NAME

sysctl.conf — sysctl configuration file

SYNOPSIS

sysctl.conf

DESCRIPTION

The sysctl.conf file defines the sysctl(7) kernel state tunables that can be set at boot time using sysctl(8) (using the -f switch) via the /etc/rc.d/sysctl startup script.

The state to be set is described using a “Management Information Base” (“MIB”) style name. The MIB and value must be separated by ‘=’ with no whitespace, for example:

name=value

Blank lines, lines with just name, and comments (beginning with ‘#’) are ignored. Line continuations using backslash ‘\’ are permitted. Only integral and string values can be set.

FILES

/etc/sysctl.conf

The file sysctl.conf resides in /etc.

EXAMPLES

The following is an example /etc/sysctl.conf file:

# Change max open files 
kern.maxfiles=1792 
 
# Run Veriexec in IDS mode 
kern.veriexec.strict=1 
 
# Enable IP packet forwarding 
net.inet.ip.forwarding=1

SEE ALSO

sysctl(3), rc.conf(5), sysctl(7), sysctl(8)

HISTORY

Support for sysctl.conf first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.