a0
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59- panic_on_unrecovered_nmi
60- panic_on_warn
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61- pid_max
62- powersave-nap [ PPC only ]
63- printk
807094c0
BP
64- printk_delay
65- printk_ratelimit
66- printk_ratelimit_burst
1ec7fd50 67- randomize_va_space
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68- real-root-dev ==> Documentation/initrd.txt
69- reboot-cmd [ SPARC only ]
70- rtsig-max
71- rtsig-nr
72- sem
03f59566 73- sem_next_id [ sysv ipc ]
1da177e4 74- sg-big-buff [ generic SCSI device (sg) ]
03f59566 75- shm_next_id [ sysv ipc ]
b34a6b1d 76- shm_rmid_forced
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77- shmall
78- shmmax [ sysv ipc ]
79- shmmni
ed235875 80- softlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
195daf66 81- soft_watchdog
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82- stop-a [ SPARC only ]
83- sysrq ==> Documentation/sysrq.txt
f4aacea2 84- sysctl_writes_strict
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85- tainted
86- threads-max
760df93e 87- unknown_nmi_panic
195daf66 88- watchdog
08825c90 89- watchdog_thresh
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90- version
91
92==============================================================
93
94acct:
95
96highwater lowwater frequency
97
98If BSD-style process accounting is enabled these values control
99its behaviour. If free space on filesystem where the log lives
100goes below <lowwater>% accounting suspends. If free space gets
101above <highwater>% accounting resumes. <Frequency> determines
102how often do we check the amount of free space (value is in
103seconds). Default:
1044 2 30
105That is, suspend accounting if there left <= 2% free; resume it
106if we got >=4%; consider information about amount of free space
107valid for 30 seconds.
108
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109==============================================================
110
111acpi_video_flags:
112
113flags
114
115See Doc*/kernel/power/video.txt, it allows mode of video boot to be
116set during run time.
117
118==============================================================
119
120auto_msgmni:
121
0050ee05
MS
122This variable has no effect and may be removed in future kernel
123releases. Reading it always returns 0.
124Up to Linux 3.17, it enabled/disabled automatic recomputing of msgmni
125upon memory add/remove or upon ipc namespace creation/removal.
126Echoing "1" into this file enabled msgmni automatic recomputing.
127Echoing "0" turned it off. auto_msgmni default value was 1.
807094c0
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128
129
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130==============================================================
131
d75757ab
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132bootloader_type:
133
134x86 bootloader identification
135
136This gives the bootloader type number as indicated by the bootloader,
137shifted left by 4, and OR'd with the low four bits of the bootloader
138version. The reason for this encoding is that this used to match the
139type_of_loader field in the kernel header; the encoding is kept for
140backwards compatibility. That is, if the full bootloader type number
141is 0x15 and the full version number is 0x234, this file will contain
142the value 340 = 0x154.
143
144See the type_of_loader and ext_loader_type fields in
145Documentation/x86/boot.txt for additional information.
146
147==============================================================
148
149bootloader_version:
150
151x86 bootloader version
152
153The complete bootloader version number. In the example above, this
154file will contain the value 564 = 0x234.
155
156See the type_of_loader and ext_loader_ver fields in
157Documentation/x86/boot.txt for additional information.
158
159==============================================================
160
c114728a
HJP
161callhome:
162
163Controls the kernel's callhome behavior in case of a kernel panic.
164
165The s390 hardware allows an operating system to send a notification
166to a service organization (callhome) in case of an operating system panic.
167
168When the value in this file is 0 (which is the default behavior)
169nothing happens in case of a kernel panic. If this value is set to "1"
170the complete kernel oops message is send to the IBM customer service
171organization in case the mainframe the Linux operating system is running
172on has a service contract with IBM.
173
174==============================================================
175
73efc039
DB
176cap_last_cap
177
178Highest valid capability of the running kernel. Exports
179CAP_LAST_CAP from the kernel.
180
181==============================================================
182
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183core_pattern:
184
185core_pattern is used to specify a core dumpfile pattern name.
cd081041 186. max length 128 characters; default value is "core"
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187. core_pattern is used as a pattern template for the output filename;
188 certain string patterns (beginning with '%') are substituted with
189 their actual values.
190. backward compatibility with core_uses_pid:
191 If core_pattern does not include "%p" (default does not)
192 and core_uses_pid is set, then .PID will be appended to
193 the filename.
194. corename format specifiers:
195 %<NUL> '%' is dropped
196 %% output one '%'
197 %p pid
65aafb1e 198 %P global pid (init PID namespace)
b03023ec
ON
199 %i tid
200 %I global tid (init PID namespace)
5202efe5
NI
201 %u uid (in initial user namespace)
202 %g gid (in initial user namespace)
12a2b4b2
ON
203 %d dump mode, matches PR_SET_DUMPABLE and
204 /proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable
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205 %s signal number
206 %t UNIX time of dump
207 %h hostname
57cc083a
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208 %e executable filename (may be shortened)
209 %E executable path
1da177e4 210 %<OTHER> both are dropped
cd081041
MU
211. If the first character of the pattern is a '|', the kernel will treat
212 the rest of the pattern as a command to run. The core dump will be
213 written to the standard input of that program instead of to a file.
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214
215==============================================================
216
a293980c
NH
217core_pipe_limit:
218
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BP
219This sysctl is only applicable when core_pattern is configured to pipe
220core files to a user space helper (when the first character of
221core_pattern is a '|', see above). When collecting cores via a pipe
222to an application, it is occasionally useful for the collecting
223application to gather data about the crashing process from its
224/proc/pid directory. In order to do this safely, the kernel must wait
225for the collecting process to exit, so as not to remove the crashing
226processes proc files prematurely. This in turn creates the
227possibility that a misbehaving userspace collecting process can block
228the reaping of a crashed process simply by never exiting. This sysctl
229defends against that. It defines how many concurrent crashing
230processes may be piped to user space applications in parallel. If
231this value is exceeded, then those crashing processes above that value
232are noted via the kernel log and their cores are skipped. 0 is a
233special value, indicating that unlimited processes may be captured in
234parallel, but that no waiting will take place (i.e. the collecting
235process is not guaranteed access to /proc/<crashing pid>/). This
236value defaults to 0.
a293980c
NH
237
238==============================================================
239
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240core_uses_pid:
241
242The default coredump filename is "core". By setting
243core_uses_pid to 1, the coredump filename becomes core.PID.
244If core_pattern does not include "%p" (default does not)
245and core_uses_pid is set, then .PID will be appended to
246the filename.
247
248==============================================================
249
250ctrl-alt-del:
251
252When the value in this file is 0, ctrl-alt-del is trapped and
253sent to the init(1) program to handle a graceful restart.
254When, however, the value is > 0, Linux's reaction to a Vulcan
255Nerve Pinch (tm) will be an immediate reboot, without even
256syncing its dirty buffers.
257
258Note: when a program (like dosemu) has the keyboard in 'raw'
259mode, the ctrl-alt-del is intercepted by the program before it
260ever reaches the kernel tty layer, and it's up to the program
261to decide what to do with it.
262
263==============================================================
264
eaf06b24
DR
265dmesg_restrict:
266
807094c0
BP
267This toggle indicates whether unprivileged users are prevented
268from using dmesg(8) to view messages from the kernel's log buffer.
269When dmesg_restrict is set to (0) there are no restrictions. When
38ef4c2e 270dmesg_restrict is set set to (1), users must have CAP_SYSLOG to use
eaf06b24
DR
271dmesg(8).
272
807094c0
BP
273The kernel config option CONFIG_SECURITY_DMESG_RESTRICT sets the
274default value of dmesg_restrict.
eaf06b24
DR
275
276==============================================================
277
1da177e4
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278domainname & hostname:
279
280These files can be used to set the NIS/YP domainname and the
281hostname of your box in exactly the same way as the commands
282domainname and hostname, i.e.:
283# echo "darkstar" > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname
284# echo "mydomain" > /proc/sys/kernel/domainname
285has the same effect as
286# hostname "darkstar"
287# domainname "mydomain"
288
289Note, however, that the classic darkstar.frop.org has the
290hostname "darkstar" and DNS (Internet Domain Name Server)
291domainname "frop.org", not to be confused with the NIS (Network
292Information Service) or YP (Yellow Pages) domainname. These two
293domain names are in general different. For a detailed discussion
294see the hostname(1) man page.
295
55537871
JK
296==============================================================
297hardlockup_all_cpu_backtrace:
298
299This value controls the hard lockup detector behavior when a hard
300lockup condition is detected as to whether or not to gather further
301debug information. If enabled, arch-specific all-CPU stack dumping
302will be initiated.
303
3040: do nothing. This is the default behavior.
305
3061: on detection capture more debug information.
1da177e4
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307==============================================================
308
309hotplug:
310
311Path for the hotplug policy agent.
312Default value is "/sbin/hotplug".
313
314==============================================================
315
270750db
AT
316hung_task_panic:
317
318Controls the kernel's behavior when a hung task is detected.
319This file shows up if CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK is enabled.
320
3210: continue operation. This is the default behavior.
322
3231: panic immediately.
324
325==============================================================
326
327hung_task_check_count:
328
329The upper bound on the number of tasks that are checked.
330This file shows up if CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK is enabled.
331
332==============================================================
333
334hung_task_timeout_secs:
335
336Check interval. When a task in D state did not get scheduled
337for more than this value report a warning.
338This file shows up if CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK is enabled.
339
3400: means infinite timeout - no checking done.
80df2847 341Possible values to set are in range {0..LONG_MAX/HZ}.
270750db
AT
342
343==============================================================
344
70e0ac5f 345hung_task_warnings:
270750db
AT
346
347The maximum number of warnings to report. During a check interval
70e0ac5f
AT
348if a hung task is detected, this value is decreased by 1.
349When this value reaches 0, no more warnings will be reported.
270750db
AT
350This file shows up if CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK is enabled.
351
352-1: report an infinite number of warnings.
353
354==============================================================
355
7984754b
KC
356kexec_load_disabled:
357
358A toggle indicating if the kexec_load syscall has been disabled. This
359value defaults to 0 (false: kexec_load enabled), but can be set to 1
360(true: kexec_load disabled). Once true, kexec can no longer be used, and
361the toggle cannot be set back to false. This allows a kexec image to be
362loaded before disabling the syscall, allowing a system to set up (and
363later use) an image without it being altered. Generally used together
364with the "modules_disabled" sysctl.
365
366==============================================================
367
455cd5ab
DR
368kptr_restrict:
369
370This toggle indicates whether restrictions are placed on
312b4e22
RM
371exposing kernel addresses via /proc and other interfaces.
372
373When kptr_restrict is set to (0), the default, there are no restrictions.
374
375When kptr_restrict is set to (1), kernel pointers printed using the %pK
376format specifier will be replaced with 0's unless the user has CAP_SYSLOG
377and effective user and group ids are equal to the real ids. This is
378because %pK checks are done at read() time rather than open() time, so
379if permissions are elevated between the open() and the read() (e.g via
380a setuid binary) then %pK will not leak kernel pointers to unprivileged
381users. Note, this is a temporary solution only. The correct long-term
382solution is to do the permission checks at open() time. Consider removing
383world read permissions from files that use %pK, and using dmesg_restrict
384to protect against uses of %pK in dmesg(8) if leaking kernel pointer
385values to unprivileged users is a concern.
386
387When kptr_restrict is set to (2), kernel pointers printed using
388%pK will be replaced with 0's regardless of privileges.
455cd5ab
DR
389
390==============================================================
391
0741f4d2
CE
392kstack_depth_to_print: (X86 only)
393
394Controls the number of words to print when dumping the raw
395kernel stack.
396
397==============================================================
398
807094c0
BP
399l2cr: (PPC only)
400
401This flag controls the L2 cache of G3 processor boards. If
4020, the cache is disabled. Enabled if nonzero.
403
404==============================================================
405
3d43321b
KC
406modules_disabled:
407
408A toggle value indicating if modules are allowed to be loaded
409in an otherwise modular kernel. This toggle defaults to off
410(0), but can be set true (1). Once true, modules can be
411neither loaded nor unloaded, and the toggle cannot be set back
7984754b 412to false. Generally used with the "kexec_load_disabled" toggle.
3d43321b
KC
413
414==============================================================
415
03f59566
SK
416msg_next_id, sem_next_id, and shm_next_id:
417
418These three toggles allows to specify desired id for next allocated IPC
419object: message, semaphore or shared memory respectively.
420
421By default they are equal to -1, which means generic allocation logic.
422Possible values to set are in range {0..INT_MAX}.
423
424Notes:
4251) kernel doesn't guarantee, that new object will have desired id. So,
426it's up to userspace, how to handle an object with "wrong" id.
4272) Toggle with non-default value will be set back to -1 by kernel after
428successful IPC object allocation.
429
430==============================================================
431
807094c0
BP
432nmi_watchdog:
433
195daf66
UO
434This parameter can be used to control the NMI watchdog
435(i.e. the hard lockup detector) on x86 systems.
807094c0 436
195daf66
UO
437 0 - disable the hard lockup detector
438 1 - enable the hard lockup detector
439
440The hard lockup detector monitors each CPU for its ability to respond to
441timer interrupts. The mechanism utilizes CPU performance counter registers
442that are programmed to generate Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs) periodically
443while a CPU is busy. Hence, the alternative name 'NMI watchdog'.
444
445The NMI watchdog is disabled by default if the kernel is running as a guest
446in a KVM virtual machine. This default can be overridden by adding
447
448 nmi_watchdog=1
449
450to the guest kernel command line (see Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt).
807094c0
BP
451
452==============================================================
453
10fc05d0
MG
454numa_balancing
455
456Enables/disables automatic page fault based NUMA memory
457balancing. Memory is moved automatically to nodes
458that access it often.
459
460Enables/disables automatic NUMA memory balancing. On NUMA machines, there
461is a performance penalty if remote memory is accessed by a CPU. When this
462feature is enabled the kernel samples what task thread is accessing memory
463by periodically unmapping pages and later trapping a page fault. At the
464time of the page fault, it is determined if the data being accessed should
465be migrated to a local memory node.
466
467The unmapping of pages and trapping faults incur additional overhead that
468ideally is offset by improved memory locality but there is no universal
469guarantee. If the target workload is already bound to NUMA nodes then this
470feature should be disabled. Otherwise, if the system overhead from the
471feature is too high then the rate the kernel samples for NUMA hinting
472faults may be controlled by the numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms,
930aa174 473numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms, numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms,
52bf84aa 474numa_balancing_scan_size_mb, and numa_balancing_settle_count sysctls.
10fc05d0
MG
475
476==============================================================
477
478numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms, numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms,
930aa174 479numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms, numa_balancing_scan_size_mb
10fc05d0
MG
480
481Automatic NUMA balancing scans tasks address space and unmaps pages to
482detect if pages are properly placed or if the data should be migrated to a
483memory node local to where the task is running. Every "scan delay" the task
484scans the next "scan size" number of pages in its address space. When the
485end of the address space is reached the scanner restarts from the beginning.
486
487In combination, the "scan delay" and "scan size" determine the scan rate.
488When "scan delay" decreases, the scan rate increases. The scan delay and
489hence the scan rate of every task is adaptive and depends on historical
490behaviour. If pages are properly placed then the scan delay increases,
491otherwise the scan delay decreases. The "scan size" is not adaptive but
492the higher the "scan size", the higher the scan rate.
493
494Higher scan rates incur higher system overhead as page faults must be
495trapped and potentially data must be migrated. However, the higher the scan
496rate, the more quickly a tasks memory is migrated to a local node if the
497workload pattern changes and minimises performance impact due to remote
498memory accesses. These sysctls control the thresholds for scan delays and
499the number of pages scanned.
500
598f0ec0
MG
501numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms is the minimum time in milliseconds to
502scan a tasks virtual memory. It effectively controls the maximum scanning
503rate for each task.
10fc05d0
MG
504
505numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms is the starting "scan delay" used for a task
506when it initially forks.
507
598f0ec0
MG
508numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms is the maximum time in milliseconds to
509scan a tasks virtual memory. It effectively controls the minimum scanning
510rate for each task.
10fc05d0
MG
511
512numa_balancing_scan_size_mb is how many megabytes worth of pages are
513scanned for a given scan.
514
10fc05d0
MG
515==============================================================
516
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517osrelease, ostype & version:
518
519# cat osrelease
5202.1.88
521# cat ostype
522Linux
523# cat version
524#5 Wed Feb 25 21:49:24 MET 1998
525
526The files osrelease and ostype should be clear enough. Version
527needs a little more clarification however. The '#5' means that
528this is the fifth kernel built from this source base and the
529date behind it indicates the time the kernel was built.
530The only way to tune these values is to rebuild the kernel :-)
531
532==============================================================
533
534overflowgid & overflowuid:
535
807094c0
BP
536if your architecture did not always support 32-bit UIDs (i.e. arm,
537i386, m68k, sh, and sparc32), a fixed UID and GID will be returned to
538applications that use the old 16-bit UID/GID system calls, if the
539actual UID or GID would exceed 65535.
1da177e4
LT
540
541These sysctls allow you to change the value of the fixed UID and GID.
542The default is 65534.
543
544==============================================================
545
546panic:
547
807094c0
BP
548The value in this file represents the number of seconds the kernel
549waits before rebooting on a panic. When you use the software watchdog,
550the recommended setting is 60.
551
552==============================================================
9f318e3f
HK
553
554panic_on_io_nmi:
555
556Controls the kernel's behavior when a CPU receives an NMI caused by
557an IO error.
558
5590: try to continue operation (default)
560
5611: panic immediately. The IO error triggered an NMI. This indicates a
562 serious system condition which could result in IO data corruption.
563 Rather than continuing, panicking might be a better choice. Some
564 servers issue this sort of NMI when the dump button is pushed,
565 and you can use this option to take a crash dump.
566
567==============================================================
807094c0 568
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569panic_on_oops:
570
571Controls the kernel's behaviour when an oops or BUG is encountered.
572
5730: try to continue operation
574
a982ac06 5751: panic immediately. If the `panic' sysctl is also non-zero then the
8b23d04d 576 machine will be rebooted.
1da177e4
LT
577
578==============================================================
579
55af7796
MH
580panic_on_stackoverflow:
581
582Controls the kernel's behavior when detecting the overflows of
583kernel, IRQ and exception stacks except a user stack.
584This file shows up if CONFIG_DEBUG_STACKOVERFLOW is enabled.
585
5860: try to continue operation.
587
5881: panic immediately.
589
590==============================================================
591
9e3961a0
PB
592panic_on_unrecovered_nmi:
593
594The default Linux behaviour on an NMI of either memory or unknown is
595to continue operation. For many environments such as scientific
596computing it is preferable that the box is taken out and the error
597dealt with than an uncorrected parity/ECC error get propagated.
598
599A small number of systems do generate NMI's for bizarre random reasons
600such as power management so the default is off. That sysctl works like
601the existing panic controls already in that directory.
602
603==============================================================
604
605panic_on_warn:
606
607Calls panic() in the WARN() path when set to 1. This is useful to avoid
608a kernel rebuild when attempting to kdump at the location of a WARN().
609
6100: only WARN(), default behaviour.
611
6121: call panic() after printing out WARN() location.
613
614==============================================================
615
14c63f17
DH
616perf_cpu_time_max_percent:
617
618Hints to the kernel how much CPU time it should be allowed to
619use to handle perf sampling events. If the perf subsystem
620is informed that its samples are exceeding this limit, it
621will drop its sampling frequency to attempt to reduce its CPU
622usage.
623
624Some perf sampling happens in NMIs. If these samples
625unexpectedly take too long to execute, the NMIs can become
626stacked up next to each other so much that nothing else is
627allowed to execute.
628
6290: disable the mechanism. Do not monitor or correct perf's
630 sampling rate no matter how CPU time it takes.
631
6321-100: attempt to throttle perf's sample rate to this
633 percentage of CPU. Note: the kernel calculates an
634 "expected" length of each sample event. 100 here means
635 100% of that expected length. Even if this is set to
636 100, you may still see sample throttling if this
637 length is exceeded. Set to 0 if you truly do not care
638 how much CPU is consumed.
639
640==============================================================
641
55af7796 642
1da177e4
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643pid_max:
644
beb7dd86 645PID allocation wrap value. When the kernel's next PID value
1da177e4
LT
646reaches this value, it wraps back to a minimum PID value.
647PIDs of value pid_max or larger are not allocated.
648
649==============================================================
650
b8f566b0
PE
651ns_last_pid:
652
653The last pid allocated in the current (the one task using this sysctl
654lives in) pid namespace. When selecting a pid for a next task on fork
655kernel tries to allocate a number starting from this one.
656
657==============================================================
658
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LT
659powersave-nap: (PPC only)
660
661If set, Linux-PPC will use the 'nap' mode of powersaving,
662otherwise the 'doze' mode will be used.
663
664==============================================================
665
666printk:
667
668The four values in printk denote: console_loglevel,
669default_message_loglevel, minimum_console_loglevel and
670default_console_loglevel respectively.
671
672These values influence printk() behavior when printing or
673logging error messages. See 'man 2 syslog' for more info on
674the different loglevels.
675
676- console_loglevel: messages with a higher priority than
677 this will be printed to the console
87889e15 678- default_message_loglevel: messages without an explicit priority
1da177e4
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679 will be printed with this priority
680- minimum_console_loglevel: minimum (highest) value to which
681 console_loglevel can be set
682- default_console_loglevel: default value for console_loglevel
683
684==============================================================
685
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686printk_delay:
687
688Delay each printk message in printk_delay milliseconds
689
690Value from 0 - 10000 is allowed.
691
692==============================================================
693
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694printk_ratelimit:
695
696Some warning messages are rate limited. printk_ratelimit specifies
697the minimum length of time between these messages (in jiffies), by
698default we allow one every 5 seconds.
699
700A value of 0 will disable rate limiting.
701
702==============================================================
703
704printk_ratelimit_burst:
705
706While long term we enforce one message per printk_ratelimit
707seconds, we do allow a burst of messages to pass through.
708printk_ratelimit_burst specifies the number of messages we can
709send before ratelimiting kicks in.
710
711==============================================================
712
807094c0 713randomize_va_space:
1ec7fd50
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714
715This option can be used to select the type of process address
716space randomization that is used in the system, for architectures
717that support this feature.
718
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HS
7190 - Turn the process address space randomization off. This is the
720 default for architectures that do not support this feature anyways,
721 and kernels that are booted with the "norandmaps" parameter.
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722
7231 - Make the addresses of mmap base, stack and VDSO page randomized.
724 This, among other things, implies that shared libraries will be
b7f5ab6f
HS
725 loaded to random addresses. Also for PIE-linked binaries, the
726 location of code start is randomized. This is the default if the
727 CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK option is enabled.
1ec7fd50 728
b7f5ab6f
HS
7292 - Additionally enable heap randomization. This is the default if
730 CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK is disabled.
731
732 There are a few legacy applications out there (such as some ancient
1ec7fd50 733 versions of libc.so.5 from 1996) that assume that brk area starts
b7f5ab6f
HS
734 just after the end of the code+bss. These applications break when
735 start of the brk area is randomized. There are however no known
1ec7fd50 736 non-legacy applications that would be broken this way, so for most
b7f5ab6f
HS
737 systems it is safe to choose full randomization.
738
739 Systems with ancient and/or broken binaries should be configured
740 with CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK enabled, which excludes the heap from process
741 address space randomization.
1ec7fd50
JK
742
743==============================================================
744
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745reboot-cmd: (Sparc only)
746
747??? This seems to be a way to give an argument to the Sparc
748ROM/Flash boot loader. Maybe to tell it what to do after
749rebooting. ???
750
751==============================================================
752
753rtsig-max & rtsig-nr:
754
755The file rtsig-max can be used to tune the maximum number
756of POSIX realtime (queued) signals that can be outstanding
757in the system.
758
759rtsig-nr shows the number of RT signals currently queued.
760
761==============================================================
762
763sg-big-buff:
764
765This file shows the size of the generic SCSI (sg) buffer.
766You can't tune it just yet, but you could change it on
767compile time by editing include/scsi/sg.h and changing
768the value of SG_BIG_BUFF.
769
770There shouldn't be any reason to change this value. If
771you can come up with one, you probably know what you
772are doing anyway :)
773
774==============================================================
775
358e419f
CALP
776shmall:
777
778This parameter sets the total amount of shared memory pages that
779can be used system wide. Hence, SHMALL should always be at least
780ceil(shmmax/PAGE_SIZE).
781
782If you are not sure what the default PAGE_SIZE is on your Linux
783system, you can run the following command:
784
785# getconf PAGE_SIZE
786
787==============================================================
788
807094c0 789shmmax:
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790
791This value can be used to query and set the run time limit
792on the maximum shared memory segment size that can be created.
807094c0 793Shared memory segments up to 1Gb are now supported in the
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794kernel. This value defaults to SHMMAX.
795
796==============================================================
797
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VK
798shm_rmid_forced:
799
800Linux lets you set resource limits, including how much memory one
801process can consume, via setrlimit(2). Unfortunately, shared memory
802segments are allowed to exist without association with any process, and
803thus might not be counted against any resource limits. If enabled,
804shared memory segments are automatically destroyed when their attach
805count becomes zero after a detach or a process termination. It will
806also destroy segments that were created, but never attached to, on exit
807from the process. The only use left for IPC_RMID is to immediately
808destroy an unattached segment. Of course, this breaks the way things are
809defined, so some applications might stop working. Note that this
810feature will do you no good unless you also configure your resource
811limits (in particular, RLIMIT_AS and RLIMIT_NPROC). Most systems don't
812need this.
813
814Note that if you change this from 0 to 1, already created segments
815without users and with a dead originative process will be destroyed.
816
817==============================================================
818
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KC
819sysctl_writes_strict:
820
821Control how file position affects the behavior of updating sysctl values
822via the /proc/sys interface:
823
824 -1 - Legacy per-write sysctl value handling, with no printk warnings.
825 Each write syscall must fully contain the sysctl value to be
826 written, and multiple writes on the same sysctl file descriptor
827 will rewrite the sysctl value, regardless of file position.
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KC
828 0 - Same behavior as above, but warn about processes that perform writes
829 to a sysctl file descriptor when the file position is not 0.
830 1 - (default) Respect file position when writing sysctl strings. Multiple
831 writes will append to the sysctl value buffer. Anything past the max
832 length of the sysctl value buffer will be ignored. Writes to numeric
833 sysctl entries must always be at file position 0 and the value must
834 be fully contained in the buffer sent in the write syscall.
f4aacea2
KC
835
836==============================================================
837
ed235875
AT
838softlockup_all_cpu_backtrace:
839
840This value controls the soft lockup detector thread's behavior
841when a soft lockup condition is detected as to whether or not
842to gather further debug information. If enabled, each cpu will
843be issued an NMI and instructed to capture stack trace.
844
845This feature is only applicable for architectures which support
846NMI.
847
8480: do nothing. This is the default behavior.
849
8501: on detection capture more debug information.
851
852==============================================================
853
195daf66
UO
854soft_watchdog
855
856This parameter can be used to control the soft lockup detector.
857
858 0 - disable the soft lockup detector
859 1 - enable the soft lockup detector
860
861The soft lockup detector monitors CPUs for threads that are hogging the CPUs
862without rescheduling voluntarily, and thus prevent the 'watchdog/N' threads
863from running. The mechanism depends on the CPUs ability to respond to timer
864interrupts which are needed for the 'watchdog/N' threads to be woken up by
865the watchdog timer function, otherwise the NMI watchdog - if enabled - can
866detect a hard lockup condition.
867
868==============================================================
869
807094c0 870tainted:
1da177e4
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871
872Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted. Numeric values, which
873can be ORed together:
874
bb20698d
GKH
875 1 - A module with a non-GPL license has been loaded, this
876 includes modules with no license.
877 Set by modutils >= 2.4.9 and module-init-tools.
878 2 - A module was force loaded by insmod -f.
879 Set by modutils >= 2.4.9 and module-init-tools.
880 4 - Unsafe SMP processors: SMP with CPUs not designed for SMP.
881 8 - A module was forcibly unloaded from the system by rmmod -f.
882 16 - A hardware machine check error occurred on the system.
883 32 - A bad page was discovered on the system.
884 64 - The user has asked that the system be marked "tainted". This
885 could be because they are running software that directly modifies
886 the hardware, or for other reasons.
887 128 - The system has died.
888 256 - The ACPI DSDT has been overridden with one supplied by the user
889 instead of using the one provided by the hardware.
890 512 - A kernel warning has occurred.
8911024 - A module from drivers/staging was loaded.
f5fe184b
LF
8922048 - The system is working around a severe firmware bug.
8934096 - An out-of-tree module has been loaded.
66cc69e3
MD
8948192 - An unsigned module has been loaded in a kernel supporting module
895 signature.
69361eef 89616384 - A soft lockup has previously occurred on the system.
c5f45465 89732768 - The kernel has been live patched.
1da177e4 898
760df93e
SF
899==============================================================
900
0ec62afe
HS
901threads-max
902
903This value controls the maximum number of threads that can be created
904using fork().
905
906During initialization the kernel sets this value such that even if the
907maximum number of threads is created, the thread structures occupy only
908a part (1/8th) of the available RAM pages.
909
910The minimum value that can be written to threads-max is 20.
911The maximum value that can be written to threads-max is given by the
912constant FUTEX_TID_MASK (0x3fffffff).
913If a value outside of this range is written to threads-max an error
914EINVAL occurs.
915
916The value written is checked against the available RAM pages. If the
917thread structures would occupy too much (more than 1/8th) of the
918available RAM pages threads-max is reduced accordingly.
919
920==============================================================
921
760df93e
SF
922unknown_nmi_panic:
923
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BP
924The value in this file affects behavior of handling NMI. When the
925value is non-zero, unknown NMI is trapped and then panic occurs. At
926that time, kernel debugging information is displayed on console.
760df93e 927
807094c0
BP
928NMI switch that most IA32 servers have fires unknown NMI up, for
929example. If a system hangs up, try pressing the NMI switch.
08825c90
LZ
930
931==============================================================
932
195daf66
UO
933watchdog:
934
935This parameter can be used to disable or enable the soft lockup detector
936_and_ the NMI watchdog (i.e. the hard lockup detector) at the same time.
937
938 0 - disable both lockup detectors
939 1 - enable both lockup detectors
940
941The soft lockup detector and the NMI watchdog can also be disabled or
942enabled individually, using the soft_watchdog and nmi_watchdog parameters.
943If the watchdog parameter is read, for example by executing
944
945 cat /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog
946
947the output of this command (0 or 1) shows the logical OR of soft_watchdog
948and nmi_watchdog.
949
950==============================================================
951
fe4ba3c3
CM
952watchdog_cpumask:
953
954This value can be used to control on which cpus the watchdog may run.
955The default cpumask is all possible cores, but if NO_HZ_FULL is
956enabled in the kernel config, and cores are specified with the
957nohz_full= boot argument, those cores are excluded by default.
958Offline cores can be included in this mask, and if the core is later
959brought online, the watchdog will be started based on the mask value.
960
961Typically this value would only be touched in the nohz_full case
962to re-enable cores that by default were not running the watchdog,
963if a kernel lockup was suspected on those cores.
964
965The argument value is the standard cpulist format for cpumasks,
966so for example to enable the watchdog on cores 0, 2, 3, and 4 you
967might say:
968
969 echo 0,2-4 > /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog_cpumask
970
971==============================================================
972
08825c90
LZ
973watchdog_thresh:
974
975This value can be used to control the frequency of hrtimer and NMI
976events and the soft and hard lockup thresholds. The default threshold
977is 10 seconds.
978
979The softlockup threshold is (2 * watchdog_thresh). Setting this
980tunable to zero will disable lockup detection altogether.
981
982==============================================================