kernfs (BSD)

{{For|the creation of pseudo file systems in the Linux kernel|kernfs (Linux)}}

{{Lowercase title}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014}}

In the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and its descendants, kernfs is a pseudo file system that provides access to information on the currently running kernel. The file system itself and its content are dynamically generated when the operating system is booted, and the kernfs is often mounted at the {{Mono|/kern}} directory.{{cite web

|url=http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=5&topic=kernfs

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928143453/http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=5&topic=kernfs

|title=kernfs(5) – kernel file system

|date=December 14, 1996

|access-date=May 6, 2014

|archive-date=September 28, 2007

|website=gsp.com

}}{{cite web

| url = http://wiki.netbsd.org/projects/project/kernfs-rewrite/

| title = Rewrite kernfs and procfs

| date = September 8, 2014 | access-date = March 24, 2015

| website = netbsd.org

}} As a result of its nature, kernfs does not consist of actual files on a storage device, allowing instead processes to retrieve system information by accessing virtual files.{{cite web

| url = ftp://ftp.isi.edu/isi-pubs/tr-579.pdf

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170705055708/ftp://ftp.isi.edu/isi-pubs/tr-579.pdf

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 2017-07-05

| title = NetFS: Networking through the File System, Section 6.1 Procfs and Kernfs

| date = December 9, 2003

| access-date = July 4, 2016

| author1 = Joshua Train

| author2 = Joseph D. Touch

| author3 = Lars Eggert

| author4 = Yu-Shun Wang

| website = isi.edu

| page = 8

}}

kernfs first appeared in 4.4BSD, and NetBSD 6.0 continues to use kernfs by default while mounting it at the canonical {{Mono|/kern}} mount point.{{cite web

| url = http://netbsd.gw.com/cgi-bin/man-cgi?mount_kernfs+8+NetBSD-6.0+i386

| title = mount_kernfs(8) – mount the /kern file system

| date = September 8, 2003

| access-date = March 24, 2015

| website = netbsd.gw.com

| archive-date = September 13, 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160913165743/http://netbsd.gw.com/cgi-bin/man-cgi?mount_kernfs+8+NetBSD-6.0+i386

| url-status = dead

}}