SYSCTL.CONF(5) File Formats Manual SYSCTL.CONF(5)
NAME
sysctl.confsysctl 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
HISTORY
Support for sysctl.conf first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.