Re: proc/meminfo

Hi Rafia,

/proc is very special in that it is also a virtual filesystem. It contains runtime system information. The file doesn't actually contain any data; it just acts as a pointer to where the actual process information resides.

Yes, you are right. you can change permission for /proc/meminfo.

# ll /proc/meminfo
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 0 Apr 21 05:34 /proc/meminfo

# chmod 777 /proc/meminfo

]# ll /proc/meminfo
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 Apr 21 05:35 /proc/meminfo

After that If you tried to edit and save the file you will see below error messages :

WARNING: The file has been changed since reading it!!!
Do you really want to write to it (y/n)?y
"/proc/meminfo" E667: Fsync failed
WARNING: Original file may be lost or damaged
don't quit the editor until the file is successfully written!
Press ENTER or type command to continue

and you can not save the file. Just changing permission of file its not possible here.
Even after reboot you will see permission for /proc/meminfo automatically restored.

>>>I want to know if i change some values in proc/,e,info file in ubuntu, then will it take the new values?
No

>>> can it lead to system crash?
Values can not be change,so no crash.

>>> So in short editing the values in proc/meminfo can lead to system crash?
Values can not be change,so no crash.

>>>Will it take the new values and perform things accordingly?
No

- Pravin