Managing the PROC file system

The PROC file system contains dynamically created files that contain process and system information. Due to its nature, there are some differences between a PROC file system and a traditional file system.

• Files are not backed by DASD or storage.
• Files are not created or deleted; their existence depends on process and system parameters.
• Contents might differ between systems in a shared file system environment.

The PROC file system contains a directory for each process in the PID namespace that is associated with the file system, which makes it possible for you to obtain process information via a file system.