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Configfs

Virtual file system in the Linux kernel

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated August 28, 2025

Configfs is a RAM-based virtual file system provided by the 2.6 Linux kernel.

01Details

Configfs appears similar to sysfs but they are in fact different and complementary. Configfs is for creating, managing and destroying kernel objects from user-space, and sysfs for viewing and manipulating objects from user-space which are created and destroyed by kernel space. It is typically mounted at /sys/kernel/config (or more rarely at /config).

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Configfs”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Tmpfs

tmpfs is a temporary file storage paradigm implemented in many Unix-like operating systems. It is intended to appear as a mounted file system, but data is stored in volatile memory rather than on a persistent storage device.

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