/etc/sysctl.d/*.conf
/run/sysctl.d/*.conf
/usr/local/lib/sysctl.d/*.conf
/usr/lib/sysctl.d/*.conf
/lib/sysctl.d/*.conf
sysctl.conf5
Linux kernel configuration parameters
Overview
sysctl.conf is a set of configuration files that contain Linux kernel configuration parameters to be read and set by sysctl(8).
This man page describes the configuration files for procps sysctl. If you are using systemd-sysctl(8), refer to sysctl.d(5) and note that it won't use the file /etc/sysctl.conf.
Configuration Format
Each line of a file read by procps sysctl describes a kernel parameter in the following format.
token = value
There is no need to use quotation marks for value, even if the value is a list of items.
Blank lines and lines that start with “#” or “;” are ignored.
If a line begins with a single “-”, a failing attempt to set the value is ignored.
Files
procps sysctl, when run with the --system option, reads files from directories in the order shown below.
Finally, procps sysctl reads /etc/sysctl.conf. This file is not used by systemd-sysctl, which means that some kernel parameters are not set depending on the implementation of sysctl that is installed.
Examples
# # kernel.domainname = example.com ; A value containing a space is written to the sysctl. kernel.modprobe = /sbin/mod probe # A list of items for the value net.ipv4.ip_local_reserved_ports=8080,9148
Releases
14 releases since Debian 2.2 (Potato); the text changed 7 times.