hier — Description of the file system hierarchy
A typical Linux system has, among others, the following directories:
/This is the root directory. This is where the whole tree starts.
/binThis directory contains executable programs which are needed in single user mode and to bring the system up or repair it.
/bootContains static files for the boot loader. This
directory only holds the files which are needed during
the boot process. The map installer and configuration
files should go to /sbin
and /etc.
/devSpecial or device files, which refer to physical devices. See mknod(1).
/etcContains configuration files which are local to the
machine. Some larger software packages, like X11, can
have their own subdirectories below /etc. Site-wide configuration files
may be placed here or in /usr/etc. Nevertheless, programs
should always look for these files in /etc and you may have links for these
files to /usr/etc.
/etc/optHost-specific configuration files for add-on
applications installed in /opt.
/etc/sgmlThis directory contains the configuration files for SGML and XML (optional).
/etc/skelWhen a new user account is created, files from this directory are usually copied into the user's home directory.
/etc/X11Configuration files for the X11 window system (optional).
/homeOn machines with home directories for users, these are usually beneath this directory, directly or not. The structure of this directory depends on local administration decisions.
/libThis directory should hold those shared libraries that are necessary to boot the system and to run the commands in the root file system.
/mediaThis directory contains mount points for removable media such as CD and DVD disks or USB sticks.
/mntThis directory is a mount point for a temporarily
mounted file system. In some distributions,
/mnt contains
subdirectories intended to be used as mount points for
several temporary file systems.
/optThis directory should contain add-on packages that contain static files.
/procThis is a mount point for the proc file system, which
provides information about running processes and the
kernel. This pseudo-file system is described in more
detail in proc(5).
/rootThis directory is usually the home directory for the root user (optional).
/sbinLike /bin, this
directory holds commands needed to boot the system, but
which are usually not executed by normal users.
/tmpThis directory contains temporary files which may be deleted with no notice, such as by a regular job or at system boot up.
/usrThis directory is usually mounted from a separate partition. It should hold only sharable, read-only data, so that it can be mounted by various machines running Linux.
/usr/X11R6The X−Window system, version 11 release 6 (optional).
/usr/X11R6/binBinaries which belong to the X−Window system;
often, there is a symbolic link from the more
traditional /usr/bin/X11
to here.
/usr/X11R6/libData files associated with the X−Window system.
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11These contain miscellaneous files needed to run X;
Often, there is a symbolic link from /usr/lib/X11 to this directory.
/usr/X11R6/include/X11Contains include files needed for compiling programs
using the X11 window system. Often, there is a symbolic
link from /usr/include/X11 to this
directory.
/usr/binThis is the primary directory for executable programs. Most programs executed by normal users which are not needed for booting or for repairing the system and which are not installed locally should be placed in this directory.
/usr/bin/X11is the traditional place to look for X11
executables; on Linux, it usually is a symbolic link to
/usr/X11R6/bin.
/usr/dictReplaced by /usr/share/dict.
/usr/docReplaced by /usr/share/doc.
/usr/etcSite-wide configuration files to be shared between
several machines may be stored in this directory.
However, commands should always reference those files
using the /etc directory.
Links from files in /etc
should point to the appropriate files in /usr/etc.
/usr/gamesBinaries for games and educational programs (optional).
/usr/includeInclude files for the C compiler.
/usr/include/X11Include files for the C compiler and the
X−Window system. This is usually a symbolic link
to /usr/X11R6/include/X11.
/usr/include/asmInclude files which declare some assembler
functions. This used to be a symbolic link to
/usr/src/linux/include/asm.
/usr/include/linuxThis contains information which may change from
system release to system release and used to be a
symbolic link to /usr/src/linux/include/linux to get
at operating system specific information.
(Note that one should have include files there that
work correctly with the current libc and in user space.
However, Linux kernel source is not designed to be used
with user programs and does not know anything about the
libc you are using. It is very likely that things will
break if you let /usr/include/asm and /usr/include/linux point at a random
kernel tree. Debian systems don't do this and use
headers from a known good kernel version, provided in
the libc*-dev package.)
/usr/include/g++Include files to use with the GNU C++ compiler.
/usr/libObject libraries, including dynamic libraries, plus some executables which usually are not invoked directly. More complicated programs may have whole subdirectories there.
/usr/lib/X11The usual place for data files associated with X
programs, and configuration files for the X system
itself. On Linux, it usually is a symbolic link to
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11.
/usr/lib/gcc-libcontains executables and include files for the GNU C compiler, gcc(1).
/usr/lib/groffFiles for the GNU groff document formatting system.
/usr/lib/uucpFiles for uucp(1).
/usr/localThis is where programs which are local to the site typically go.
/usr/local/binBinaries for programs local to the site.
/usr/local/docLocal documentation.
/usr/local/etcConfiguration files associated with locally installed programs.
/usr/local/gamesBinaries for locally installed games.
/usr/local/libFiles associated with locally installed programs.
/usr/local/includeHeader files for the local C compiler.
/usr/local/infoInfo pages associated with locally installed programs.
/usr/local/manMan pages associated with locally installed programs.
/usr/local/sbinLocally installed programs for system administration.
/usr/local/shareLocal application data that can be shared among different architectures of the same OS.
/usr/local/srcSource code for locally installed software.
/usr/manReplaced by /usr/share/man.
/usr/sbinThis directory contains program binaries for system
administration which are not essential for the boot
process, for mounting /usr, or for system repair.
/usr/shareThis directory contains subdirectories with specific
application data, that can be shared among different
architectures of the same OS. Often one finds stuff
here that used to live in /usr/doc or /usr/lib or /usr/man.
/usr/share/dictContains the word lists used by spell checkers.
/usr/share/docDocumentation about installed programs.
/usr/share/gamesStatic data files for games in /usr/games.
/usr/share/infoInfo pages go here.
/usr/share/localeLocale information goes here.
/usr/share/manManual pages go here in subdirectories according to the man page sections.
/usr/share/man/<locale>/man[1−9]These directories contain manual pages for the specific locale in source code form. Systems which use a unique language and code set for all manual pages may omit the <locale> substring.
/usr/share/miscMiscellaneous data that can be shared among different architectures of the same OS.
/usr/share/nlsThe message catalogs for native language support go here.
/usr/share/sgmlFiles for SGML and XML.
/usr/share/terminfoThe database for terminfo.
/usr/share/tmacTroff macros that are not distributed with groff.
/usr/share/zoneinfoFiles for timezone information.
/usr/srcSource files for different parts of the system, included with some packages for reference purposes. Don't work here with your own projects, as files below /usr should be read-only except when installing software.
/usr/src/linuxThis was the traditional place for the kernel source. Some distributions put here the source for the default kernel they ship. You should probably use another directory when building your own kernel.
/usr/tmpObsolete. This should be a link to /var/tmp. This link is present only
for compatibility reasons and shouldn't be used.
/varThis directory contains files which may change in size, such as spool and log files.
/var/admThis directory is superseded by /var/log and should be a symbolic
link to /var/log.
/var/backupsReserved for historical reasons.
/var/cacheData cached for programs.
/var/catman/cat[1−9] or
/var/cache/man/cat[1−9]These directories contain preformatted manual pages according to their man page section. (The use of preformatted manual pages is deprecated.)
/var/cronReserved for historical reasons.
/var/libVariable state information for programs.
/var/localVariable data for /usr/local.
/var/lockLock files are placed in this directory. The naming
convention for device lock files is LCK..<device>
where <device> is the
device's name in the file system. The format used is
that of HDU UUCP lock files, that is, lock files
contain a PID as a 10-byte ASCII decimal number,
followed by a newline character.
/var/logMiscellaneous log files.
/var/optVariable data for /opt.
/var/mailUsers' mailboxes. Replaces /var/spool/mail.
/var/msgsReserved for historical reasons.
/var/preserveReserved for historical reasons.
/var/runRun-time variable files, like files holding process
identifiers (PIDs) and logged user information
(utmp). Files
in this directory are usually cleared when the system
boots.
/var/spoolSpooled (or queued) files for various programs.
/var/spool/atSpooled jobs for at(1).
/var/spool/cronSpooled jobs for cron(8).
/var/spool/lpdSpooled files for printing.
/var/spool/mailReplaced by /var/mail.
/var/spool/mqueueQueued outgoing mail.
/var/spool/newsSpool directory for news.
/var/spool/rwhoSpooled files for rwhod(8).
/var/spool/smailSpooled files for the smail(1) mail delivery program.
/var/spool/uucpSpooled files for uucp(1).
/var/tmpLike /tmp, this
directory holds temporary files stored for an
unspecified duration.
/var/ypDatabase files for NIS.
This page is part of release 3.08 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, and information about reporting
bugs, can be found at
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
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Copyright (c) 1993 by Thomas Koenig (ig25rz.uni-karlsruhe.de) Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Since the Linux kernel and libraries are constantly changing, this manual page may be incorrect or out-of-date. The author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. The author(s) may not have taken the same level of care in the production of this manual, which is licensed free of charge, as they might when working professionally. Formatted or processed versions of this manual, if unaccompanied by the source, must acknowledge the copyright and authors of this work. License. Modified Sun Jul 25 11:05:58 1993 by Rik Faith (faithcs.unc.edu) Modified Sat Feb 10 16:18:03 1996 by Urs Thuermann (ursisnogud.escape.de) Modified Mon Jun 16 20:02:00 1997 by Nicolás Lichtmaier <nickdebian.org> Modified Mon Feb 6 16:41:00 1999 by Nicolás Lichtmaier <nickdebian.org> Modified Tue Feb 8 16:46:45 2000 by Chris Pepper <peppertgg.com> Modified Fri Sep 7 20:32:45 2001 by Tammy Fox <tfoxredhat.com> |