1 .\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
2 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
4 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
7 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12 .\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
13 .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
14 .\" without specific prior written permission.
16 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
17 .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
18 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
19 .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
20 .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
21 .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
22 .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
23 .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
24 .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
25 .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
28 .\" @(#)hier.7 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/5/93
29 .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man7/hier.7,v 1.29.2.17 2003/01/13 21:43:50 ceri Exp $
31 .Dd September 17, 2020
36 .Nd layout of filesystems
38 A sketch of the filesystem hierarchy.
39 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa /modules/"
41 root directory of the filesystem
43 user utilities fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments
45 programs and configuration files used during operating system bootstrap
47 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa modules.local/" -compact
49 default bootstrapping configuration files; see
52 pure kernel executable (the operating system loaded into memory
53 at boot time) and loadable kernel modules;
57 local loadable kernel modules and wrapped external firmware images; see
61 files related to compatibility layers
63 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa ndis/" -compact
70 block and character device files
72 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa fd/" -compact
74 file descriptor files;
79 system configuration files and scripts
81 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bluetooth/" -compact
83 shell scripts to implement special maps and directory services via
86 bluetooth configuration files
92 default system configuration files;
103 local timezone information;
107 Sendmail control files
109 mtree configuration files;
113 configuration files for the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
116 scripts that are run daily, weekly, and monthly, via
121 ppp configuration files;
125 System and daemon startup/control scripts;
129 OpenSSH configuration files;
133 LibreSSL configuration files
135 Files relevant to system upgrades
138 HOME directories of non-root users
140 critical system libraries needed for binaries in
145 critical system utilities needed for binaries in
150 empty directory commonly used by
151 system administrators as a temporary mount point
153 automounted NFS shares;
157 pseudo file system directory (on
166 statically linked rescue tools, see
169 root's HOME directory
171 system programs and administration utilities
172 fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments
174 the kernel's source code (usually a symbolic link to
177 temporary files that are not guaranteed to persist across system reboots
179 contains the majority of user utilities and applications
181 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa libdata/" -compact
183 common utilities, programming tools, and applications
188 collection (optional).
190 useful and semi-frivolous programs
192 standard C include files
194 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa protocols/" -compact
196 C include files for Internet service protocols
198 C include files for programming various
204 C include files for compatibility with code ported from other
207 C include files for programming various
211 C include files for libprop
213 machine-specific C include files
215 misc network C include files
217 C include files for Internet standard protocols;
221 C include files for Internet protocol version 6;
227 Packet Capture (libpcap) headers;
231 C include files for Berkeley service protocols
233 get a line from a user, with editing;
237 remote procedure calls;
241 definition of RPC service structures; see
247 system C include files (kernel data structures)
249 C include files for various file systems
259 misc. utility data files
261 system daemons & system utilities (executed by other programs)
263 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa binutils234/" -compact
266 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bfd-plugins/" -compact
277 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bfd-plugins/" -compact
287 utilities and filters for LP print system;
293 local executables, libraries, etc.
294 Also used as the default destination for the
300 the general layout sketched out by
311 .Pa local/share/ Ns Pc ,
314 .Pa share/doc/<port>/ Ns Pc ,
320 architecture-specific target tree produced by building the
324 system daemons & system utilities (executed by users)
326 architecture-independent files
328 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa installer/" -compact
330 a variety of pre-fab calendar files;
338 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa papers/" -compact
340 words from Webster's 2nd International
350 miscellaneous documentation
352 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa legal/" -compact
354 License files for vendor supplied firmware
361 various examples for users and programmers
363 ASCII text files used by various games
365 internationalization databases; see
368 GNU Info hypertext system
370 libg++'s genclass prototype/template class files
378 misc system-wide ASCII text files
380 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa termcap" -compact
382 terminal characteristics database;
392 national language support files;
396 sendmail configuration files;
400 example . (dot) files for new accounts
405 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa scrnmaps/" -compact
413 console keyboard maps;
423 tab description files for a variety of terminals; used in
432 localization support and utilities for
435 timezone configuration information;
442 third-party, and/or local source files
444 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa nrelease/" -compact
446 source code for files in
449 source code for contributed software
451 source code for contributed cryptography software
453 source code for files in
456 source code for files in
459 Utilities covered by the GNU General Public License
461 source code for files in
464 source code for files in
467 source code for files in
470 files required to produce a
474 source code for files in
482 tools used for maintenance and testing of
485 source code for files in
488 source code for files in
493 multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files
495 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa preserve/" -compact
497 system accounting files
499 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa acct" -compact
501 execution accounting file;
507 timed command scheduling files;
511 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa spool/" -compact
513 directory containing job files
515 directory containing output spool files
521 default directory to store kernel crash dumps; see
530 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa tabs/" -compact
538 misc. automatically generated system-specific database files
540 empty directory used by
542 for privilege separation
544 misc. game status and score files
546 per PFS (pseudo file system) snapshots directory for
550 misc. system log files
552 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa wtmpx" -compact
562 system messages database;
566 temporary home of files preserved after an accidental death
571 filesystem quota information files
573 system information files describing various info about
574 system since it was booted
576 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa resolvconf/" -compact
584 group for command connection sockets; see
590 database of current users;
594 rendez-vous files for POSIX named semaphores;
598 files associated with POSIX shared memory objects;
611 misc. printer and mail system spooling directories
613 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa clientmqueue/" -compact
615 undelivered submission mail queue;
619 undelivered mail queue;
625 the anonymous ftp root directory
627 undelivered mail queue;
631 line printer spooling directories
635 temporary files that are kept between system reboots
637 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa vi.recover/" -compact
639 the directory where recovery files are stored
647 This manual page documents the default
649 filesystem layout, but
650 the actual hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system
651 administrator's discretion.
652 A well-maintained installation will include a customized version of
667 manual page appeared in