lockfile

plural lockfiles

1. UnixcomputingA file whose existence, by convention, indicates that a particular resource is in use.

   To remedy this, the script went under the knife again to take advantage of UUCP device-locking semantics. pppd and other well-mannered applications which use the modem will write lockfiles to /var/lock/ as long as you don't configure them not to.

   2001, Tony Mancill, Linux Routers: A Primer for Network Administrators, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall PTR, →ISBN, page 92