At its core, sysctl serves two functions: to read and to modify system settings.

To view all readable variables:

% sysctl -a

To read a particular variable, for example, kern.maxproc:

% sysctl kern.maxproc
kern.maxproc: 1044

To set a particular variable, use the intuitive variable=value syntax:

# sysctl kern.maxfiles=5000
kern.maxfiles: 2088 -> 5000

Settings of sysctl variables are usually either strings, numbers, or booleans (a boolean being 1 for yes or a 0 for no).

If you want to set automatically some variables each time the machine boots, add them to the /etc/sysctl.conf file.

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