The /proc file system is responsible to control access to physical devices on the computer and to schedule when and how processes interact with these devices. The /proc/ directory contains a hierarchy of special files which represent the current state of the kernel — allowing applications and users to peer into the kernel’s view of the system.Many of the entries in /proc provide access to information about the running kernel’s configuration and state. Some of these entries are at the top level of /proc; others are under /proc/sys/kernel.

Version Information
The file /proc/version contains a long string describing the kernel’s release number and build version. It also includes information about how the kernel was built: the user who compiled it, the machine on which it was compiled, the date it was compiled, and the compiler release that was used, for example:

% cat /proc/version

The most important items in this output, the OS name and kernel version and revision, are available in separate /proc entries as well. These are /proc/sys/kernel/ostype, /proc/sys/kernel/osrelease, and /proc/sys/kernel/version, respectively.

Memory Usage

The /proc/meminfo entry contains information about the system’s memory usage. Information is presented both for physical memory and for swap space.