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1===================================
2Documentation for /proc/sys/kernel/
3===================================
4
5.. See scripts/check-sysctl-docs to keep this up to date
6
7
8Copyright (c) 1998, 1999, Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>
9
10Copyright (c) 2009, Shen Feng<shen@cn.fujitsu.com>
11
12For general info and legal blurb, please look in
13Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst.
14
15------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16
17This file contains documentation for the sysctl files in
18``/proc/sys/kernel/``.
19
20The files in this directory can be used to tune and monitor
21miscellaneous and general things in the operation of the Linux
22kernel. Since some of the files *can* be used to screw up your
23system, it is advisable to read both documentation and source
24before actually making adjustments.
25
26Currently, these files might (depending on your configuration)
27show up in ``/proc/sys/kernel``:
28
29.. contents:: :local:
30
31
32acct
33====
34
35::
36
37 highwater lowwater frequency
38
39If BSD-style process accounting is enabled these values control
40its behaviour. If free space on filesystem where the log lives
41goes below ``lowwater``\ % accounting suspends. If free space gets
42above ``highwater``\ % accounting resumes. ``frequency`` determines
43how often do we check the amount of free space (value is in
44seconds). Default:
45
46::
47
48 4 2 30
49
50That is, suspend accounting if free space drops below 2%; resume it
51if it increases to at least 4%; consider information about amount of
52free space valid for 30 seconds.
53
54
55acpi_video_flags
56================
57
58See Documentation/power/video.rst. This allows the video resume mode to be set,
59in a similar fashion to the ``acpi_sleep`` kernel parameter, by
60combining the following values:
61
62= =======
631 s3_bios
642 s3_mode
654 s3_beep
66= =======
67
68arch
69====
70
71The machine hardware name, the same output as ``uname -m``
72(e.g. ``x86_64`` or ``aarch64``).
73
74auto_msgmni
75===========
76
77This variable has no effect and may be removed in future kernel
78releases. Reading it always returns 0.
79Up to Linux 3.17, it enabled/disabled automatic recomputing of
80`msgmni`_
81upon memory add/remove or upon IPC namespace creation/removal.
82Echoing "1" into this file enabled msgmni automatic recomputing.
83Echoing "0" turned it off. The default value was 1.
84
85
86bootloader_type (x86 only)
87==========================
88
89This gives the bootloader type number as indicated by the bootloader,
90shifted left by 4, and OR'd with the low four bits of the bootloader
91version. The reason for this encoding is that this used to match the
92``type_of_loader`` field in the kernel header; the encoding is kept for
93backwards compatibility. That is, if the full bootloader type number
94is 0x15 and the full version number is 0x234, this file will contain
95the value 340 = 0x154.
96
97See the ``type_of_loader`` and ``ext_loader_type`` fields in
98Documentation/x86/boot.rst for additional information.
99
100
101bootloader_version (x86 only)
102=============================
103
104The complete bootloader version number. In the example above, this
105file will contain the value 564 = 0x234.
106
107See the ``type_of_loader`` and ``ext_loader_ver`` fields in
108Documentation/x86/boot.rst for additional information.
109
110
111bpf_stats_enabled
112=================
113
114Controls whether the kernel should collect statistics on BPF programs
115(total time spent running, number of times run...). Enabling
116statistics causes a slight reduction in performance on each program
117run. The statistics can be seen using ``bpftool``.
118
119= ===================================
1200 Don't collect statistics (default).
1211 Collect statistics.
122= ===================================
123
124
125cad_pid
126=======
127
128This is the pid which will be signalled on reboot (notably, by
129Ctrl-Alt-Delete). Writing a value to this file which doesn't
130correspond to a running process will result in ``-ESRCH``.
131
132See also `ctrl-alt-del`_.
133
134
135cap_last_cap
136============
137
138Highest valid capability of the running kernel. Exports
139``CAP_LAST_CAP`` from the kernel.
140
141
142.. _core_pattern:
143
144core_pattern
145============
146
147``core_pattern`` is used to specify a core dumpfile pattern name.
148
149* max length 127 characters; default value is "core"
150* ``core_pattern`` is used as a pattern template for the output
151 filename; certain string patterns (beginning with '%') are
152 substituted with their actual values.
153* backward compatibility with ``core_uses_pid``:
154
155 If ``core_pattern`` does not include "%p" (default does not)
156 and ``core_uses_pid`` is set, then .PID will be appended to
157 the filename.
158
159* corename format specifiers
160
161 ======== ==========================================
162 %<NUL> '%' is dropped
163 %% output one '%'
164 %p pid
165 %P global pid (init PID namespace)
166 %i tid
167 %I global tid (init PID namespace)
168 %u uid (in initial user namespace)
169 %g gid (in initial user namespace)
170 %d dump mode, matches ``PR_SET_DUMPABLE`` and
171 ``/proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable``
172 %s signal number
173 %t UNIX time of dump
174 %h hostname
175 %e executable filename (may be shortened, could be changed by prctl etc)
176 %f executable filename
177 %E executable path
178 %c maximum size of core file by resource limit RLIMIT_CORE
179 %C CPU the task ran on
180 %<OTHER> both are dropped
181 ======== ==========================================
182
183* If the first character of the pattern is a '|', the kernel will treat
184 the rest of the pattern as a command to run. The core dump will be
185 written to the standard input of that program instead of to a file.
186
187
188core_pipe_limit
189===============
190
191This sysctl is only applicable when `core_pattern`_ is configured to
192pipe core files to a user space helper (when the first character of
193``core_pattern`` is a '|', see above).
194When collecting cores via a pipe to an application, it is occasionally
195useful for the collecting application to gather data about the
196crashing process from its ``/proc/pid`` directory.
197In order to do this safely, the kernel must wait for the collecting
198process to exit, so as not to remove the crashing processes proc files
199prematurely.
200This in turn creates the possibility that a misbehaving userspace
201collecting process can block the reaping of a crashed process simply
202by never exiting.
203This sysctl defends against that.
204It defines how many concurrent crashing processes may be piped to user
205space applications in parallel.
206If this value is exceeded, then those crashing processes above that
207value are noted via the kernel log and their cores are skipped.
2080 is a special value, indicating that unlimited processes may be
209captured in parallel, but that no waiting will take place (i.e. the
210collecting process is not guaranteed access to ``/proc/<crashing
211pid>/``).
212This value defaults to 0.
213
214
215core_uses_pid
216=============
217
218The default coredump filename is "core". By setting
219``core_uses_pid`` to 1, the coredump filename becomes core.PID.
220If `core_pattern`_ does not include "%p" (default does not)
221and ``core_uses_pid`` is set, then .PID will be appended to
222the filename.
223
224
225ctrl-alt-del
226============
227
228When the value in this file is 0, ctrl-alt-del is trapped and
229sent to the ``init(1)`` program to handle a graceful restart.
230When, however, the value is > 0, Linux's reaction to a Vulcan
231Nerve Pinch (tm) will be an immediate reboot, without even
232syncing its dirty buffers.
233
234Note:
235 when a program (like dosemu) has the keyboard in 'raw'
236 mode, the ctrl-alt-del is intercepted by the program before it
237 ever reaches the kernel tty layer, and it's up to the program
238 to decide what to do with it.
239
240
241dmesg_restrict
242==============
243
244This toggle indicates whether unprivileged users are prevented
245from using ``dmesg(8)`` to view messages from the kernel's log
246buffer.
247When ``dmesg_restrict`` is set to 0 there are no restrictions.
248When ``dmesg_restrict`` is set to 1, users must have
249``CAP_SYSLOG`` to use ``dmesg(8)``.
250
251The kernel config option ``CONFIG_SECURITY_DMESG_RESTRICT`` sets the
252default value of ``dmesg_restrict``.
253
254
255domainname & hostname
256=====================
257
258These files can be used to set the NIS/YP domainname and the
259hostname of your box in exactly the same way as the commands
260domainname and hostname, i.e.::
261
262 # echo "darkstar" > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname
263 # echo "mydomain" > /proc/sys/kernel/domainname
264
265has the same effect as::
266
267 # hostname "darkstar"
268 # domainname "mydomain"
269
270Note, however, that the classic darkstar.frop.org has the
271hostname "darkstar" and DNS (Internet Domain Name Server)
272domainname "frop.org", not to be confused with the NIS (Network
273Information Service) or YP (Yellow Pages) domainname. These two
274domain names are in general different. For a detailed discussion
275see the ``hostname(1)`` man page.
276
277
278firmware_config
279===============
280
281See Documentation/driver-api/firmware/fallback-mechanisms.rst.
282
283The entries in this directory allow the firmware loader helper
284fallback to be controlled:
285
286* ``force_sysfs_fallback``, when set to 1, forces the use of the
287 fallback;
288* ``ignore_sysfs_fallback``, when set to 1, ignores any fallback.
289
290
291ftrace_dump_on_oops
292===================
293
294Determines whether ``ftrace_dump()`` should be called on an oops (or
295kernel panic). This will output the contents of the ftrace buffers to
296the console. This is very useful for capturing traces that lead to
297crashes and outputting them to a serial console.
298
299= ===================================================
3000 Disabled (default).
3011 Dump buffers of all CPUs.
3022 Dump the buffer of the CPU that triggered the oops.
303= ===================================================
304
305
306ftrace_enabled, stack_tracer_enabled
307====================================
308
309See Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst.
310
311
312hardlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
313============================
314
315This value controls the hard lockup detector behavior when a hard
316lockup condition is detected as to whether or not to gather further
317debug information. If enabled, arch-specific all-CPU stack dumping
318will be initiated.
319
320= ============================================
3210 Do nothing. This is the default behavior.
3221 On detection capture more debug information.
323= ============================================
324
325
326hardlockup_panic
327================
328
329This parameter can be used to control whether the kernel panics
330when a hard lockup is detected.
331
332= ===========================
3330 Don't panic on hard lockup.
3341 Panic on hard lockup.
335= ===========================
336
337See Documentation/admin-guide/lockup-watchdogs.rst for more information.
338This can also be set using the nmi_watchdog kernel parameter.
339
340
341hotplug
342=======
343
344Path for the hotplug policy agent.
345Default value is ``CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER_PATH``, which in turn defaults
346to the empty string.
347
348This file only exists when ``CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER`` is enabled. Most
349modern systems rely exclusively on the netlink-based uevent source and
350don't need this.
351
352
353hung_task_all_cpu_backtrace
354===========================
355
356If this option is set, the kernel will send an NMI to all CPUs to dump
357their backtraces when a hung task is detected. This file shows up if
358CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK and CONFIG_SMP are enabled.
359
3600: Won't show all CPUs backtraces when a hung task is detected.
361This is the default behavior.
362
3631: Will non-maskably interrupt all CPUs and dump their backtraces when
364a hung task is detected.
365
366
367hung_task_panic
368===============
369
370Controls the kernel's behavior when a hung task is detected.
371This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
372
373= =================================================
3740 Continue operation. This is the default behavior.
3751 Panic immediately.
376= =================================================
377
378
379hung_task_check_count
380=====================
381
382The upper bound on the number of tasks that are checked.
383This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
384
385
386hung_task_timeout_secs
387======================
388
389When a task in D state did not get scheduled
390for more than this value report a warning.
391This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
392
3930 means infinite timeout, no checking is done.
394
395Possible values to set are in range {0:``LONG_MAX``/``HZ``}.
396
397
398hung_task_check_interval_secs
399=============================
400
401Hung task check interval. If hung task checking is enabled
402(see `hung_task_timeout_secs`_), the check is done every
403``hung_task_check_interval_secs`` seconds.
404This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
405
4060 (default) means use ``hung_task_timeout_secs`` as checking
407interval.
408
409Possible values to set are in range {0:``LONG_MAX``/``HZ``}.
410
411
412hung_task_warnings
413==================
414
415The maximum number of warnings to report. During a check interval
416if a hung task is detected, this value is decreased by 1.
417When this value reaches 0, no more warnings will be reported.
418This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
419
420-1: report an infinite number of warnings.
421
422
423hyperv_record_panic_msg
424=======================
425
426Controls whether the panic kmsg data should be reported to Hyper-V.
427
428= =========================================================
4290 Do not report panic kmsg data.
4301 Report the panic kmsg data. This is the default behavior.
431= =========================================================
432
433
434ignore-unaligned-usertrap
435=========================
436
437On architectures where unaligned accesses cause traps, and where this
438feature is supported (``CONFIG_SYSCTL_ARCH_UNALIGN_NO_WARN``;
439currently, ``arc``, ``ia64`` and ``loongarch``), controls whether all
440unaligned traps are logged.
441
442= =============================================================
4430 Log all unaligned accesses.
4441 Only warn the first time a process traps. This is the default
445 setting.
446= =============================================================
447
448See also `unaligned-trap`_ and `unaligned-dump-stack`_. On ``ia64``,
449this allows system administrators to override the
450``IA64_THREAD_UAC_NOPRINT`` ``prctl`` and avoid logs being flooded.
451
452
453kexec_load_disabled
454===================
455
456A toggle indicating if the ``kexec_load`` syscall has been disabled.
457This value defaults to 0 (false: ``kexec_load`` enabled), but can be
458set to 1 (true: ``kexec_load`` disabled).
459Once true, kexec can no longer be used, and the toggle cannot be set
460back to false.
461This allows a kexec image to be loaded before disabling the syscall,
462allowing a system to set up (and later use) an image without it being
463altered.
464Generally used together with the `modules_disabled`_ sysctl.
465
466
467kptr_restrict
468=============
469
470This toggle indicates whether restrictions are placed on
471exposing kernel addresses via ``/proc`` and other interfaces.
472
473When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 0 (the default) the address is hashed
474before printing.
475(This is the equivalent to %p.)
476
477When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 1, kernel pointers printed using the
478%pK format specifier will be replaced with 0s unless the user has
479``CAP_SYSLOG`` and effective user and group ids are equal to the real
480ids.
481This is because %pK checks are done at read() time rather than open()
482time, so if permissions are elevated between the open() and the read()
483(e.g via a setuid binary) then %pK will not leak kernel pointers to
484unprivileged users.
485Note, this is a temporary solution only.
486The correct long-term solution is to do the permission checks at
487open() time.
488Consider removing world read permissions from files that use %pK, and
489using `dmesg_restrict`_ to protect against uses of %pK in ``dmesg(8)``
490if leaking kernel pointer values to unprivileged users is a concern.
491
492When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 2, kernel pointers printed using
493%pK will be replaced with 0s regardless of privileges.
494
495
496modprobe
497========
498
499The full path to the usermode helper for autoloading kernel modules,
500by default ``CONFIG_MODPROBE_PATH``, which in turn defaults to
501"/sbin/modprobe". This binary is executed when the kernel requests a
502module. For example, if userspace passes an unknown filesystem type
503to mount(), then the kernel will automatically request the
504corresponding filesystem module by executing this usermode helper.
505This usermode helper should insert the needed module into the kernel.
506
507This sysctl only affects module autoloading. It has no effect on the
508ability to explicitly insert modules.
509
510This sysctl can be used to debug module loading requests::
511
512 echo '#! /bin/sh' > /tmp/modprobe
513 echo 'echo "$@" >> /tmp/modprobe.log' >> /tmp/modprobe
514 echo 'exec /sbin/modprobe "$@"' >> /tmp/modprobe
515 chmod a+x /tmp/modprobe
516 echo /tmp/modprobe > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
517
518Alternatively, if this sysctl is set to the empty string, then module
519autoloading is completely disabled. The kernel will not try to
520execute a usermode helper at all, nor will it call the
521kernel_module_request LSM hook.
522
523If CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER=y is set in the kernel configuration,
524then the configured static usermode helper overrides this sysctl,
525except that the empty string is still accepted to completely disable
526module autoloading as described above.
527
528modules_disabled
529================
530
531A toggle value indicating if modules are allowed to be loaded
532in an otherwise modular kernel. This toggle defaults to off
533(0), but can be set true (1). Once true, modules can be
534neither loaded nor unloaded, and the toggle cannot be set back
535to false. Generally used with the `kexec_load_disabled`_ toggle.
536
537
538.. _msgmni:
539
540msgmax, msgmnb, and msgmni
541==========================
542
543``msgmax`` is the maximum size of an IPC message, in bytes. 8192 by
544default (``MSGMAX``).
545
546``msgmnb`` is the maximum size of an IPC queue, in bytes. 16384 by
547default (``MSGMNB``).
548
549``msgmni`` is the maximum number of IPC queues. 32000 by default
550(``MSGMNI``).
551
552
553msg_next_id, sem_next_id, and shm_next_id (System V IPC)
554========================================================
555
556These three toggles allows to specify desired id for next allocated IPC
557object: message, semaphore or shared memory respectively.
558
559By default they are equal to -1, which means generic allocation logic.
560Possible values to set are in range {0:``INT_MAX``}.
561
562Notes:
563 1) kernel doesn't guarantee, that new object will have desired id. So,
564 it's up to userspace, how to handle an object with "wrong" id.
565 2) Toggle with non-default value will be set back to -1 by kernel after
566 successful IPC object allocation. If an IPC object allocation syscall
567 fails, it is undefined if the value remains unmodified or is reset to -1.
568
569
570ngroups_max
571===========
572
573Maximum number of supplementary groups, _i.e._ the maximum size which
574``setgroups`` will accept. Exports ``NGROUPS_MAX`` from the kernel.
575
576
577
578nmi_watchdog
579============
580
581This parameter can be used to control the NMI watchdog
582(i.e. the hard lockup detector) on x86 systems.
583
584= =================================
5850 Disable the hard lockup detector.
5861 Enable the hard lockup detector.
587= =================================
588
589The hard lockup detector monitors each CPU for its ability to respond to
590timer interrupts. The mechanism utilizes CPU performance counter registers
591that are programmed to generate Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs) periodically
592while a CPU is busy. Hence, the alternative name 'NMI watchdog'.
593
594The NMI watchdog is disabled by default if the kernel is running as a guest
595in a KVM virtual machine. This default can be overridden by adding::
596
597 nmi_watchdog=1
598
599to the guest kernel command line (see
600Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst).
601
602
603nmi_wd_lpm_factor (PPC only)
604============================
605
606Factor to apply to the NMI watchdog timeout (only when ``nmi_watchdog`` is
607set to 1). This factor represents the percentage added to
608``watchdog_thresh`` when calculating the NMI watchdog timeout during an
609LPM. The soft lockup timeout is not impacted.
610
611A value of 0 means no change. The default value is 200 meaning the NMI
612watchdog is set to 30s (based on ``watchdog_thresh`` equal to 10).
613
614
615numa_balancing
616==============
617
618Enables/disables and configures automatic page fault based NUMA memory
619balancing. Memory is moved automatically to nodes that access it often.
620The value to set can be the result of ORing the following:
621
622= =================================
6230 NUMA_BALANCING_DISABLED
6241 NUMA_BALANCING_NORMAL
6252 NUMA_BALANCING_MEMORY_TIERING
626= =================================
627
628Or NUMA_BALANCING_NORMAL to optimize page placement among different
629NUMA nodes to reduce remote accessing. On NUMA machines, there is a
630performance penalty if remote memory is accessed by a CPU. When this
631feature is enabled the kernel samples what task thread is accessing
632memory by periodically unmapping pages and later trapping a page
633fault. At the time of the page fault, it is determined if the data
634being accessed should be migrated to a local memory node.
635
636The unmapping of pages and trapping faults incur additional overhead that
637ideally is offset by improved memory locality but there is no universal
638guarantee. If the target workload is already bound to NUMA nodes then this
639feature should be disabled.
640
641Or NUMA_BALANCING_MEMORY_TIERING to optimize page placement among
642different types of memory (represented as different NUMA nodes) to
643place the hot pages in the fast memory. This is implemented based on
644unmapping and page fault too.
645
646numa_balancing_promote_rate_limit_MBps
647======================================
648
649Too high promotion/demotion throughput between different memory types
650may hurt application latency. This can be used to rate limit the
651promotion throughput. The per-node max promotion throughput in MB/s
652will be limited to be no more than the set value.
653
654A rule of thumb is to set this to less than 1/10 of the PMEM node
655write bandwidth.
656
657oops_all_cpu_backtrace
658======================
659
660If this option is set, the kernel will send an NMI to all CPUs to dump
661their backtraces when an oops event occurs. It should be used as a last
662resort in case a panic cannot be triggered (to protect VMs running, for
663example) or kdump can't be collected. This file shows up if CONFIG_SMP
664is enabled.
665
6660: Won't show all CPUs backtraces when an oops is detected.
667This is the default behavior.
668
6691: Will non-maskably interrupt all CPUs and dump their backtraces when
670an oops event is detected.
671
672
673oops_limit
674==========
675
676Number of kernel oopses after which the kernel should panic when
677``panic_on_oops`` is not set. Setting this to 0 disables checking
678the count. Setting this to 1 has the same effect as setting
679``panic_on_oops=1``. The default value is 10000.
680
681
682osrelease, ostype & version
683===========================
684
685::
686
687 # cat osrelease
688 2.1.88
689 # cat ostype
690 Linux
691 # cat version
692 #5 Wed Feb 25 21:49:24 MET 1998
693
694The files ``osrelease`` and ``ostype`` should be clear enough.
695``version``
696needs a little more clarification however. The '#5' means that
697this is the fifth kernel built from this source base and the
698date behind it indicates the time the kernel was built.
699The only way to tune these values is to rebuild the kernel :-)
700
701
702overflowgid & overflowuid
703=========================
704
705if your architecture did not always support 32-bit UIDs (i.e. arm,
706i386, m68k, sh, and sparc32), a fixed UID and GID will be returned to
707applications that use the old 16-bit UID/GID system calls, if the
708actual UID or GID would exceed 65535.
709
710These sysctls allow you to change the value of the fixed UID and GID.
711The default is 65534.
712
713
714panic
715=====
716
717The value in this file determines the behaviour of the kernel on a
718panic:
719
720* if zero, the kernel will loop forever;
721* if negative, the kernel will reboot immediately;
722* if positive, the kernel will reboot after the corresponding number
723 of seconds.
724
725When you use the software watchdog, the recommended setting is 60.
726
727
728panic_on_io_nmi
729===============
730
731Controls the kernel's behavior when a CPU receives an NMI caused by
732an IO error.
733
734= ==================================================================
7350 Try to continue operation (default).
7361 Panic immediately. The IO error triggered an NMI. This indicates a
737 serious system condition which could result in IO data corruption.
738 Rather than continuing, panicking might be a better choice. Some
739 servers issue this sort of NMI when the dump button is pushed,
740 and you can use this option to take a crash dump.
741= ==================================================================
742
743
744panic_on_oops
745=============
746
747Controls the kernel's behaviour when an oops or BUG is encountered.
748
749= ===================================================================
7500 Try to continue operation.
7511 Panic immediately. If the `panic` sysctl is also non-zero then the
752 machine will be rebooted.
753= ===================================================================
754
755
756panic_on_stackoverflow
757======================
758
759Controls the kernel's behavior when detecting the overflows of
760kernel, IRQ and exception stacks except a user stack.
761This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DEBUG_STACKOVERFLOW`` is enabled.
762
763= ==========================
7640 Try to continue operation.
7651 Panic immediately.
766= ==========================
767
768
769panic_on_unrecovered_nmi
770========================
771
772The default Linux behaviour on an NMI of either memory or unknown is
773to continue operation. For many environments such as scientific
774computing it is preferable that the box is taken out and the error
775dealt with than an uncorrected parity/ECC error get propagated.
776
777A small number of systems do generate NMIs for bizarre random reasons
778such as power management so the default is off. That sysctl works like
779the existing panic controls already in that directory.
780
781
782panic_on_warn
783=============
784
785Calls panic() in the WARN() path when set to 1. This is useful to avoid
786a kernel rebuild when attempting to kdump at the location of a WARN().
787
788= ================================================
7890 Only WARN(), default behaviour.
7901 Call panic() after printing out WARN() location.
791= ================================================
792
793
794panic_print
795===========
796
797Bitmask for printing system info when panic happens. User can chose
798combination of the following bits:
799
800===== ============================================
801bit 0 print all tasks info
802bit 1 print system memory info
803bit 2 print timer info
804bit 3 print locks info if ``CONFIG_LOCKDEP`` is on
805bit 4 print ftrace buffer
806bit 5 print all printk messages in buffer
807bit 6 print all CPUs backtrace (if available in the arch)
808===== ============================================
809
810So for example to print tasks and memory info on panic, user can::
811
812 echo 3 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic_print
813
814
815panic_on_rcu_stall
816==================
817
818When set to 1, calls panic() after RCU stall detection messages. This
819is useful to define the root cause of RCU stalls using a vmcore.
820
821= ============================================================
8220 Do not panic() when RCU stall takes place, default behavior.
8231 panic() after printing RCU stall messages.
824= ============================================================
825
826max_rcu_stall_to_panic
827======================
828
829When ``panic_on_rcu_stall`` is set to 1, this value determines the
830number of times that RCU can stall before panic() is called.
831
832When ``panic_on_rcu_stall`` is set to 0, this value is has no effect.
833
834perf_cpu_time_max_percent
835=========================
836
837Hints to the kernel how much CPU time it should be allowed to
838use to handle perf sampling events. If the perf subsystem
839is informed that its samples are exceeding this limit, it
840will drop its sampling frequency to attempt to reduce its CPU
841usage.
842
843Some perf sampling happens in NMIs. If these samples
844unexpectedly take too long to execute, the NMIs can become
845stacked up next to each other so much that nothing else is
846allowed to execute.
847
848===== ========================================================
8490 Disable the mechanism. Do not monitor or correct perf's
850 sampling rate no matter how CPU time it takes.
851
8521-100 Attempt to throttle perf's sample rate to this
853 percentage of CPU. Note: the kernel calculates an
854 "expected" length of each sample event. 100 here means
855 100% of that expected length. Even if this is set to
856 100, you may still see sample throttling if this
857 length is exceeded. Set to 0 if you truly do not care
858 how much CPU is consumed.
859===== ========================================================
860
861
862perf_event_paranoid
863===================
864
865Controls use of the performance events system by unprivileged
866users (without CAP_PERFMON). The default value is 2.
867
868For backward compatibility reasons access to system performance
869monitoring and observability remains open for CAP_SYS_ADMIN
870privileged processes but CAP_SYS_ADMIN usage for secure system
871performance monitoring and observability operations is discouraged
872with respect to CAP_PERFMON use cases.
873
874=== ==================================================================
875 -1 Allow use of (almost) all events by all users.
876
877 Ignore mlock limit after perf_event_mlock_kb without
878 ``CAP_IPC_LOCK``.
879
880>=0 Disallow ftrace function tracepoint by users without
881 ``CAP_PERFMON``.
882
883 Disallow raw tracepoint access by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
884
885>=1 Disallow CPU event access by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
886
887>=2 Disallow kernel profiling by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
888=== ==================================================================
889
890
891perf_event_max_stack
892====================
893
894Controls maximum number of stack frames to copy for (``attr.sample_type &
895PERF_SAMPLE_CALLCHAIN``) configured events, for instance, when using
896'``perf record -g``' or '``perf trace --call-graph fp``'.
897
898This can only be done when no events are in use that have callchains
899enabled, otherwise writing to this file will return ``-EBUSY``.
900
901The default value is 127.
902
903
904perf_event_mlock_kb
905===================
906
907Control size of per-cpu ring buffer not counted against mlock limit.
908
909The default value is 512 + 1 page
910
911
912perf_event_max_contexts_per_stack
913=================================
914
915Controls maximum number of stack frame context entries for
916(``attr.sample_type & PERF_SAMPLE_CALLCHAIN``) configured events, for
917instance, when using '``perf record -g``' or '``perf trace --call-graph fp``'.
918
919This can only be done when no events are in use that have callchains
920enabled, otherwise writing to this file will return ``-EBUSY``.
921
922The default value is 8.
923
924
925perf_user_access (arm64 only)
926=================================
927
928Controls user space access for reading perf event counters. When set to 1,
929user space can read performance monitor counter registers directly.
930
931The default value is 0 (access disabled).
932
933See Documentation/arm64/perf.rst for more information.
934
935
936pid_max
937=======
938
939PID allocation wrap value. When the kernel's next PID value
940reaches this value, it wraps back to a minimum PID value.
941PIDs of value ``pid_max`` or larger are not allocated.
942
943
944ns_last_pid
945===========
946
947The last pid allocated in the current (the one task using this sysctl
948lives in) pid namespace. When selecting a pid for a next task on fork
949kernel tries to allocate a number starting from this one.
950
951
952powersave-nap (PPC only)
953========================
954
955If set, Linux-PPC will use the 'nap' mode of powersaving,
956otherwise the 'doze' mode will be used.
957
958
959==============================================================
960
961printk
962======
963
964The four values in printk denote: ``console_loglevel``,
965``default_message_loglevel``, ``minimum_console_loglevel`` and
966``default_console_loglevel`` respectively.
967
968These values influence printk() behavior when printing or
969logging error messages. See '``man 2 syslog``' for more info on
970the different loglevels.
971
972======================== =====================================
973console_loglevel messages with a higher priority than
974 this will be printed to the console
975default_message_loglevel messages without an explicit priority
976 will be printed with this priority
977minimum_console_loglevel minimum (highest) value to which
978 console_loglevel can be set
979default_console_loglevel default value for console_loglevel
980======================== =====================================
981
982
983printk_delay
984============
985
986Delay each printk message in ``printk_delay`` milliseconds
987
988Value from 0 - 10000 is allowed.
989
990
991printk_ratelimit
992================
993
994Some warning messages are rate limited. ``printk_ratelimit`` specifies
995the minimum length of time between these messages (in seconds).
996The default value is 5 seconds.
997
998A value of 0 will disable rate limiting.
999
1000
1001printk_ratelimit_burst
1002======================
1003
1004While long term we enforce one message per `printk_ratelimit`_
1005seconds, we do allow a burst of messages to pass through.
1006``printk_ratelimit_burst`` specifies the number of messages we can
1007send before ratelimiting kicks in.
1008
1009The default value is 10 messages.
1010
1011
1012printk_devkmsg
1013==============
1014
1015Control the logging to ``/dev/kmsg`` from userspace:
1016
1017========= =============================================
1018ratelimit default, ratelimited
1019on unlimited logging to /dev/kmsg from userspace
1020off logging to /dev/kmsg disabled
1021========= =============================================
1022
1023The kernel command line parameter ``printk.devkmsg=`` overrides this and is
1024a one-time setting until next reboot: once set, it cannot be changed by
1025this sysctl interface anymore.
1026
1027==============================================================
1028
1029
1030pty
1031===
1032
1033See Documentation/filesystems/devpts.rst.
1034
1035
1036random
1037======
1038
1039This is a directory, with the following entries:
1040
1041* ``boot_id``: a UUID generated the first time this is retrieved, and
1042 unvarying after that;
1043
1044* ``uuid``: a UUID generated every time this is retrieved (this can
1045 thus be used to generate UUIDs at will);
1046
1047* ``entropy_avail``: the pool's entropy count, in bits;
1048
1049* ``poolsize``: the entropy pool size, in bits;
1050
1051* ``urandom_min_reseed_secs``: obsolete (used to determine the minimum
1052 number of seconds between urandom pool reseeding). This file is
1053 writable for compatibility purposes, but writing to it has no effect
1054 on any RNG behavior;
1055
1056* ``write_wakeup_threshold``: when the entropy count drops below this
1057 (as a number of bits), processes waiting to write to ``/dev/random``
1058 are woken up. This file is writable for compatibility purposes, but
1059 writing to it has no effect on any RNG behavior.
1060
1061
1062randomize_va_space
1063==================
1064
1065This option can be used to select the type of process address
1066space randomization that is used in the system, for architectures
1067that support this feature.
1068
1069== ===========================================================================
10700 Turn the process address space randomization off. This is the
1071 default for architectures that do not support this feature anyways,
1072 and kernels that are booted with the "norandmaps" parameter.
1073
10741 Make the addresses of mmap base, stack and VDSO page randomized.
1075 This, among other things, implies that shared libraries will be
1076 loaded to random addresses. Also for PIE-linked binaries, the
1077 location of code start is randomized. This is the default if the
1078 ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` option is enabled.
1079
10802 Additionally enable heap randomization. This is the default if
1081 ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` is disabled.
1082
1083 There are a few legacy applications out there (such as some ancient
1084 versions of libc.so.5 from 1996) that assume that brk area starts
1085 just after the end of the code+bss. These applications break when
1086 start of the brk area is randomized. There are however no known
1087 non-legacy applications that would be broken this way, so for most
1088 systems it is safe to choose full randomization.
1089
1090 Systems with ancient and/or broken binaries should be configured
1091 with ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` enabled, which excludes the heap from process
1092 address space randomization.
1093== ===========================================================================
1094
1095
1096real-root-dev
1097=============
1098
1099See Documentation/admin-guide/initrd.rst.
1100
1101
1102reboot-cmd (SPARC only)
1103=======================
1104
1105??? This seems to be a way to give an argument to the Sparc
1106ROM/Flash boot loader. Maybe to tell it what to do after
1107rebooting. ???
1108
1109
1110sched_energy_aware
1111==================
1112
1113Enables/disables Energy Aware Scheduling (EAS). EAS starts
1114automatically on platforms where it can run (that is,
1115platforms with asymmetric CPU topologies and having an Energy
1116Model available). If your platform happens to meet the
1117requirements for EAS but you do not want to use it, change
1118this value to 0.
1119
1120task_delayacct
1121===============
1122
1123Enables/disables task delay accounting (see
1124Documentation/accounting/delay-accounting.rst. Enabling this feature incurs
1125a small amount of overhead in the scheduler but is useful for debugging
1126and performance tuning. It is required by some tools such as iotop.
1127
1128sched_schedstats
1129================
1130
1131Enables/disables scheduler statistics. Enabling this feature
1132incurs a small amount of overhead in the scheduler but is
1133useful for debugging and performance tuning.
1134
1135sched_util_clamp_min
1136====================
1137
1138Max allowed *minimum* utilization.
1139
1140Default value is 1024, which is the maximum possible value.
1141
1142It means that any requested uclamp.min value cannot be greater than
1143sched_util_clamp_min, i.e., it is restricted to the range
1144[0:sched_util_clamp_min].
1145
1146sched_util_clamp_max
1147====================
1148
1149Max allowed *maximum* utilization.
1150
1151Default value is 1024, which is the maximum possible value.
1152
1153It means that any requested uclamp.max value cannot be greater than
1154sched_util_clamp_max, i.e., it is restricted to the range
1155[0:sched_util_clamp_max].
1156
1157sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default
1158===============================
1159
1160By default Linux is tuned for performance. Which means that RT tasks always run
1161at the highest frequency and most capable (highest capacity) CPU (in
1162heterogeneous systems).
1163
1164Uclamp achieves this by setting the requested uclamp.min of all RT tasks to
11651024 by default, which effectively boosts the tasks to run at the highest
1166frequency and biases them to run on the biggest CPU.
1167
1168This knob allows admins to change the default behavior when uclamp is being
1169used. In battery powered devices particularly, running at the maximum
1170capacity and frequency will increase energy consumption and shorten the battery
1171life.
1172
1173This knob is only effective for RT tasks which the user hasn't modified their
1174requested uclamp.min value via sched_setattr() syscall.
1175
1176This knob will not escape the range constraint imposed by sched_util_clamp_min
1177defined above.
1178
1179For example if
1180
1181 sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default = 800
1182 sched_util_clamp_min = 600
1183
1184Then the boost will be clamped to 600 because 800 is outside of the permissible
1185range of [0:600]. This could happen for instance if a powersave mode will
1186restrict all boosts temporarily by modifying sched_util_clamp_min. As soon as
1187this restriction is lifted, the requested sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default
1188will take effect.
1189
1190seccomp
1191=======
1192
1193See Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst.
1194
1195
1196sg-big-buff
1197===========
1198
1199This file shows the size of the generic SCSI (sg) buffer.
1200You can't tune it just yet, but you could change it on
1201compile time by editing ``include/scsi/sg.h`` and changing
1202the value of ``SG_BIG_BUFF``.
1203
1204There shouldn't be any reason to change this value. If
1205you can come up with one, you probably know what you
1206are doing anyway :)
1207
1208
1209shmall
1210======
1211
1212This parameter sets the total amount of shared memory pages that
1213can be used system wide. Hence, ``shmall`` should always be at least
1214``ceil(shmmax/PAGE_SIZE)``.
1215
1216If you are not sure what the default ``PAGE_SIZE`` is on your Linux
1217system, you can run the following command::
1218
1219 # getconf PAGE_SIZE
1220
1221
1222shmmax
1223======
1224
1225This value can be used to query and set the run time limit
1226on the maximum shared memory segment size that can be created.
1227Shared memory segments up to 1Gb are now supported in the
1228kernel. This value defaults to ``SHMMAX``.
1229
1230
1231shmmni
1232======
1233
1234This value determines the maximum number of shared memory segments.
12354096 by default (``SHMMNI``).
1236
1237
1238shm_rmid_forced
1239===============
1240
1241Linux lets you set resource limits, including how much memory one
1242process can consume, via ``setrlimit(2)``. Unfortunately, shared memory
1243segments are allowed to exist without association with any process, and
1244thus might not be counted against any resource limits. If enabled,
1245shared memory segments are automatically destroyed when their attach
1246count becomes zero after a detach or a process termination. It will
1247also destroy segments that were created, but never attached to, on exit
1248from the process. The only use left for ``IPC_RMID`` is to immediately
1249destroy an unattached segment. Of course, this breaks the way things are
1250defined, so some applications might stop working. Note that this
1251feature will do you no good unless you also configure your resource
1252limits (in particular, ``RLIMIT_AS`` and ``RLIMIT_NPROC``). Most systems don't
1253need this.
1254
1255Note that if you change this from 0 to 1, already created segments
1256without users and with a dead originative process will be destroyed.
1257
1258
1259sysctl_writes_strict
1260====================
1261
1262Control how file position affects the behavior of updating sysctl values
1263via the ``/proc/sys`` interface:
1264
1265 == ======================================================================
1266 -1 Legacy per-write sysctl value handling, with no printk warnings.
1267 Each write syscall must fully contain the sysctl value to be
1268 written, and multiple writes on the same sysctl file descriptor
1269 will rewrite the sysctl value, regardless of file position.
1270 0 Same behavior as above, but warn about processes that perform writes
1271 to a sysctl file descriptor when the file position is not 0.
1272 1 (default) Respect file position when writing sysctl strings. Multiple
1273 writes will append to the sysctl value buffer. Anything past the max
1274 length of the sysctl value buffer will be ignored. Writes to numeric
1275 sysctl entries must always be at file position 0 and the value must
1276 be fully contained in the buffer sent in the write syscall.
1277 == ======================================================================
1278
1279
1280softlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
1281============================
1282
1283This value controls the soft lockup detector thread's behavior
1284when a soft lockup condition is detected as to whether or not
1285to gather further debug information. If enabled, each cpu will
1286be issued an NMI and instructed to capture stack trace.
1287
1288This feature is only applicable for architectures which support
1289NMI.
1290
1291= ============================================
12920 Do nothing. This is the default behavior.
12931 On detection capture more debug information.
1294= ============================================
1295
1296
1297softlockup_panic
1298=================
1299
1300This parameter can be used to control whether the kernel panics
1301when a soft lockup is detected.
1302
1303= ============================================
13040 Don't panic on soft lockup.
13051 Panic on soft lockup.
1306= ============================================
1307
1308This can also be set using the softlockup_panic kernel parameter.
1309
1310
1311soft_watchdog
1312=============
1313
1314This parameter can be used to control the soft lockup detector.
1315
1316= =================================
13170 Disable the soft lockup detector.
13181 Enable the soft lockup detector.
1319= =================================
1320
1321The soft lockup detector monitors CPUs for threads that are hogging the CPUs
1322without rescheduling voluntarily, and thus prevent the 'migration/N' threads
1323from running, causing the watchdog work fail to execute. The mechanism depends
1324on the CPUs ability to respond to timer interrupts which are needed for the
1325watchdog work to be queued by the watchdog timer function, otherwise the NMI
1326watchdog — if enabled — can detect a hard lockup condition.
1327
1328
1329split_lock_mitigate (x86 only)
1330==============================
1331
1332On x86, each "split lock" imposes a system-wide performance penalty. On larger
1333systems, large numbers of split locks from unprivileged users can result in
1334denials of service to well-behaved and potentially more important users.
1335
1336The kernel mitigates these bad users by detecting split locks and imposing
1337penalties: forcing them to wait and only allowing one core to execute split
1338locks at a time.
1339
1340These mitigations can make those bad applications unbearably slow. Setting
1341split_lock_mitigate=0 may restore some application performance, but will also
1342increase system exposure to denial of service attacks from split lock users.
1343
1344= ===================================================================
13450 Disable the mitigation mode - just warns the split lock on kernel log
1346 and exposes the system to denials of service from the split lockers.
13471 Enable the mitigation mode (this is the default) - penalizes the split
1348 lockers with intentional performance degradation.
1349= ===================================================================
1350
1351
1352stack_erasing
1353=============
1354
1355This parameter can be used to control kernel stack erasing at the end
1356of syscalls for kernels built with ``CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK``.
1357
1358That erasing reduces the information which kernel stack leak bugs
1359can reveal and blocks some uninitialized stack variable attacks.
1360The tradeoff is the performance impact: on a single CPU system kernel
1361compilation sees a 1% slowdown, other systems and workloads may vary.
1362
1363= ====================================================================
13640 Kernel stack erasing is disabled, STACKLEAK_METRICS are not updated.
13651 Kernel stack erasing is enabled (default), it is performed before
1366 returning to the userspace at the end of syscalls.
1367= ====================================================================
1368
1369
1370stop-a (SPARC only)
1371===================
1372
1373Controls Stop-A:
1374
1375= ====================================
13760 Stop-A has no effect.
13771 Stop-A breaks to the PROM (default).
1378= ====================================
1379
1380Stop-A is always enabled on a panic, so that the user can return to
1381the boot PROM.
1382
1383
1384sysrq
1385=====
1386
1387See Documentation/admin-guide/sysrq.rst.
1388
1389
1390tainted
1391=======
1392
1393Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted. Numeric values, which can be
1394ORed together. The letters are seen in "Tainted" line of Oops reports.
1395
1396====== ===== ==============================================================
1397 1 `(P)` proprietary module was loaded
1398 2 `(F)` module was force loaded
1399 4 `(S)` kernel running on an out of specification system
1400 8 `(R)` module was force unloaded
1401 16 `(M)` processor reported a Machine Check Exception (MCE)
1402 32 `(B)` bad page referenced or some unexpected page flags
1403 64 `(U)` taint requested by userspace application
1404 128 `(D)` kernel died recently, i.e. there was an OOPS or BUG
1405 256 `(A)` an ACPI table was overridden by user
1406 512 `(W)` kernel issued warning
1407 1024 `(C)` staging driver was loaded
1408 2048 `(I)` workaround for bug in platform firmware applied
1409 4096 `(O)` externally-built ("out-of-tree") module was loaded
1410 8192 `(E)` unsigned module was loaded
1411 16384 `(L)` soft lockup occurred
1412 32768 `(K)` kernel has been live patched
1413 65536 `(X)` Auxiliary taint, defined and used by for distros
1414131072 `(T)` The kernel was built with the struct randomization plugin
1415====== ===== ==============================================================
1416
1417See Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst for more information.
1418
1419Note:
1420 writes to this sysctl interface will fail with ``EINVAL`` if the kernel is
1421 booted with the command line option ``panic_on_taint=<bitmask>,nousertaint``
1422 and any of the ORed together values being written to ``tainted`` match with
1423 the bitmask declared on panic_on_taint.
1424 See Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst for more details on
1425 that particular kernel command line option and its optional
1426 ``nousertaint`` switch.
1427
1428threads-max
1429===========
1430
1431This value controls the maximum number of threads that can be created
1432using ``fork()``.
1433
1434During initialization the kernel sets this value such that even if the
1435maximum number of threads is created, the thread structures occupy only
1436a part (1/8th) of the available RAM pages.
1437
1438The minimum value that can be written to ``threads-max`` is 1.
1439
1440The maximum value that can be written to ``threads-max`` is given by the
1441constant ``FUTEX_TID_MASK`` (0x3fffffff).
1442
1443If a value outside of this range is written to ``threads-max`` an
1444``EINVAL`` error occurs.
1445
1446
1447traceoff_on_warning
1448===================
1449
1450When set, disables tracing (see Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst) when a
1451``WARN()`` is hit.
1452
1453
1454tracepoint_printk
1455=================
1456
1457When tracepoints are sent to printk() (enabled by the ``tp_printk``
1458boot parameter), this entry provides runtime control::
1459
1460 echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/tracepoint_printk
1461
1462will stop tracepoints from being sent to printk(), and::
1463
1464 echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/tracepoint_printk
1465
1466will send them to printk() again.
1467
1468This only works if the kernel was booted with ``tp_printk`` enabled.
1469
1470See Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst and
1471Documentation/trace/boottime-trace.rst.
1472
1473
1474.. _unaligned-dump-stack:
1475
1476unaligned-dump-stack (ia64)
1477===========================
1478
1479When logging unaligned accesses, controls whether the stack is
1480dumped.
1481
1482= ===================================================
14830 Do not dump the stack. This is the default setting.
14841 Dump the stack.
1485= ===================================================
1486
1487See also `ignore-unaligned-usertrap`_.
1488
1489
1490unaligned-trap
1491==============
1492
1493On architectures where unaligned accesses cause traps, and where this
1494feature is supported (``CONFIG_SYSCTL_ARCH_UNALIGN_ALLOW``; currently,
1495``arc``, ``parisc`` and ``loongarch``), controls whether unaligned traps
1496are caught and emulated (instead of failing).
1497
1498= ========================================================
14990 Do not emulate unaligned accesses.
15001 Emulate unaligned accesses. This is the default setting.
1501= ========================================================
1502
1503See also `ignore-unaligned-usertrap`_.
1504
1505
1506unknown_nmi_panic
1507=================
1508
1509The value in this file affects behavior of handling NMI. When the
1510value is non-zero, unknown NMI is trapped and then panic occurs. At
1511that time, kernel debugging information is displayed on console.
1512
1513NMI switch that most IA32 servers have fires unknown NMI up, for
1514example. If a system hangs up, try pressing the NMI switch.
1515
1516
1517unprivileged_bpf_disabled
1518=========================
1519
1520Writing 1 to this entry will disable unprivileged calls to ``bpf()``;
1521once disabled, calling ``bpf()`` without ``CAP_SYS_ADMIN`` or ``CAP_BPF``
1522will return ``-EPERM``. Once set to 1, this can't be cleared from the
1523running kernel anymore.
1524
1525Writing 2 to this entry will also disable unprivileged calls to ``bpf()``,
1526however, an admin can still change this setting later on, if needed, by
1527writing 0 or 1 to this entry.
1528
1529If ``BPF_UNPRIV_DEFAULT_OFF`` is enabled in the kernel config, then this
1530entry will default to 2 instead of 0.
1531
1532= =============================================================
15330 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are enabled
15341 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are disabled without recovery
15352 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are disabled
1536= =============================================================
1537
1538
1539warn_limit
1540==========
1541
1542Number of kernel warnings after which the kernel should panic when
1543``panic_on_warn`` is not set. Setting this to 0 disables checking
1544the warning count. Setting this to 1 has the same effect as setting
1545``panic_on_warn=1``. The default value is 0.
1546
1547
1548watchdog
1549========
1550
1551This parameter can be used to disable or enable the soft lockup detector
1552*and* the NMI watchdog (i.e. the hard lockup detector) at the same time.
1553
1554= ==============================
15550 Disable both lockup detectors.
15561 Enable both lockup detectors.
1557= ==============================
1558
1559The soft lockup detector and the NMI watchdog can also be disabled or
1560enabled individually, using the ``soft_watchdog`` and ``nmi_watchdog``
1561parameters.
1562If the ``watchdog`` parameter is read, for example by executing::
1563
1564 cat /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog
1565
1566the output of this command (0 or 1) shows the logical OR of
1567``soft_watchdog`` and ``nmi_watchdog``.
1568
1569
1570watchdog_cpumask
1571================
1572
1573This value can be used to control on which cpus the watchdog may run.
1574The default cpumask is all possible cores, but if ``NO_HZ_FULL`` is
1575enabled in the kernel config, and cores are specified with the
1576``nohz_full=`` boot argument, those cores are excluded by default.
1577Offline cores can be included in this mask, and if the core is later
1578brought online, the watchdog will be started based on the mask value.
1579
1580Typically this value would only be touched in the ``nohz_full`` case
1581to re-enable cores that by default were not running the watchdog,
1582if a kernel lockup was suspected on those cores.
1583
1584The argument value is the standard cpulist format for cpumasks,
1585so for example to enable the watchdog on cores 0, 2, 3, and 4 you
1586might say::
1587
1588 echo 0,2-4 > /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog_cpumask
1589
1590
1591watchdog_thresh
1592===============
1593
1594This value can be used to control the frequency of hrtimer and NMI
1595events and the soft and hard lockup thresholds. The default threshold
1596is 10 seconds.
1597
1598The softlockup threshold is (``2 * watchdog_thresh``). Setting this
1599tunable to zero will disable lockup detection altogether.
1===================================
2Documentation for /proc/sys/kernel/
3===================================
4
5.. See scripts/check-sysctl-docs to keep this up to date
6
7
8Copyright (c) 1998, 1999, Rik van Riel <riel@nl.linux.org>
9
10Copyright (c) 2009, Shen Feng<shen@cn.fujitsu.com>
11
12For general info and legal blurb, please look in
13Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst.
14
15------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16
17This file contains documentation for the sysctl files in
18``/proc/sys/kernel/``.
19
20The files in this directory can be used to tune and monitor
21miscellaneous and general things in the operation of the Linux
22kernel. Since some of the files *can* be used to screw up your
23system, it is advisable to read both documentation and source
24before actually making adjustments.
25
26Currently, these files might (depending on your configuration)
27show up in ``/proc/sys/kernel``:
28
29.. contents:: :local:
30
31
32acct
33====
34
35::
36
37 highwater lowwater frequency
38
39If BSD-style process accounting is enabled these values control
40its behaviour. If free space on filesystem where the log lives
41goes below ``lowwater``% accounting suspends. If free space gets
42above ``highwater``% accounting resumes. ``frequency`` determines
43how often do we check the amount of free space (value is in
44seconds). Default:
45
46::
47
48 4 2 30
49
50That is, suspend accounting if free space drops below 2%; resume it
51if it increases to at least 4%; consider information about amount of
52free space valid for 30 seconds.
53
54
55acpi_video_flags
56================
57
58See Documentation/power/video.rst. This allows the video resume mode to be set,
59in a similar fashion to the ``acpi_sleep`` kernel parameter, by
60combining the following values:
61
62= =======
631 s3_bios
642 s3_mode
654 s3_beep
66= =======
67
68
69auto_msgmni
70===========
71
72This variable has no effect and may be removed in future kernel
73releases. Reading it always returns 0.
74Up to Linux 3.17, it enabled/disabled automatic recomputing of
75`msgmni`_
76upon memory add/remove or upon IPC namespace creation/removal.
77Echoing "1" into this file enabled msgmni automatic recomputing.
78Echoing "0" turned it off. The default value was 1.
79
80
81bootloader_type (x86 only)
82==========================
83
84This gives the bootloader type number as indicated by the bootloader,
85shifted left by 4, and OR'd with the low four bits of the bootloader
86version. The reason for this encoding is that this used to match the
87``type_of_loader`` field in the kernel header; the encoding is kept for
88backwards compatibility. That is, if the full bootloader type number
89is 0x15 and the full version number is 0x234, this file will contain
90the value 340 = 0x154.
91
92See the ``type_of_loader`` and ``ext_loader_type`` fields in
93Documentation/x86/boot.rst for additional information.
94
95
96bootloader_version (x86 only)
97=============================
98
99The complete bootloader version number. In the example above, this
100file will contain the value 564 = 0x234.
101
102See the ``type_of_loader`` and ``ext_loader_ver`` fields in
103Documentation/x86/boot.rst for additional information.
104
105
106bpf_stats_enabled
107=================
108
109Controls whether the kernel should collect statistics on BPF programs
110(total time spent running, number of times run...). Enabling
111statistics causes a slight reduction in performance on each program
112run. The statistics can be seen using ``bpftool``.
113
114= ===================================
1150 Don't collect statistics (default).
1161 Collect statistics.
117= ===================================
118
119
120cad_pid
121=======
122
123This is the pid which will be signalled on reboot (notably, by
124Ctrl-Alt-Delete). Writing a value to this file which doesn't
125correspond to a running process will result in ``-ESRCH``.
126
127See also `ctrl-alt-del`_.
128
129
130cap_last_cap
131============
132
133Highest valid capability of the running kernel. Exports
134``CAP_LAST_CAP`` from the kernel.
135
136
137core_pattern
138============
139
140``core_pattern`` is used to specify a core dumpfile pattern name.
141
142* max length 127 characters; default value is "core"
143* ``core_pattern`` is used as a pattern template for the output
144 filename; certain string patterns (beginning with '%') are
145 substituted with their actual values.
146* backward compatibility with ``core_uses_pid``:
147
148 If ``core_pattern`` does not include "%p" (default does not)
149 and ``core_uses_pid`` is set, then .PID will be appended to
150 the filename.
151
152* corename format specifiers
153
154 ======== ==========================================
155 %<NUL> '%' is dropped
156 %% output one '%'
157 %p pid
158 %P global pid (init PID namespace)
159 %i tid
160 %I global tid (init PID namespace)
161 %u uid (in initial user namespace)
162 %g gid (in initial user namespace)
163 %d dump mode, matches ``PR_SET_DUMPABLE`` and
164 ``/proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable``
165 %s signal number
166 %t UNIX time of dump
167 %h hostname
168 %e executable filename (may be shortened, could be changed by prctl etc)
169 %f executable filename
170 %E executable path
171 %c maximum size of core file by resource limit RLIMIT_CORE
172 %<OTHER> both are dropped
173 ======== ==========================================
174
175* If the first character of the pattern is a '|', the kernel will treat
176 the rest of the pattern as a command to run. The core dump will be
177 written to the standard input of that program instead of to a file.
178
179
180core_pipe_limit
181===============
182
183This sysctl is only applicable when `core_pattern`_ is configured to
184pipe core files to a user space helper (when the first character of
185``core_pattern`` is a '|', see above).
186When collecting cores via a pipe to an application, it is occasionally
187useful for the collecting application to gather data about the
188crashing process from its ``/proc/pid`` directory.
189In order to do this safely, the kernel must wait for the collecting
190process to exit, so as not to remove the crashing processes proc files
191prematurely.
192This in turn creates the possibility that a misbehaving userspace
193collecting process can block the reaping of a crashed process simply
194by never exiting.
195This sysctl defends against that.
196It defines how many concurrent crashing processes may be piped to user
197space applications in parallel.
198If this value is exceeded, then those crashing processes above that
199value are noted via the kernel log and their cores are skipped.
2000 is a special value, indicating that unlimited processes may be
201captured in parallel, but that no waiting will take place (i.e. the
202collecting process is not guaranteed access to ``/proc/<crashing
203pid>/``).
204This value defaults to 0.
205
206
207core_uses_pid
208=============
209
210The default coredump filename is "core". By setting
211``core_uses_pid`` to 1, the coredump filename becomes core.PID.
212If `core_pattern`_ does not include "%p" (default does not)
213and ``core_uses_pid`` is set, then .PID will be appended to
214the filename.
215
216
217ctrl-alt-del
218============
219
220When the value in this file is 0, ctrl-alt-del is trapped and
221sent to the ``init(1)`` program to handle a graceful restart.
222When, however, the value is > 0, Linux's reaction to a Vulcan
223Nerve Pinch (tm) will be an immediate reboot, without even
224syncing its dirty buffers.
225
226Note:
227 when a program (like dosemu) has the keyboard in 'raw'
228 mode, the ctrl-alt-del is intercepted by the program before it
229 ever reaches the kernel tty layer, and it's up to the program
230 to decide what to do with it.
231
232
233dmesg_restrict
234==============
235
236This toggle indicates whether unprivileged users are prevented
237from using ``dmesg(8)`` to view messages from the kernel's log
238buffer.
239When ``dmesg_restrict`` is set to 0 there are no restrictions.
240When ``dmesg_restrict`` is set to 1, users must have
241``CAP_SYSLOG`` to use ``dmesg(8)``.
242
243The kernel config option ``CONFIG_SECURITY_DMESG_RESTRICT`` sets the
244default value of ``dmesg_restrict``.
245
246
247domainname & hostname
248=====================
249
250These files can be used to set the NIS/YP domainname and the
251hostname of your box in exactly the same way as the commands
252domainname and hostname, i.e.::
253
254 # echo "darkstar" > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname
255 # echo "mydomain" > /proc/sys/kernel/domainname
256
257has the same effect as::
258
259 # hostname "darkstar"
260 # domainname "mydomain"
261
262Note, however, that the classic darkstar.frop.org has the
263hostname "darkstar" and DNS (Internet Domain Name Server)
264domainname "frop.org", not to be confused with the NIS (Network
265Information Service) or YP (Yellow Pages) domainname. These two
266domain names are in general different. For a detailed discussion
267see the ``hostname(1)`` man page.
268
269
270firmware_config
271===============
272
273See Documentation/driver-api/firmware/fallback-mechanisms.rst.
274
275The entries in this directory allow the firmware loader helper
276fallback to be controlled:
277
278* ``force_sysfs_fallback``, when set to 1, forces the use of the
279 fallback;
280* ``ignore_sysfs_fallback``, when set to 1, ignores any fallback.
281
282
283ftrace_dump_on_oops
284===================
285
286Determines whether ``ftrace_dump()`` should be called on an oops (or
287kernel panic). This will output the contents of the ftrace buffers to
288the console. This is very useful for capturing traces that lead to
289crashes and outputting them to a serial console.
290
291= ===================================================
2920 Disabled (default).
2931 Dump buffers of all CPUs.
2942 Dump the buffer of the CPU that triggered the oops.
295= ===================================================
296
297
298ftrace_enabled, stack_tracer_enabled
299====================================
300
301See Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst.
302
303
304hardlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
305============================
306
307This value controls the hard lockup detector behavior when a hard
308lockup condition is detected as to whether or not to gather further
309debug information. If enabled, arch-specific all-CPU stack dumping
310will be initiated.
311
312= ============================================
3130 Do nothing. This is the default behavior.
3141 On detection capture more debug information.
315= ============================================
316
317
318hardlockup_panic
319================
320
321This parameter can be used to control whether the kernel panics
322when a hard lockup is detected.
323
324= ===========================
3250 Don't panic on hard lockup.
3261 Panic on hard lockup.
327= ===========================
328
329See Documentation/admin-guide/lockup-watchdogs.rst for more information.
330This can also be set using the nmi_watchdog kernel parameter.
331
332
333hotplug
334=======
335
336Path for the hotplug policy agent.
337Default value is ``CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER_PATH``, which in turn defaults
338to the empty string.
339
340This file only exists when ``CONFIG_UEVENT_HELPER`` is enabled. Most
341modern systems rely exclusively on the netlink-based uevent source and
342don't need this.
343
344
345hung_task_all_cpu_backtrace
346===========================
347
348If this option is set, the kernel will send an NMI to all CPUs to dump
349their backtraces when a hung task is detected. This file shows up if
350CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK and CONFIG_SMP are enabled.
351
3520: Won't show all CPUs backtraces when a hung task is detected.
353This is the default behavior.
354
3551: Will non-maskably interrupt all CPUs and dump their backtraces when
356a hung task is detected.
357
358
359hung_task_panic
360===============
361
362Controls the kernel's behavior when a hung task is detected.
363This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
364
365= =================================================
3660 Continue operation. This is the default behavior.
3671 Panic immediately.
368= =================================================
369
370
371hung_task_check_count
372=====================
373
374The upper bound on the number of tasks that are checked.
375This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
376
377
378hung_task_timeout_secs
379======================
380
381When a task in D state did not get scheduled
382for more than this value report a warning.
383This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
384
3850 means infinite timeout, no checking is done.
386
387Possible values to set are in range {0:``LONG_MAX``/``HZ``}.
388
389
390hung_task_check_interval_secs
391=============================
392
393Hung task check interval. If hung task checking is enabled
394(see `hung_task_timeout_secs`_), the check is done every
395``hung_task_check_interval_secs`` seconds.
396This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
397
3980 (default) means use ``hung_task_timeout_secs`` as checking
399interval.
400
401Possible values to set are in range {0:``LONG_MAX``/``HZ``}.
402
403
404hung_task_warnings
405==================
406
407The maximum number of warnings to report. During a check interval
408if a hung task is detected, this value is decreased by 1.
409When this value reaches 0, no more warnings will be reported.
410This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK`` is enabled.
411
412-1: report an infinite number of warnings.
413
414
415hyperv_record_panic_msg
416=======================
417
418Controls whether the panic kmsg data should be reported to Hyper-V.
419
420= =========================================================
4210 Do not report panic kmsg data.
4221 Report the panic kmsg data. This is the default behavior.
423= =========================================================
424
425
426ignore-unaligned-usertrap
427=========================
428
429On architectures where unaligned accesses cause traps, and where this
430feature is supported (``CONFIG_SYSCTL_ARCH_UNALIGN_NO_WARN``;
431currently, ``arc`` and ``ia64``), controls whether all unaligned traps
432are logged.
433
434= =============================================================
4350 Log all unaligned accesses.
4361 Only warn the first time a process traps. This is the default
437 setting.
438= =============================================================
439
440See also `unaligned-trap`_ and `unaligned-dump-stack`_. On ``ia64``,
441this allows system administrators to override the
442``IA64_THREAD_UAC_NOPRINT`` ``prctl`` and avoid logs being flooded.
443
444
445kexec_load_disabled
446===================
447
448A toggle indicating if the ``kexec_load`` syscall has been disabled.
449This value defaults to 0 (false: ``kexec_load`` enabled), but can be
450set to 1 (true: ``kexec_load`` disabled).
451Once true, kexec can no longer be used, and the toggle cannot be set
452back to false.
453This allows a kexec image to be loaded before disabling the syscall,
454allowing a system to set up (and later use) an image without it being
455altered.
456Generally used together with the `modules_disabled`_ sysctl.
457
458
459kptr_restrict
460=============
461
462This toggle indicates whether restrictions are placed on
463exposing kernel addresses via ``/proc`` and other interfaces.
464
465When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 0 (the default) the address is hashed
466before printing.
467(This is the equivalent to %p.)
468
469When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 1, kernel pointers printed using the
470%pK format specifier will be replaced with 0s unless the user has
471``CAP_SYSLOG`` and effective user and group ids are equal to the real
472ids.
473This is because %pK checks are done at read() time rather than open()
474time, so if permissions are elevated between the open() and the read()
475(e.g via a setuid binary) then %pK will not leak kernel pointers to
476unprivileged users.
477Note, this is a temporary solution only.
478The correct long-term solution is to do the permission checks at
479open() time.
480Consider removing world read permissions from files that use %pK, and
481using `dmesg_restrict`_ to protect against uses of %pK in ``dmesg(8)``
482if leaking kernel pointer values to unprivileged users is a concern.
483
484When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 2, kernel pointers printed using
485%pK will be replaced with 0s regardless of privileges.
486
487
488modprobe
489========
490
491The full path to the usermode helper for autoloading kernel modules,
492by default ``CONFIG_MODPROBE_PATH``, which in turn defaults to
493"/sbin/modprobe". This binary is executed when the kernel requests a
494module. For example, if userspace passes an unknown filesystem type
495to mount(), then the kernel will automatically request the
496corresponding filesystem module by executing this usermode helper.
497This usermode helper should insert the needed module into the kernel.
498
499This sysctl only affects module autoloading. It has no effect on the
500ability to explicitly insert modules.
501
502This sysctl can be used to debug module loading requests::
503
504 echo '#! /bin/sh' > /tmp/modprobe
505 echo 'echo "$@" >> /tmp/modprobe.log' >> /tmp/modprobe
506 echo 'exec /sbin/modprobe "$@"' >> /tmp/modprobe
507 chmod a+x /tmp/modprobe
508 echo /tmp/modprobe > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
509
510Alternatively, if this sysctl is set to the empty string, then module
511autoloading is completely disabled. The kernel will not try to
512execute a usermode helper at all, nor will it call the
513kernel_module_request LSM hook.
514
515If CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER=y is set in the kernel configuration,
516then the configured static usermode helper overrides this sysctl,
517except that the empty string is still accepted to completely disable
518module autoloading as described above.
519
520modules_disabled
521================
522
523A toggle value indicating if modules are allowed to be loaded
524in an otherwise modular kernel. This toggle defaults to off
525(0), but can be set true (1). Once true, modules can be
526neither loaded nor unloaded, and the toggle cannot be set back
527to false. Generally used with the `kexec_load_disabled`_ toggle.
528
529
530.. _msgmni:
531
532msgmax, msgmnb, and msgmni
533==========================
534
535``msgmax`` is the maximum size of an IPC message, in bytes. 8192 by
536default (``MSGMAX``).
537
538``msgmnb`` is the maximum size of an IPC queue, in bytes. 16384 by
539default (``MSGMNB``).
540
541``msgmni`` is the maximum number of IPC queues. 32000 by default
542(``MSGMNI``).
543
544
545msg_next_id, sem_next_id, and shm_next_id (System V IPC)
546========================================================
547
548These three toggles allows to specify desired id for next allocated IPC
549object: message, semaphore or shared memory respectively.
550
551By default they are equal to -1, which means generic allocation logic.
552Possible values to set are in range {0:``INT_MAX``}.
553
554Notes:
555 1) kernel doesn't guarantee, that new object will have desired id. So,
556 it's up to userspace, how to handle an object with "wrong" id.
557 2) Toggle with non-default value will be set back to -1 by kernel after
558 successful IPC object allocation. If an IPC object allocation syscall
559 fails, it is undefined if the value remains unmodified or is reset to -1.
560
561
562ngroups_max
563===========
564
565Maximum number of supplementary groups, _i.e._ the maximum size which
566``setgroups`` will accept. Exports ``NGROUPS_MAX`` from the kernel.
567
568
569
570nmi_watchdog
571============
572
573This parameter can be used to control the NMI watchdog
574(i.e. the hard lockup detector) on x86 systems.
575
576= =================================
5770 Disable the hard lockup detector.
5781 Enable the hard lockup detector.
579= =================================
580
581The hard lockup detector monitors each CPU for its ability to respond to
582timer interrupts. The mechanism utilizes CPU performance counter registers
583that are programmed to generate Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs) periodically
584while a CPU is busy. Hence, the alternative name 'NMI watchdog'.
585
586The NMI watchdog is disabled by default if the kernel is running as a guest
587in a KVM virtual machine. This default can be overridden by adding::
588
589 nmi_watchdog=1
590
591to the guest kernel command line (see
592Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst).
593
594
595numa_balancing
596==============
597
598Enables/disables automatic page fault based NUMA memory
599balancing. Memory is moved automatically to nodes
600that access it often.
601
602Enables/disables automatic NUMA memory balancing. On NUMA machines, there
603is a performance penalty if remote memory is accessed by a CPU. When this
604feature is enabled the kernel samples what task thread is accessing memory
605by periodically unmapping pages and later trapping a page fault. At the
606time of the page fault, it is determined if the data being accessed should
607be migrated to a local memory node.
608
609The unmapping of pages and trapping faults incur additional overhead that
610ideally is offset by improved memory locality but there is no universal
611guarantee. If the target workload is already bound to NUMA nodes then this
612feature should be disabled. Otherwise, if the system overhead from the
613feature is too high then the rate the kernel samples for NUMA hinting
614faults may be controlled by the `numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms,
615numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms, numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms,
616numa_balancing_scan_size_mb`_, and numa_balancing_settle_count sysctls.
617
618
619numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms, numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms, numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms, numa_balancing_scan_size_mb
620===============================================================================================================================
621
622
623Automatic NUMA balancing scans tasks address space and unmaps pages to
624detect if pages are properly placed or if the data should be migrated to a
625memory node local to where the task is running. Every "scan delay" the task
626scans the next "scan size" number of pages in its address space. When the
627end of the address space is reached the scanner restarts from the beginning.
628
629In combination, the "scan delay" and "scan size" determine the scan rate.
630When "scan delay" decreases, the scan rate increases. The scan delay and
631hence the scan rate of every task is adaptive and depends on historical
632behaviour. If pages are properly placed then the scan delay increases,
633otherwise the scan delay decreases. The "scan size" is not adaptive but
634the higher the "scan size", the higher the scan rate.
635
636Higher scan rates incur higher system overhead as page faults must be
637trapped and potentially data must be migrated. However, the higher the scan
638rate, the more quickly a tasks memory is migrated to a local node if the
639workload pattern changes and minimises performance impact due to remote
640memory accesses. These sysctls control the thresholds for scan delays and
641the number of pages scanned.
642
643``numa_balancing_scan_period_min_ms`` is the minimum time in milliseconds to
644scan a tasks virtual memory. It effectively controls the maximum scanning
645rate for each task.
646
647``numa_balancing_scan_delay_ms`` is the starting "scan delay" used for a task
648when it initially forks.
649
650``numa_balancing_scan_period_max_ms`` is the maximum time in milliseconds to
651scan a tasks virtual memory. It effectively controls the minimum scanning
652rate for each task.
653
654``numa_balancing_scan_size_mb`` is how many megabytes worth of pages are
655scanned for a given scan.
656
657
658oops_all_cpu_backtrace
659======================
660
661If this option is set, the kernel will send an NMI to all CPUs to dump
662their backtraces when an oops event occurs. It should be used as a last
663resort in case a panic cannot be triggered (to protect VMs running, for
664example) or kdump can't be collected. This file shows up if CONFIG_SMP
665is enabled.
666
6670: Won't show all CPUs backtraces when an oops is detected.
668This is the default behavior.
669
6701: Will non-maskably interrupt all CPUs and dump their backtraces when
671an oops event is detected.
672
673
674osrelease, ostype & version
675===========================
676
677::
678
679 # cat osrelease
680 2.1.88
681 # cat ostype
682 Linux
683 # cat version
684 #5 Wed Feb 25 21:49:24 MET 1998
685
686The files ``osrelease`` and ``ostype`` should be clear enough.
687``version``
688needs a little more clarification however. The '#5' means that
689this is the fifth kernel built from this source base and the
690date behind it indicates the time the kernel was built.
691The only way to tune these values is to rebuild the kernel :-)
692
693
694overflowgid & overflowuid
695=========================
696
697if your architecture did not always support 32-bit UIDs (i.e. arm,
698i386, m68k, sh, and sparc32), a fixed UID and GID will be returned to
699applications that use the old 16-bit UID/GID system calls, if the
700actual UID or GID would exceed 65535.
701
702These sysctls allow you to change the value of the fixed UID and GID.
703The default is 65534.
704
705
706panic
707=====
708
709The value in this file determines the behaviour of the kernel on a
710panic:
711
712* if zero, the kernel will loop forever;
713* if negative, the kernel will reboot immediately;
714* if positive, the kernel will reboot after the corresponding number
715 of seconds.
716
717When you use the software watchdog, the recommended setting is 60.
718
719
720panic_on_io_nmi
721===============
722
723Controls the kernel's behavior when a CPU receives an NMI caused by
724an IO error.
725
726= ==================================================================
7270 Try to continue operation (default).
7281 Panic immediately. The IO error triggered an NMI. This indicates a
729 serious system condition which could result in IO data corruption.
730 Rather than continuing, panicking might be a better choice. Some
731 servers issue this sort of NMI when the dump button is pushed,
732 and you can use this option to take a crash dump.
733= ==================================================================
734
735
736panic_on_oops
737=============
738
739Controls the kernel's behaviour when an oops or BUG is encountered.
740
741= ===================================================================
7420 Try to continue operation.
7431 Panic immediately. If the `panic` sysctl is also non-zero then the
744 machine will be rebooted.
745= ===================================================================
746
747
748panic_on_stackoverflow
749======================
750
751Controls the kernel's behavior when detecting the overflows of
752kernel, IRQ and exception stacks except a user stack.
753This file shows up if ``CONFIG_DEBUG_STACKOVERFLOW`` is enabled.
754
755= ==========================
7560 Try to continue operation.
7571 Panic immediately.
758= ==========================
759
760
761panic_on_unrecovered_nmi
762========================
763
764The default Linux behaviour on an NMI of either memory or unknown is
765to continue operation. For many environments such as scientific
766computing it is preferable that the box is taken out and the error
767dealt with than an uncorrected parity/ECC error get propagated.
768
769A small number of systems do generate NMIs for bizarre random reasons
770such as power management so the default is off. That sysctl works like
771the existing panic controls already in that directory.
772
773
774panic_on_warn
775=============
776
777Calls panic() in the WARN() path when set to 1. This is useful to avoid
778a kernel rebuild when attempting to kdump at the location of a WARN().
779
780= ================================================
7810 Only WARN(), default behaviour.
7821 Call panic() after printing out WARN() location.
783= ================================================
784
785
786panic_print
787===========
788
789Bitmask for printing system info when panic happens. User can chose
790combination of the following bits:
791
792===== ============================================
793bit 0 print all tasks info
794bit 1 print system memory info
795bit 2 print timer info
796bit 3 print locks info if ``CONFIG_LOCKDEP`` is on
797bit 4 print ftrace buffer
798===== ============================================
799
800So for example to print tasks and memory info on panic, user can::
801
802 echo 3 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic_print
803
804
805panic_on_rcu_stall
806==================
807
808When set to 1, calls panic() after RCU stall detection messages. This
809is useful to define the root cause of RCU stalls using a vmcore.
810
811= ============================================================
8120 Do not panic() when RCU stall takes place, default behavior.
8131 panic() after printing RCU stall messages.
814= ============================================================
815
816
817perf_cpu_time_max_percent
818=========================
819
820Hints to the kernel how much CPU time it should be allowed to
821use to handle perf sampling events. If the perf subsystem
822is informed that its samples are exceeding this limit, it
823will drop its sampling frequency to attempt to reduce its CPU
824usage.
825
826Some perf sampling happens in NMIs. If these samples
827unexpectedly take too long to execute, the NMIs can become
828stacked up next to each other so much that nothing else is
829allowed to execute.
830
831===== ========================================================
8320 Disable the mechanism. Do not monitor or correct perf's
833 sampling rate no matter how CPU time it takes.
834
8351-100 Attempt to throttle perf's sample rate to this
836 percentage of CPU. Note: the kernel calculates an
837 "expected" length of each sample event. 100 here means
838 100% of that expected length. Even if this is set to
839 100, you may still see sample throttling if this
840 length is exceeded. Set to 0 if you truly do not care
841 how much CPU is consumed.
842===== ========================================================
843
844
845perf_event_paranoid
846===================
847
848Controls use of the performance events system by unprivileged
849users (without CAP_PERFMON). The default value is 2.
850
851For backward compatibility reasons access to system performance
852monitoring and observability remains open for CAP_SYS_ADMIN
853privileged processes but CAP_SYS_ADMIN usage for secure system
854performance monitoring and observability operations is discouraged
855with respect to CAP_PERFMON use cases.
856
857=== ==================================================================
858 -1 Allow use of (almost) all events by all users.
859
860 Ignore mlock limit after perf_event_mlock_kb without
861 ``CAP_IPC_LOCK``.
862
863>=0 Disallow ftrace function tracepoint by users without
864 ``CAP_PERFMON``.
865
866 Disallow raw tracepoint access by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
867
868>=1 Disallow CPU event access by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
869
870>=2 Disallow kernel profiling by users without ``CAP_PERFMON``.
871=== ==================================================================
872
873
874perf_event_max_stack
875====================
876
877Controls maximum number of stack frames to copy for (``attr.sample_type &
878PERF_SAMPLE_CALLCHAIN``) configured events, for instance, when using
879'``perf record -g``' or '``perf trace --call-graph fp``'.
880
881This can only be done when no events are in use that have callchains
882enabled, otherwise writing to this file will return ``-EBUSY``.
883
884The default value is 127.
885
886
887perf_event_mlock_kb
888===================
889
890Control size of per-cpu ring buffer not counted against mlock limit.
891
892The default value is 512 + 1 page
893
894
895perf_event_max_contexts_per_stack
896=================================
897
898Controls maximum number of stack frame context entries for
899(``attr.sample_type & PERF_SAMPLE_CALLCHAIN``) configured events, for
900instance, when using '``perf record -g``' or '``perf trace --call-graph fp``'.
901
902This can only be done when no events are in use that have callchains
903enabled, otherwise writing to this file will return ``-EBUSY``.
904
905The default value is 8.
906
907
908pid_max
909=======
910
911PID allocation wrap value. When the kernel's next PID value
912reaches this value, it wraps back to a minimum PID value.
913PIDs of value ``pid_max`` or larger are not allocated.
914
915
916ns_last_pid
917===========
918
919The last pid allocated in the current (the one task using this sysctl
920lives in) pid namespace. When selecting a pid for a next task on fork
921kernel tries to allocate a number starting from this one.
922
923
924powersave-nap (PPC only)
925========================
926
927If set, Linux-PPC will use the 'nap' mode of powersaving,
928otherwise the 'doze' mode will be used.
929
930
931==============================================================
932
933printk
934======
935
936The four values in printk denote: ``console_loglevel``,
937``default_message_loglevel``, ``minimum_console_loglevel`` and
938``default_console_loglevel`` respectively.
939
940These values influence printk() behavior when printing or
941logging error messages. See '``man 2 syslog``' for more info on
942the different loglevels.
943
944======================== =====================================
945console_loglevel messages with a higher priority than
946 this will be printed to the console
947default_message_loglevel messages without an explicit priority
948 will be printed with this priority
949minimum_console_loglevel minimum (highest) value to which
950 console_loglevel can be set
951default_console_loglevel default value for console_loglevel
952======================== =====================================
953
954
955printk_delay
956============
957
958Delay each printk message in ``printk_delay`` milliseconds
959
960Value from 0 - 10000 is allowed.
961
962
963printk_ratelimit
964================
965
966Some warning messages are rate limited. ``printk_ratelimit`` specifies
967the minimum length of time between these messages (in seconds).
968The default value is 5 seconds.
969
970A value of 0 will disable rate limiting.
971
972
973printk_ratelimit_burst
974======================
975
976While long term we enforce one message per `printk_ratelimit`_
977seconds, we do allow a burst of messages to pass through.
978``printk_ratelimit_burst`` specifies the number of messages we can
979send before ratelimiting kicks in.
980
981The default value is 10 messages.
982
983
984printk_devkmsg
985==============
986
987Control the logging to ``/dev/kmsg`` from userspace:
988
989========= =============================================
990ratelimit default, ratelimited
991on unlimited logging to /dev/kmsg from userspace
992off logging to /dev/kmsg disabled
993========= =============================================
994
995The kernel command line parameter ``printk.devkmsg=`` overrides this and is
996a one-time setting until next reboot: once set, it cannot be changed by
997this sysctl interface anymore.
998
999==============================================================
1000
1001
1002pty
1003===
1004
1005See Documentation/filesystems/devpts.rst.
1006
1007
1008random
1009======
1010
1011This is a directory, with the following entries:
1012
1013* ``boot_id``: a UUID generated the first time this is retrieved, and
1014 unvarying after that;
1015
1016* ``entropy_avail``: the pool's entropy count, in bits;
1017
1018* ``poolsize``: the entropy pool size, in bits;
1019
1020* ``urandom_min_reseed_secs``: obsolete (used to determine the minimum
1021 number of seconds between urandom pool reseeding).
1022
1023* ``uuid``: a UUID generated every time this is retrieved (this can
1024 thus be used to generate UUIDs at will);
1025
1026* ``write_wakeup_threshold``: when the entropy count drops below this
1027 (as a number of bits), processes waiting to write to ``/dev/random``
1028 are woken up.
1029
1030If ``drivers/char/random.c`` is built with ``ADD_INTERRUPT_BENCH``
1031defined, these additional entries are present:
1032
1033* ``add_interrupt_avg_cycles``: the average number of cycles between
1034 interrupts used to feed the pool;
1035
1036* ``add_interrupt_avg_deviation``: the standard deviation seen on the
1037 number of cycles between interrupts used to feed the pool.
1038
1039
1040randomize_va_space
1041==================
1042
1043This option can be used to select the type of process address
1044space randomization that is used in the system, for architectures
1045that support this feature.
1046
1047== ===========================================================================
10480 Turn the process address space randomization off. This is the
1049 default for architectures that do not support this feature anyways,
1050 and kernels that are booted with the "norandmaps" parameter.
1051
10521 Make the addresses of mmap base, stack and VDSO page randomized.
1053 This, among other things, implies that shared libraries will be
1054 loaded to random addresses. Also for PIE-linked binaries, the
1055 location of code start is randomized. This is the default if the
1056 ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` option is enabled.
1057
10582 Additionally enable heap randomization. This is the default if
1059 ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` is disabled.
1060
1061 There are a few legacy applications out there (such as some ancient
1062 versions of libc.so.5 from 1996) that assume that brk area starts
1063 just after the end of the code+bss. These applications break when
1064 start of the brk area is randomized. There are however no known
1065 non-legacy applications that would be broken this way, so for most
1066 systems it is safe to choose full randomization.
1067
1068 Systems with ancient and/or broken binaries should be configured
1069 with ``CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK`` enabled, which excludes the heap from process
1070 address space randomization.
1071== ===========================================================================
1072
1073
1074real-root-dev
1075=============
1076
1077See Documentation/admin-guide/initrd.rst.
1078
1079
1080reboot-cmd (SPARC only)
1081=======================
1082
1083??? This seems to be a way to give an argument to the Sparc
1084ROM/Flash boot loader. Maybe to tell it what to do after
1085rebooting. ???
1086
1087
1088sched_energy_aware
1089==================
1090
1091Enables/disables Energy Aware Scheduling (EAS). EAS starts
1092automatically on platforms where it can run (that is,
1093platforms with asymmetric CPU topologies and having an Energy
1094Model available). If your platform happens to meet the
1095requirements for EAS but you do not want to use it, change
1096this value to 0.
1097
1098task_delayacct
1099===============
1100
1101Enables/disables task delay accounting (see
1102:doc:`accounting/delay-accounting.rst`). Enabling this feature incurs
1103a small amount of overhead in the scheduler but is useful for debugging
1104and performance tuning. It is required by some tools such as iotop.
1105
1106sched_schedstats
1107================
1108
1109Enables/disables scheduler statistics. Enabling this feature
1110incurs a small amount of overhead in the scheduler but is
1111useful for debugging and performance tuning.
1112
1113sched_util_clamp_min
1114====================
1115
1116Max allowed *minimum* utilization.
1117
1118Default value is 1024, which is the maximum possible value.
1119
1120It means that any requested uclamp.min value cannot be greater than
1121sched_util_clamp_min, i.e., it is restricted to the range
1122[0:sched_util_clamp_min].
1123
1124sched_util_clamp_max
1125====================
1126
1127Max allowed *maximum* utilization.
1128
1129Default value is 1024, which is the maximum possible value.
1130
1131It means that any requested uclamp.max value cannot be greater than
1132sched_util_clamp_max, i.e., it is restricted to the range
1133[0:sched_util_clamp_max].
1134
1135sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default
1136===============================
1137
1138By default Linux is tuned for performance. Which means that RT tasks always run
1139at the highest frequency and most capable (highest capacity) CPU (in
1140heterogeneous systems).
1141
1142Uclamp achieves this by setting the requested uclamp.min of all RT tasks to
11431024 by default, which effectively boosts the tasks to run at the highest
1144frequency and biases them to run on the biggest CPU.
1145
1146This knob allows admins to change the default behavior when uclamp is being
1147used. In battery powered devices particularly, running at the maximum
1148capacity and frequency will increase energy consumption and shorten the battery
1149life.
1150
1151This knob is only effective for RT tasks which the user hasn't modified their
1152requested uclamp.min value via sched_setattr() syscall.
1153
1154This knob will not escape the range constraint imposed by sched_util_clamp_min
1155defined above.
1156
1157For example if
1158
1159 sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default = 800
1160 sched_util_clamp_min = 600
1161
1162Then the boost will be clamped to 600 because 800 is outside of the permissible
1163range of [0:600]. This could happen for instance if a powersave mode will
1164restrict all boosts temporarily by modifying sched_util_clamp_min. As soon as
1165this restriction is lifted, the requested sched_util_clamp_min_rt_default
1166will take effect.
1167
1168seccomp
1169=======
1170
1171See Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst.
1172
1173
1174sg-big-buff
1175===========
1176
1177This file shows the size of the generic SCSI (sg) buffer.
1178You can't tune it just yet, but you could change it on
1179compile time by editing ``include/scsi/sg.h`` and changing
1180the value of ``SG_BIG_BUFF``.
1181
1182There shouldn't be any reason to change this value. If
1183you can come up with one, you probably know what you
1184are doing anyway :)
1185
1186
1187shmall
1188======
1189
1190This parameter sets the total amount of shared memory pages that
1191can be used system wide. Hence, ``shmall`` should always be at least
1192``ceil(shmmax/PAGE_SIZE)``.
1193
1194If you are not sure what the default ``PAGE_SIZE`` is on your Linux
1195system, you can run the following command::
1196
1197 # getconf PAGE_SIZE
1198
1199
1200shmmax
1201======
1202
1203This value can be used to query and set the run time limit
1204on the maximum shared memory segment size that can be created.
1205Shared memory segments up to 1Gb are now supported in the
1206kernel. This value defaults to ``SHMMAX``.
1207
1208
1209shmmni
1210======
1211
1212This value determines the maximum number of shared memory segments.
12134096 by default (``SHMMNI``).
1214
1215
1216shm_rmid_forced
1217===============
1218
1219Linux lets you set resource limits, including how much memory one
1220process can consume, via ``setrlimit(2)``. Unfortunately, shared memory
1221segments are allowed to exist without association with any process, and
1222thus might not be counted against any resource limits. If enabled,
1223shared memory segments are automatically destroyed when their attach
1224count becomes zero after a detach or a process termination. It will
1225also destroy segments that were created, but never attached to, on exit
1226from the process. The only use left for ``IPC_RMID`` is to immediately
1227destroy an unattached segment. Of course, this breaks the way things are
1228defined, so some applications might stop working. Note that this
1229feature will do you no good unless you also configure your resource
1230limits (in particular, ``RLIMIT_AS`` and ``RLIMIT_NPROC``). Most systems don't
1231need this.
1232
1233Note that if you change this from 0 to 1, already created segments
1234without users and with a dead originative process will be destroyed.
1235
1236
1237sysctl_writes_strict
1238====================
1239
1240Control how file position affects the behavior of updating sysctl values
1241via the ``/proc/sys`` interface:
1242
1243 == ======================================================================
1244 -1 Legacy per-write sysctl value handling, with no printk warnings.
1245 Each write syscall must fully contain the sysctl value to be
1246 written, and multiple writes on the same sysctl file descriptor
1247 will rewrite the sysctl value, regardless of file position.
1248 0 Same behavior as above, but warn about processes that perform writes
1249 to a sysctl file descriptor when the file position is not 0.
1250 1 (default) Respect file position when writing sysctl strings. Multiple
1251 writes will append to the sysctl value buffer. Anything past the max
1252 length of the sysctl value buffer will be ignored. Writes to numeric
1253 sysctl entries must always be at file position 0 and the value must
1254 be fully contained in the buffer sent in the write syscall.
1255 == ======================================================================
1256
1257
1258softlockup_all_cpu_backtrace
1259============================
1260
1261This value controls the soft lockup detector thread's behavior
1262when a soft lockup condition is detected as to whether or not
1263to gather further debug information. If enabled, each cpu will
1264be issued an NMI and instructed to capture stack trace.
1265
1266This feature is only applicable for architectures which support
1267NMI.
1268
1269= ============================================
12700 Do nothing. This is the default behavior.
12711 On detection capture more debug information.
1272= ============================================
1273
1274
1275softlockup_panic
1276=================
1277
1278This parameter can be used to control whether the kernel panics
1279when a soft lockup is detected.
1280
1281= ============================================
12820 Don't panic on soft lockup.
12831 Panic on soft lockup.
1284= ============================================
1285
1286This can also be set using the softlockup_panic kernel parameter.
1287
1288
1289soft_watchdog
1290=============
1291
1292This parameter can be used to control the soft lockup detector.
1293
1294= =================================
12950 Disable the soft lockup detector.
12961 Enable the soft lockup detector.
1297= =================================
1298
1299The soft lockup detector monitors CPUs for threads that are hogging the CPUs
1300without rescheduling voluntarily, and thus prevent the 'migration/N' threads
1301from running, causing the watchdog work fail to execute. The mechanism depends
1302on the CPUs ability to respond to timer interrupts which are needed for the
1303watchdog work to be queued by the watchdog timer function, otherwise the NMI
1304watchdog — if enabled — can detect a hard lockup condition.
1305
1306
1307stack_erasing
1308=============
1309
1310This parameter can be used to control kernel stack erasing at the end
1311of syscalls for kernels built with ``CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK``.
1312
1313That erasing reduces the information which kernel stack leak bugs
1314can reveal and blocks some uninitialized stack variable attacks.
1315The tradeoff is the performance impact: on a single CPU system kernel
1316compilation sees a 1% slowdown, other systems and workloads may vary.
1317
1318= ====================================================================
13190 Kernel stack erasing is disabled, STACKLEAK_METRICS are not updated.
13201 Kernel stack erasing is enabled (default), it is performed before
1321 returning to the userspace at the end of syscalls.
1322= ====================================================================
1323
1324
1325stop-a (SPARC only)
1326===================
1327
1328Controls Stop-A:
1329
1330= ====================================
13310 Stop-A has no effect.
13321 Stop-A breaks to the PROM (default).
1333= ====================================
1334
1335Stop-A is always enabled on a panic, so that the user can return to
1336the boot PROM.
1337
1338
1339sysrq
1340=====
1341
1342See Documentation/admin-guide/sysrq.rst.
1343
1344
1345tainted
1346=======
1347
1348Non-zero if the kernel has been tainted. Numeric values, which can be
1349ORed together. The letters are seen in "Tainted" line of Oops reports.
1350
1351====== ===== ==============================================================
1352 1 `(P)` proprietary module was loaded
1353 2 `(F)` module was force loaded
1354 4 `(S)` kernel running on an out of specification system
1355 8 `(R)` module was force unloaded
1356 16 `(M)` processor reported a Machine Check Exception (MCE)
1357 32 `(B)` bad page referenced or some unexpected page flags
1358 64 `(U)` taint requested by userspace application
1359 128 `(D)` kernel died recently, i.e. there was an OOPS or BUG
1360 256 `(A)` an ACPI table was overridden by user
1361 512 `(W)` kernel issued warning
1362 1024 `(C)` staging driver was loaded
1363 2048 `(I)` workaround for bug in platform firmware applied
1364 4096 `(O)` externally-built ("out-of-tree") module was loaded
1365 8192 `(E)` unsigned module was loaded
1366 16384 `(L)` soft lockup occurred
1367 32768 `(K)` kernel has been live patched
1368 65536 `(X)` Auxiliary taint, defined and used by for distros
1369131072 `(T)` The kernel was built with the struct randomization plugin
1370====== ===== ==============================================================
1371
1372See Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst for more information.
1373
1374Note:
1375 writes to this sysctl interface will fail with ``EINVAL`` if the kernel is
1376 booted with the command line option ``panic_on_taint=<bitmask>,nousertaint``
1377 and any of the ORed together values being written to ``tainted`` match with
1378 the bitmask declared on panic_on_taint.
1379 See Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst for more details on
1380 that particular kernel command line option and its optional
1381 ``nousertaint`` switch.
1382
1383threads-max
1384===========
1385
1386This value controls the maximum number of threads that can be created
1387using ``fork()``.
1388
1389During initialization the kernel sets this value such that even if the
1390maximum number of threads is created, the thread structures occupy only
1391a part (1/8th) of the available RAM pages.
1392
1393The minimum value that can be written to ``threads-max`` is 1.
1394
1395The maximum value that can be written to ``threads-max`` is given by the
1396constant ``FUTEX_TID_MASK`` (0x3fffffff).
1397
1398If a value outside of this range is written to ``threads-max`` an
1399``EINVAL`` error occurs.
1400
1401
1402traceoff_on_warning
1403===================
1404
1405When set, disables tracing (see Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst) when a
1406``WARN()`` is hit.
1407
1408
1409tracepoint_printk
1410=================
1411
1412When tracepoints are sent to printk() (enabled by the ``tp_printk``
1413boot parameter), this entry provides runtime control::
1414
1415 echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/tracepoint_printk
1416
1417will stop tracepoints from being sent to printk(), and::
1418
1419 echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/tracepoint_printk
1420
1421will send them to printk() again.
1422
1423This only works if the kernel was booted with ``tp_printk`` enabled.
1424
1425See Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst and
1426Documentation/trace/boottime-trace.rst.
1427
1428
1429.. _unaligned-dump-stack:
1430
1431unaligned-dump-stack (ia64)
1432===========================
1433
1434When logging unaligned accesses, controls whether the stack is
1435dumped.
1436
1437= ===================================================
14380 Do not dump the stack. This is the default setting.
14391 Dump the stack.
1440= ===================================================
1441
1442See also `ignore-unaligned-usertrap`_.
1443
1444
1445unaligned-trap
1446==============
1447
1448On architectures where unaligned accesses cause traps, and where this
1449feature is supported (``CONFIG_SYSCTL_ARCH_UNALIGN_ALLOW``; currently,
1450``arc`` and ``parisc``), controls whether unaligned traps are caught
1451and emulated (instead of failing).
1452
1453= ========================================================
14540 Do not emulate unaligned accesses.
14551 Emulate unaligned accesses. This is the default setting.
1456= ========================================================
1457
1458See also `ignore-unaligned-usertrap`_.
1459
1460
1461unknown_nmi_panic
1462=================
1463
1464The value in this file affects behavior of handling NMI. When the
1465value is non-zero, unknown NMI is trapped and then panic occurs. At
1466that time, kernel debugging information is displayed on console.
1467
1468NMI switch that most IA32 servers have fires unknown NMI up, for
1469example. If a system hangs up, try pressing the NMI switch.
1470
1471
1472unprivileged_bpf_disabled
1473=========================
1474
1475Writing 1 to this entry will disable unprivileged calls to ``bpf()``;
1476once disabled, calling ``bpf()`` without ``CAP_SYS_ADMIN`` or ``CAP_BPF``
1477will return ``-EPERM``. Once set to 1, this can't be cleared from the
1478running kernel anymore.
1479
1480Writing 2 to this entry will also disable unprivileged calls to ``bpf()``,
1481however, an admin can still change this setting later on, if needed, by
1482writing 0 or 1 to this entry.
1483
1484If ``BPF_UNPRIV_DEFAULT_OFF`` is enabled in the kernel config, then this
1485entry will default to 2 instead of 0.
1486
1487= =============================================================
14880 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are enabled
14891 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are disabled without recovery
14902 Unprivileged calls to ``bpf()`` are disabled
1491= =============================================================
1492
1493watchdog
1494========
1495
1496This parameter can be used to disable or enable the soft lockup detector
1497*and* the NMI watchdog (i.e. the hard lockup detector) at the same time.
1498
1499= ==============================
15000 Disable both lockup detectors.
15011 Enable both lockup detectors.
1502= ==============================
1503
1504The soft lockup detector and the NMI watchdog can also be disabled or
1505enabled individually, using the ``soft_watchdog`` and ``nmi_watchdog``
1506parameters.
1507If the ``watchdog`` parameter is read, for example by executing::
1508
1509 cat /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog
1510
1511the output of this command (0 or 1) shows the logical OR of
1512``soft_watchdog`` and ``nmi_watchdog``.
1513
1514
1515watchdog_cpumask
1516================
1517
1518This value can be used to control on which cpus the watchdog may run.
1519The default cpumask is all possible cores, but if ``NO_HZ_FULL`` is
1520enabled in the kernel config, and cores are specified with the
1521``nohz_full=`` boot argument, those cores are excluded by default.
1522Offline cores can be included in this mask, and if the core is later
1523brought online, the watchdog will be started based on the mask value.
1524
1525Typically this value would only be touched in the ``nohz_full`` case
1526to re-enable cores that by default were not running the watchdog,
1527if a kernel lockup was suspected on those cores.
1528
1529The argument value is the standard cpulist format for cpumasks,
1530so for example to enable the watchdog on cores 0, 2, 3, and 4 you
1531might say::
1532
1533 echo 0,2-4 > /proc/sys/kernel/watchdog_cpumask
1534
1535
1536watchdog_thresh
1537===============
1538
1539This value can be used to control the frequency of hrtimer and NMI
1540events and the soft and hard lockup thresholds. The default threshold
1541is 10 seconds.
1542
1543The softlockup threshold is (``2 * watchdog_thresh``). Setting this
1544tunable to zero will disable lockup detection altogether.