This file represents the physical memory of the system and is stored in the core file format. Unlike most /proc/
files, kcore
displays a size. This value is given in bytes and is equal to the size of the physical memory (RAM) used plus 4 KB.
The contents of this file are designed to be examined by a debugger, such as gdb
, and is not human readable.
Do not view the /proc/kcore
virtual file. The contents of the file scramble text output on the terminal. If this file is accidentally viewed, press Ctrl+C to stop the process and then type reset
to bring back the command line prompt.