Linux directory structure - Revision history

Christoph at 20:12, 19 April 2022

2022-04-19T20:12:58Z

Christoph: /* Directory structure */

2018-12-21T21:26:27Z

‎Directory structure

Christoph at 22:20, 27 March 2015

2015-03-27T22:20:01Z

Christoph at 05:32, 10 January 2009

2009-01-10T05:32:40Z

Christoph at 01:53, 12 September 2007

2007-09-12T01:53:11Z

Christoph: /* Partitions */

2007-04-16T21:37:44Z

‎Partitions

Christoph at 03:53, 14 March 2007

2007-03-14T03:53:28Z

Christoph at 02:58, 9 October 2006

2006-10-09T02:58:29Z

New page

The '''Filesystem Hierarchy Standard''' ('''FHS''') defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. More simply, it is the '''Linux directory structure'''.

== Directory structure ==

All files and [[directory (file systems)|directories]] appear under the [[root directory]] "/", even if they are stored on different physical devices. Note however that some of these directories may or may not be present on a [[*nix]] system depending on whether certain subsystems, such as the [[X Window System]], are installed.

{| align="center" style="border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align: top; width: 100%;" summary="A description of the hierarchy specified in the FHS."
|-align="center" bgcolor="#1188ee"
!Directory
!Description
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/bin/
|Essential command [[executable|'''bin'''aries]] for all users (e.g., [[cat (Unix)|cat]], [[ls]], [[cp (Unix)|cp]])
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/boot/
|[[Boot loader|'''Boot''' loader]] files (e.g., [[Kernel (computer science)|kernel]]s, [[initrd]])
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/dev/
|Essential [[device file|'''dev'''ices]] (e.g., [[:/dev/null]])
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/etc/
|Host-specific system-wide [[configuration file]]s.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/etc/opt/
|[[Configuration file]]s for /opt/
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/etc/X11/
|Configuration files for the [[X Window System|'''X''' Window System]], version '''11'''
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/etc/sgml/
|Configuration files for '''[[SGML]]'''.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/etc/xml/
|Configuration files for '''[[XML]]'''.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/home/
|Users' [[home directory|'''home''' directories]].
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/lib/
|[[Library (computer science)|'''Lib'''raries]] essential for the [[binaries]] in /bin/ and /sbin/
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/mnt/
|Temporarily [[mount (computing)|'''m'''ou'''nt'''ed]] filesystems.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/media/
|Mount points for removable '''media''' such as [[CD-ROM]]s (appeared in FHS-2.3)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/opt/
|Add-on [[application software|application]] [[software]] [[software package|package]]s.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/proc/
|Virtual [[filesystem]] documenting [[Kernel (computers)|kernel]] and [[process (computing)|'''proc'''ess]] status, mostly text files (e.g., uptime, network)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/root/
|Home directory for the '''[[superuser|root]]''' user.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/sbin/
|System administrative binaries (e.g., init, route, ifup) ('''s'''ystem '''bin'''aries)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/tmp/
|'''T'''e'''mp'''orary files. (See also /var/tmp)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/srv/
|Site-specific [[data]] which is '''s'''e'''rv'''ed by the system.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/usr/
|Secondary hierarchy for '''us'''e'''r''' shareable, read-only data.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/bin/
|Same as for top-level hierarchy, but non-essential (not needed to bring the system up or recover after problems).
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/include/
|Standard [[header file|'''include''' files]].
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/lib/
|Same as for top-level hierarchy.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/sbin/
|Same as for top-level hierarchy, but non-essential (e.g. [[Daemon (computer software)|daemons]] for various [[network-services]]).
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/share/
|Architecture-independent ('''share'''d) data.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/src/
|[[Source code|'''S'''ou'''rc'''e code]]. (e.g. the kernel source code with its header files)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/X11R6/
|[[X Window System|'''X''' Window System]], Version '''11 R'''elease '''6'''.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/usr/local/
|Tertiary hierarchy for '''local''' data, specific to this host.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|/var/
|'''Var'''iable files, such as logs, databases, websites, and temporary e-mail files.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/lock/
|'''Lock''' files. Files keeping track of resources currently in use.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/log/
|'''Log''' files. Various logs.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/mail/
|Users '''mail'''-boxes.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/run/
|Information about the '''run'''ning system since last boot. (e.g. currently logged-in users and running [[daemons]])
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/spool/
|'''[[Spooling|Spool]]''' for tasks waiting to be processed. (e.g. print queues and unread mail)
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/spool/mail/
|Deprecated location for users '''mail'''-boxes.
|--bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|
:/var/tmp/
|'''T'''e'''mp'''orary files. Preferred to /tmp once in multi-user mode.
|-
|}

== External links ==
* [http://www.pathname.com/fhs/ Home of the FHS standard]
* [http://www.openaddict.com/documents/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/ Linux Filesystem Hierarchy]
* [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-proc.html?ca=dgr-wikiaProcFile#N10308 Fortune Cookies through the /proc Filesystem]

[[Category:Linux Command Line Tools]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:12, 19 April 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Filesystem Hierarchy Standard''' ('''FHS''') defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. More simply, it is the '''Linux directory structure'''.		The '''Filesystem Hierarchy Standard''' ('''FHS''') defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. More simply, it is the '''Linux directory structure'''.
		+
		+	NOTE: Run <code>man hier</code> to get the most up to date hierarchy.

	==Directory structure==		==Directory structure==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Directory structure==
-All files and directories appear under the root directory "/", even if they are stored on different physical devices. Note however that some of these directories may or may not be present on a [[*nix]] system depending on whether certain subsystems, such as the X Window System, are installed.
+All files and directories appear under the root directory "/", even if they are stored on different physical devices. Note, however, that some of these directories may or may not be present on a given Linux system as they depend on whether certain subsystems, such as the X Window System, are installed.
 {| align="center" style="border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align: top; width: 100%;" summary="A description of the hierarchy specified in the FHS."

@@ Line 164: / Line 164: @@
 ;man7 :Miscellaneous (optional)
 ;man8 :System administration (optional)
 ==External links==

@@ Line 153: / Line 153: @@
 *"Mountable" directories are: '<code>/home</code>', '<code>/mnt</code>', '<code>/tmp</code>', '<code>/usr</code>', and '<code>/var</code>'.
 *Essential for booting are (i.e., they should all be on one partition): '<code>/bin</code>', '<code>/boot</code>', '<code>/dev</code>', '<code>/etc</code>', '<code>/lib</code>', '<code>/proc</code>', and '<code>/sbin</code>'.
 ==External links==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The '''Filesystem Hierarchy Standard''' ('''FHS''') defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. More simply, it is the '''Linux directory structure'''.
-== Directory structure ==
+==Directory structure==
 All files and directories appear under the root directory "/", even if they are stored on different physical devices. Note however that some of these directories may or may not be present on a [[*nix]] system depending on whether certain subsystems, such as the X Window System, are installed.
-All files and [[directory (file systems)|directories]] appear under the [[root directory]] "/", even if they are stored on different physical devices. Note however that some of these directories may or may not be present on a [[*nix]] system depending on whether certain subsystems, such as the [[X Window System]], are installed.
 {| align="center" style="border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align: top; width: 100%;" summary="A description of the hierarchy specified in the FHS."
@@ Line 159: / Line 158: @@
 *[http://www.openaddict.com/documents/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/ Linux Filesystem Hierarchy]
 *[http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-proc.html?ca=dgr-wikiaProcFile#N10308 Fortune Cookies through the /proc Filesystem]
 [[Category:Linux Command Line Tools]]

@@ Line 147: / Line 147: @@
   /usr/local # maybe
-We don't we run-away logging to fill up our <code>/var</code> partition, so we can archive ([[tar]]) old logs (e.g. older than one day):
+If you do not want run-away logging to fill up our <code>/var</code> partition, you can archive ([[tar]]) old logs (e.g., older than one day):
   find /var/log/ -name "*.log" -mtime +1 -exec bzip2 -z '{}' \;
-and then delete old tars (e.g. older than 30 days):
+and then delete old tars (e.g., older than 30 days):
   find /var/log -name "*.bz2" -mtime +30 -exec rm '{}' \;
-'Mountable' directories are: '/home', '/mnt', '/tmp', '/usr' and '/var'. Essential for booting are: '/bin', '/boot', '/dev', '/etc', '/lib', '/proc' and '/sbin'.
+*"Mountable" directories are: '<code>/home</code>', '<code>/mnt</code>', '<code>/tmp</code>', '<code>/usr</code>', and '<code>/var</code>'.
 ==External links==

@@ Line 136: / Line 136: @@
 |}
-== External links ==
+==Partitions==
-* [http://www.pathname.com/fhs/ Home of the FHS standard]
+ /boot
 * [http://www.openaddict.com/documents/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/ Linux Filesystem Hierarchy]
-* [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-proc.html?ca=dgr-wikiaProcFile#N10308 Fortune Cookies through the /proc Filesystem]
+ /home
 [[Category:Linux Command Line Tools]]