Danial (and Andries),
Re http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=459232
> random(4) currently says:
>
> /proc Interface
> The files in the directory /proc/sys/kernel/random (present since
> 2.3.16) provide an additional interface to the /dev/random device.
>
> The read-only file entropy_avail gives the available entropy. Nor
> mally, this will be 4096 (bits), a full entropy pool.
>
> The file poolsize gives the size of the entropy pool. Normally, this
> will be 512 (bytes). It can be changed to any value for which an algo
> rithm is available. Currently the choices are 32, 64, 128, 256, 512,
> 1024, 2048.
>
> but poolsize either appears to be counted in bits, or the range of
> choices has changed:
>
> [0 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~]$ head /proc/sys/kernel/random/{entropy_avail,poolsize}
> ==> /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail <==
> 3458
>
> ==> /proc/sys/kernel/random/poolsize <==
> 4096
It looks like things changed with the move from 2.4 to 2.6. I've amended
the text describing 'poolsize' according to how I understand the code (in
drivers/char/random.c). I think Andries knows this area better than me,
and be might be able to confirm/add details:
The file poolsize gives the size of the entropy pool.
The semantics of this file vary across kernel versions:
Linux 2.4: This file gives the size of the
entropy pool in bytes. Normally, this
file will have the value 512, but it
is writable, and can be changed to any
value for which an algorithm is avail-
able. The choices are 32, 64, 128,
256, 512, 1024, or 2048.
Linux 2.6: This file is read-only, and gives the
size of the entropy pool in bits. It
contains the value 4096.
These changes will be in upstream 2.76.
Cheers,
Michael
--
Michael Kerrisk
Maintainer of the Linux man-pages project
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/
Want to report a man-pages bug? Look here:
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html
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