# devfs and /dev on liveCD boot



## im_if (Nov 12, 2013)

On a "Live CD" boot (like a Mac x ESD install image), how does /dev work?  I would guess, /dev is actually located (mounted devfs?) in RAM.  "Auto-magically" would be another guess...
cheers

P.S.

```
df /dev |awk '{print $1,$NF}'
Filesystem on
devfs        /dev
```


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## wblock@ (Nov 12, 2013)

devfs(5) is dynamic (memory-based), it's like that whether on a live CD or a running system.


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## SirDice (Nov 16, 2013)

Yep, it just appears like a filesystem, it doesn't 'physically' exist on the disk. If you unmount devfs(5) you'll see that /dev/ is just an empty directory.


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