RAMFS(4) RAMFS(4)
NAME
ramfs - memory file system
SYNOPSIS
ramfs [ -Dipsu ] [ -l maxsize ] [ -m mountpoint ] [ -S
srvname ]
DESCRIPTION
Ramfs starts a process that mounts itself (see bind(2)) on
mountpoint (default /tmp). The ramfs process implements a
file tree rooted at dir, keeping all files in memory. Ini-
tially the file tree is empty.
The -D option enables a trace of general debugging messages.
The -i flag tells ramfs to use file descriptors 0 and 1 for
its communication channel rather than create a pipe. This
makes it possible to use ramfs as a file server on a remote
machine: the file descriptors 0 and 1 will be the network
channel from ramfs to the client machine.
The -p flag causes ramfs to make its memory `private' (see
proc(3)) so that its files are not accessible through the
debugging interface.
The -s (-S) flag causes ramfs to post its channel on
/srv/ramfs (/srv/srvname) rather than mounting it on
mountpoint, enabling multiple clients to access its files.
However, it does not authenticate its clients and its imple-
mentation of groups is simplistic, so it should not be used
for precious data.
The -u option permits ramfs to consume as much memory as
needed; without it, ramfs will limit its consumption to some
arbitrary amount, currently 768MB (enough to hold a CD
image). The -l option specifies the amount of memory to
use. Units such as `k', `m' or `g' may be used.
This program is useful mainly as an example of how to write
a user-level file server. It can also be used to provide
high-performance temporary files.
SOURCE
/sys/src/cmd/ramfs.c
SEE ALSO
bind(2)
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