freebsd-dev/sbin/sysctl/sysctl.8
2000-07-27 22:57:46 +00:00

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.\" From: @(#)sysctl.8 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
.\" $FreeBSD$
.\"
.Dd September 23, 1994
.Dt SYSCTL 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm sysctl
.Nd get or set kernel state
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm sysctl
.Op Fl bn
.Ar name ...
.Nm sysctl
.Op Fl bn
.Fl w
.Ar name=value ...
.Nm sysctl
.Op Fl bn
.Fl aAX
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility 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.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl a
List all the currently available string or integer values.
.It Fl A
List all the known MIB names including opaques.
Those with string or integer values will be printed as with the
.Fl a
flag; for the opaque values,
information about the format and the length is printed in addition the first
few bytes is dumped in hex.
.It Fl X
Same as
.Fl A
except the entire value of opaque variables is hexdumped.
.It Fl n
Specify that the printing of the field name should be
suppressed and that only its value should be output.
This flag is useful for setting shell variables.
For example, to save the pagesize in variable psize, use:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
set psize=`sysctl -n hw.pagesize`
.Ed
.It Fl b
Force the value of the variable(s) to be output in raw, binary
format. No names are printed and no terminating newlines are output.
This is mostly useful with a single variable.
.It Fl w Ar name=value ...
Set the MIB
.Ar name
to the new
.Ar value .
If just a MIB style
.Ar name
is given,
the corresponding value is retrieved.
.El
.Pp
The information available from
.Nm
consists of integers, strings, and opaques.
.Nm Sysctl
only knows about a couple of opaque types, and will resort to hexdumps
for the rest.
The opaque information is much more useful if retrieved by special
purpose programs such as
.Nm ps ,
.Nm systat ,
and
.Nm netstat .
.Pp
The string and integer information is summarized below.
For a detailed description of these variable see
.Xr sysctl 3 .
.Pp
The changeable column indicates whether a process with appropriate
privilege can change the value.
.Bl -column net.inet.ip.forwardingxxxxxx integerxxx
.It Sy Name Type Changeable
.It kern.ostype string no
.It kern.osrelease string no
.It kern.osrevision integer no
.It kern.version string no
.It kern.maxvnodes integer yes
.It kern.maxproc integer no
.It kern.maxprocperuid integer yes
.It kern.maxfiles integer yes
.It kern.maxfilesperproc integer yes
.It kern.argmax integer no
.It kern.suser_permitted integer yes
.It kern.securelevel integer raise only
.It kern.hostname string yes
.It kern.hostid integer yes
.It kern.clockrate struct no
.It kern.posix1version integer no
.It kern.ngroups integer no
.It kern.job_control integer no
.It kern.saved_ids integer no
.It kern.boottime struct no
.It kern.domainname string yes
.It kern.filedelay integer yes
.It kern.dirdelay integer yes
.It kern.metadelay integer yes
.It kern.osreldate string no
.It kern.bootfile string yes
.It kern.corefile string yes
.It kern.logsigexit integer yes
.It vm.loadavg struct no
.It hw.machine string no
.It hw.model string no
.It hw.ncpu integer no
.It hw.byteorder integer no
.It hw.physmem integer no
.It hw.usermem integer no
.It hw.pagesize integer no
.It hw.floatingpoint integer no
.It hw.machine_arch string no
.It machdep.console_device dev_t no
.It machdep.adjkerntz integer yes
.It machdep.disable_rtc_set integer yes
.It user.cs_path string no
.It user.bc_base_max integer no
.It user.bc_dim_max integer no
.It user.bc_scale_max integer no
.It user.bc_string_max integer no
.It user.coll_weights_max integer no
.It user.expr_nest_max integer no
.It user.line_max integer no
.It user.re_dup_max integer no
.It user.posix2_version integer no
.It user.posix2_c_bind integer no
.It user.posix2_c_dev integer no
.It user.posix2_char_term integer no
.It user.posix2_fort_dev integer no
.It user.posix2_fort_run integer no
.It user.posix2_localedef integer no
.It user.posix2_sw_dev integer no
.It user.posix2_upe integer no
.It user.stream_max integer no
.It user.tzname_max integer no
.El
.Sh EXAMPLES
For example, to retrieve the maximum number of processes allowed
in the system, one would use the following request:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
sysctl kern.maxproc
.Ed
.Pp
To set the maximum number of processes allowed
per uid to 1000, one would use the following request:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
sysctl -w kern.maxprocperuid=1000
.Ed
.Pp
Information about the system clock rate may be obtained with:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
sysctl kern.clockrate
.Ed
.Pp
Information about the load average history may be obtained with:
.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
sysctl vm.loadavg
.Ed
.Pp
More variables than these exist, and the best and likely only place
to search for their deeper meaning is undoubtedly the source where
they are defined.
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width <netinet/icmpXvar.h> -compact
.It Pa <sys/sysctl.h>
definitions for top level identifiers, second level kernel and hardware
identifiers, and user level identifiers
.It Pa <sys/socket.h>
definitions for second level network identifiers
.It Pa <sys/gmon.h>
definitions for third level profiling identifiers
.It Pa <vm/vm_param.h>
definitions for second level virtual memory identifiers
.It Pa <netinet/in.h>
definitions for third level Internet identifiers and
fourth level IP identifiers
.It Pa <netinet/icmp_var.h>
definitions for fourth level ICMP identifiers
.It Pa <netinet/udp_var.h>
definitions for fourth level UDP identifiers
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr sysctl 3
.Xr blackhole 4
.Xr sysctl.conf 5
.Sh BUGS
.Nm Sysctl
presently exploits an undocumented interface to the kernel
sysctl facility to traverse the sysctl tree and to retrieve format
and name information.
This correct interface is being thought about for the time being.
.Sh HISTORY
.Nm Sysctl
first appeared in
.Bx 4.4 .
.Pp
In
.Fx 2.2 ,
.Nm
was significantly remodeled.