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 $
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 block and character device files
63 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa fd/" -compact
65 file descriptor files;
70 system configuration files and scripts
72 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bluetooth/" -compact
74 shell scripts to implement special maps and directory services via
77 bluetooth configuration files
83 default system configuration files;
94 local timezone information;
98 Sendmail control files
100 mtree configuration files;
104 configuration files for the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
107 scripts that are run daily, weekly, and monthly, via
112 ppp configuration files;
116 System and daemon startup/control scripts;
120 OpenSSH configuration files;
124 LibreSSL configuration files
126 Files relevant to system upgrades
129 HOME directories of non-root users
131 critical system libraries needed for binaries in
136 critical system utilities needed for binaries in
141 empty directory commonly used by
142 system administrators as a temporary mount point
144 automounted NFS shares;
148 pseudo file system directory (on
157 statically linked rescue tools, see
160 root's HOME directory
162 system programs and administration utilities
163 fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments
165 the kernel's source code (usually a symbolic link to
168 temporary files that are not guaranteed to persist across system reboots
170 contains the majority of user utilities and applications
172 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa libdata/" -compact
174 common utilities, programming tools, and applications
179 collection (optional).
181 useful and semi-frivolous programs
183 standard C include files
185 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa protocols/" -compact
187 C include files for Internet service protocols
189 C include files for programming various
195 C include files for compatibility with code ported from other
198 C include files for programming various
202 C include files for libprop
204 machine-specific C include files
206 misc network C include files
208 C include files for Internet standard protocols;
212 C include files for Internet protocol version 6;
218 Packet Capture (libpcap) headers;
222 C include files for Berkeley service protocols
224 get a line from a user, with editing;
228 remote procedure calls;
232 definition of RPC service structures; see
238 system C include files (kernel data structures)
240 C include files for various file systems
250 misc. utility data files
252 system daemons & system utilities (executed by other programs)
254 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa binutils234/" -compact
257 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bfd-plugins/" -compact
268 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa bfd-plugins/" -compact
278 utilities and filters for LP print system;
284 local executables, libraries, etc.
285 Also used as the default destination for the
291 the general layout sketched out by
302 .Pa local/share/ Ns Pc ,
305 .Pa share/doc/<port>/ Ns Pc ,
311 architecture-specific target tree produced by building the
315 system daemons & system utilities (executed by users)
317 architecture-independent files
319 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa installer/" -compact
321 a variety of pre-fab calendar files;
329 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa papers/" -compact
331 words from Webster's 2nd International
341 miscellaneous documentation
343 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa legal/" -compact
345 License files for vendor supplied firmware
352 various examples for users and programmers
354 ASCII text files used by various games
356 internationalization databases; see
359 GNU Info hypertext system
361 libg++'s genclass prototype/template class files
369 misc system-wide ASCII text files
371 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa termcap" -compact
373 terminal characteristics database;
383 national language support files;
387 sendmail configuration files;
391 example . (dot) files for new accounts
396 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa scrnmaps/" -compact
404 console keyboard maps;
414 tab description files for a variety of terminals; used in
423 localization support and utilities for
426 timezone configuration information;
433 third-party, and/or local source files
435 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa nrelease/" -compact
437 source code for files in
440 source code for contributed software
442 source code for contributed cryptography software
444 source code for files in
447 source code for files in
450 Utilities covered by the GNU General Public License
452 source code for files in
455 source code for files in
458 source code for files in
461 files required to produce a
465 source code for files in
473 tools used for maintenance and testing of
476 source code for files in
479 source code for files in
484 multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files
486 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa preserve/" -compact
488 system accounting files
490 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa acct" -compact
492 execution accounting file;
498 timed command scheduling files;
502 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa spool/" -compact
504 directory containing job files
506 directory containing output spool files
512 default directory to store kernel crash dumps; see
521 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa tabs/" -compact
529 misc. automatically generated system-specific database files
531 empty directory used by
533 for privilege separation
535 misc. game status and score files
537 per PFS (pseudo file system) snapshots directory for
541 misc. system log files
543 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa wtmpx" -compact
553 system messages database;
557 temporary home of files preserved after an accidental death
562 filesystem quota information files
564 system information files describing various info about
565 system since it was booted
567 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa resolvconf/" -compact
575 group for command connection sockets; see
581 database of current users;
585 rendez-vous files for POSIX named semaphores;
589 files associated with POSIX shared memory objects;
602 misc. printer and mail system spooling directories
604 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa clientmqueue/" -compact
606 undelivered submission mail queue;
610 undelivered mail queue;
616 the anonymous ftp root directory
618 undelivered mail queue;
622 line printer spooling directories
626 temporary files that are kept between system reboots
628 .Bl -tag -width ".Pa vi.recover/" -compact
630 the directory where recovery files are stored
638 This manual page documents the default
640 filesystem layout, but
641 the actual hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system
642 administrator's discretion.
643 A well-maintained installation will include a customized version of
658 manual page appeared in