Optimizing system swappiness...whereis sysctl.conf?

[silentstone]

I'm trying to eek the last bit of power out of the laptop battery, and turn down the temperature, too.  Several optimization guides suggest lowering swappiness to below 20 by modifying /etc/sysctl.conf, but this file is missing in my VL5.8 Standard install.  The setting can be changed manually by writing the desired number to the file /proc/sys/vm/swappiness, but this is erased on a reboot.  How do I set this value automatically?

[The Headacher]

Have you tried making a new file? Just because a file isn't there doesn't mean you can't use it. read "man sysctl.conf" for it's syntax.

[newt]

The comments section from this link (http://lwn.net/Articles/83588/) specifies creating a file the following way, however the file may need to already exists (don't know):

And if you want it set at every reboot try:-

echo "vm/swappiness=0" >> /etc/sysctl.conf

(Thats how to do it in debian and fedora, its part of the procpc package)

HTH!

[The Headacher]

the ">>" operator will make sure it's added to the end of the file. If it doesn't exist a new file will be created.

[silentstone]

Well, this feels belated, but...

Thanks for the tips; they helped!