1 .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man5/procfs.5,v 1.14.2.5 2001/08/17 13:08:47 ru Exp $
2 .\" Written by Garrett Wollman
3 .\" This file is in the public domain.
10 .Nd process file system
13 proc /proc procfs rw 0 0
16 The process file system, or
18 implements a view of the system process table inside the file system.
19 It is normally mounted on
21 and is required for the complete operation of programs such as
28 provides a two-level view of process space, unlike the previous
32 At the highest level, processes themselves are named, according to
33 their process ids in decimal, with no leading zeros. There is also a
36 which always refers to the process making the lookup request.
38 Each node is a directory which contains the following entries:
40 Each directory contains several files:
41 .Bl -tag -width status
43 a write-only file which supports a variety
44 of control operations.
45 Control commands are written as strings to the
48 The control commands are:
49 .Bl -tag -width detach -compact
51 stops the target process and arranges for the sending
52 process to become the debug control process.
54 continue execution of the target process and
55 remove it from control by the debug process (which
56 need not be the sending process).
58 continue running the target process until
59 a signal is delivered, a breakpoint is hit, or the
62 single step the target process, with no signal delivery.
64 wait for the target process to come to a steady
65 state ready for debugging.
66 The target process must be in this state before
67 any of the other commands are allowed.
70 The string can also be the name of a signal, lower case
74 in which case that signal is delivered to the process
78 The debug registers as defined by
83 is currently only implemented on the i386 architecture.
85 The type of the executable referenced by the
89 A reference to the vnode from which the process text was read.
90 This can be used to gain access to the process' symbol table,
91 or to start another copy of the process.
93 The floating point registers as defined by
98 is only implemented on machines which have distinct general
99 purpose and floating point register sets.
101 A map of the process' virtual memory.
103 The complete virtual memory image of the process.
104 Only those address which exist in the process can be accessed.
105 Reads and writes to this file modify the process.
106 Writes to the text segment remain private to the process.
108 Used for sending signals to the process. Not implemented.
110 Used for sending signal to the process group. Not implemented.
112 Allows read and write access to the process' register set.
113 This file contains a binary data structure
116 .Pa <machine/reg.h> .
118 can only be written when the process is stopped.
120 This is a read-only file containing the process current and maximum
122 Each line is of the format
123 .Ar rlimit current max ,
128 This file is read-only and returns a single line containing
129 multiple space-separated fields as follows:
143 .Ar major , Ns Ar minor
144 of the controlling terminal, or
146 if there is no controlling terminal.
148 a list of process flags:
150 if there is a controlling terminal,
152 if the process is a session leader,
154 if neither of the other two flags are set.
156 the process start time in seconds and microseconds,
159 the user time in seconds and microseconds,
162 the system time in seconds and microseconds,
165 the wait channel message
167 the process credentials consisting of
168 the effective user id
169 and the list of groups (whose first member
170 is the effective group id)
175 In a normal debugging environment,
176 where the target is fork/exec'd by the debugger,
177 the debugger should fork and the child should stop
178 itself (with a self-inflicted
181 The parent should issue a
185 command via the appropriate
188 The child process will receive a
190 immediately after the call to exec (see
193 Each node is owned by the process's user, and belongs to that user's
194 primary group, except for the
196 node, which belongs to the
200 .Bl -tag -width /proc/curproc/XXXXXXX -compact
202 normal mount point for the
205 directory containing process information for process
208 directory containing process information for the current process
209 .It Pa /proc/curproc/cmdline
210 the process executable name
211 .It Pa /proc/curproc/ctl
212 used to send control messages to the process
213 .It Pa /proc/curproc/etype
215 .It Pa /proc/curproc/file
217 .It Pa /proc/curproc/fpregs
218 the process floating point register set
219 .It Pa /proc/curproc/map
220 virtual memory map of the process
221 .It Pa /proc/curproc/mem
222 the complete virtual address space of the process
223 .It Pa /proc/curproc/note
224 used for signaling the process
225 .It Pa /proc/curproc/notepg
226 used for signaling the process group
227 .It Pa /proc/curproc/regs
228 the process register set
229 .It Pa /proc/curproc/rlimit
230 the process current and maximum rlimit
231 .It Pa /proc/curproc/status
232 the process' current status
241 This manual page written by
242 .An Garrett Wollman ,
243 based on the description
245 .An Jan-Simon Pendry ,
246 and revamped later by