# hier

## NAME



           hier - description of the filesystem hierarchy
    


## DESCRIPTION



           A typical Linux system has, among others, the following
           directories:
    
           _/_      This is the root directory.  This is where the whole tree
                  starts.
    
           _/bin_   This directory contains executable programs which are
                  needed in single user mode and to bring the system up or
                  repair it.
    
           _/boot_  Contains static files for the boot loader.  This directory
                  holds only the files which are needed during the boot
                  process.  The map installer and configuration files should
                  go to _/sbin_ and _/etc_.  The operating system kernel (initrd
                  for example) must be located in either _/_ or _/boot_.
    
           _/dev_   Special or device files, which refer to physical devices.
                  See mknod(1).
    
           _/etc_   Contains 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/opt_
                  Host-specific configuration files for add-on applications
                  installed in _/opt_.
    
           _/etc/sgml_
                  This directory contains the configuration files for SGML
                  (optional).
    
           _/etc/skel_
                  When a new user account is created, files from this
                  directory are usually copied into the user's home
                  directory.
    
           _/etc/X11_
                  Configuration files for the X11 window system (optional).
    
           _/etc/xml_
                  This directory contains the configuration files for XML
                  (optional).
    
           _/home_  On 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 (optional).
    
           _/lib_   This directory should hold those shared libraries that are
                  necessary to boot the system and to run the commands in the
                  root filesystem.
    
           _/lib <qual>_
                  These directories are variants of _/lib_ on system which
                  support more than one binary format requiring separate
                  libraries (optional).
    
           _/lib/modules_
                  Loadable kernel modules (optional).
    
           _/lost+found_
                  This directory contains items lost in the filesystem.
                  These items are usually chunks of files mangled as a
                  consequence of a faulty disk or a system crash.
    
           _/media_ This directory contains mount points for removable media
                  such as CD and DVD disks or USB sticks.  On systems where
                  more than one device exists for mounting a certain type of
                  media, mount directories can be created by appending a
                  digit to the name of those available above starting with
                  '0', but the unqualified name must also exist.
    
           _/media/floppy[1-9]_
                  Floppy drive (optional).
    
           _/media/cdrom[1-9]_
                  CD-ROM drive (optional).
    
           _/media/cdrecorder[1-9]_
                  CD writer (optional).
    
           _/media/zip[1-9]_
                  Zip drive (optional).
    
           _/media/usb[1-9]_
                  USB drive (optional).
    
           _/mnt_   This directory is a mount point for a temporarily mounted
                  filesystem.  In some distributions, _/mnt_ contains
                  subdirectories intended to be used as mount points for
                  several temporary filesystems.
    
           _/opt_   This directory should contain add-on packages that contain
                  static files.
    
           _/proc_  This is a mount point for the _proc_ filesystem, which
                  provides information about running processes and the
                  kernel.  This pseudo-filesystem is described in more detail
                  in proc(5).
    
           _/root_  This directory is usually the home directory for the root
                  user (optional).
    
           _/run_   This directory contains information which describes the
                  system since it was booted.  Once this purpose was served
                  by _/var/run_ and programs may continue to use it.
    
           _/sbin_  Like _/bin_ , this directory holds commands needed to boot the
                  system, but which are usually not executed by normal users.
    
           _/srv_   This directory contains site-specific data that is served
                  by this system.
    
           _/sys_   This is a mount point for the sysfs filesystem, which
                  provides information about the kernel like _/proc_ , but
                  better structured, following the formalism of kobject
                  infrastructure.
    
           _/tmp_   This directory contains temporary files which may be
                  deleted with no notice, such as by a regular job or at
                  system boot up.
    
           _/usr_   This directory is usually mounted from a separate
                  partition.  It should hold only shareable, read-only data,
                  so that it can be mounted by various machines running
                  Linux.
    
           _/usr/X11R6_
                  The X-Window system, version 11 release 6 (present in FHS
                  2.3, removed in FHS 3.0).
    
           _/usr/X11R6/bin_
                  Binaries which belong to the X-Window system; often, there
                  is a symbolic link from the more traditional _/usr/bin/X11_
                  to here.
    
           _/usr/X11R6/lib_
                  Data files associated with the X-Window system.
    
           _/usr/X11R6/lib/X11_
                  These contain miscellaneous files needed to run X;  Often,
                  there is a symbolic link from _/usr/lib/X11_ to this
                  directory.
    
           _/usr/X11R6/include/X11_
                  Contains 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/bin_
                  This 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/mh_
                  Commands for the MH mail handling system (optional).
    
           _/usr/bin/X11_
                  This is the traditional place to look for X11 executables;
                  on Linux, it usually is a symbolic link to _/usr/X11R6/bin_.
    
           _/usr/dict_
                  Replaced by _/usr/share/dict_.
    
           _/usr/doc_
                  Replaced by _/usr/share/doc_.
    
           _/usr/etc_
                  Site-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/games_
                  Binaries for games and educational programs (optional).
    
           _/usr/include_
                  Include files for the C compiler.
    
           _/usr/include/bsd_
                  BSD compatibility include files (optional).
    
           _/usr/include/X11_
                  Include files for the C compiler and the X-Window system.
                  This is usually a symbolic link to _/usr/X11R6/include/X11_.
    
           _/usr/include/asm_
                  Include files which declare some assembler functions.  This
                  used to be a symbolic link to _/usr/src/linux/include/asm_.
    
           _/usr/include/linux_
                  This 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/lib_
                  Object libraries, including dynamic libraries, plus some
                  executables which usually are not invoked directly.  More
                  complicated programs may have whole subdirectories there.
    
           _/usr/libexec_
                  Directory contains binaries for internal use only and they
                  are not meant to be executed directly by users shell or
                  scripts.
    
           _/usr/lib <qual>_
                  These directories are variants of _/usr/lib_ on system which
                  support more than one binary format requiring separate
                  libraries, except that the symbolic link _/usr/lib_ qual _/X11_
                  is not required (optional).
    
           _/usr/lib/X11_
                  The 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-lib_
                  contains executables and include files for the GNU C
                  compiler, gcc(1).
    
           _/usr/lib/groff_
                  Files for the GNU groff document formatting system.
    
           _/usr/lib/uucp_
                  Files for **uucp**(1).
    
           _/usr/local_
                  This is where programs which are local to the site
                  typically go.
    
           _/usr/local/bin_
                  Binaries for programs local to the site.
    
           _/usr/local/doc_
                  Local documentation.
    
           _/usr/local/etc_
                  Configuration files associated with locally installed
                  programs.
    
           _/usr/local/games_
                  Binaries for locally installed games.
    
           _/usr/local/lib_
                  Files associated with locally installed programs.
    
           _/usr/local/lib <qual>_
                  These directories are variants of _/usr/local/lib_ on system
                  which support more than one binary format requiring
                  separate libraries (optional).
    
           _/usr/local/include_
                  Header files for the local C compiler.
    
           _/usr/local/info_
                  Info pages associated with locally installed programs.
    
           _/usr/local/man_
                  Man pages associated with locally installed programs.
    
           _/usr/local/sbin_
                  Locally installed programs for system administration.
    
           _/usr/local/share_
                  Local application data that can be shared among different
                  architectures of the same OS.
    
           _/usr/local/src_
                  Source code for locally installed software.
    
           _/usr/man_
                  Replaced by _/usr/share/man_.
    
           _/usr/sbin_
                  This directory contains program binaries for system
                  administration which are not essential for the boot
                  process, for mounting _/usr_ , or for system repair.
    
           _/usr/share_
                  This 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/color_
                  Contains color management information, like International
                  Color Consortium (ICC) Color profiles (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/dict_
                  Contains the word lists used by spell checkers (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/dict/words_
                  List of English words (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/doc_
                  Documentation about installed programs (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/games_
                  Static data files for games in _/usr/games_ (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/info_
                  Info pages go here (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/locale_
                  Locale information goes here (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/man_
                  Manual 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/misc_
                  Miscellaneous data that can be shared among different
                  architectures of the same OS.
    
           _/usr/share/nls_
                  The message catalogs for native language support go here
                  (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/ppd_
                  Postscript Printer Definition (PPD) files (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/sgml_
                  Files for SGML (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/sgml/docbook_
                  DocBook DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/sgml/tei_
                  TEI DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/sgml/html_
                  HTML DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/sgml/mathml_
                  MathML DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/terminfo_
                  The database for terminfo (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/tmac_
                  Troff macros that are not distributed with groff
                  (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/xml_
                  Files for XML (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/xml/docbook_
                  DocBook DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/xml/xhtml_
                  XHTML DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/xml/mathml_
                  MathML DTD (optional).
    
           _/usr/share/zoneinfo_
                  Files for timezone information (optional).
    
           _/usr/src_
                  Source 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 (optional).
    
           _/usr/src/linux_
                  This 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/tmp_
                  Obsolete.  This should be a link to _/var/tmp_.  This link is
                  present only for compatibility reasons and shouldn't be
                  used.
    
           _/var_   This directory contains files which may change in size,
                  such as spool and log files.
    
           _/var/account_
                  Process accounting logs (optional).
    
           _/var/adm_
                  This directory is superseded by _/var/log_ and should be a
                  symbolic link to _/var/log_.
    
           _/var/backups_
                  Reserved for historical reasons.
    
           _/var/cache_
                  Data cached for programs.
    
           _/var/cache/fonts_
                  Locally generated fonts (optional).
    
           _/var/cache/man_
                  Locally formatted man pages (optional).
    
           _/var/cache/www_
                  WWW proxy or cache data (optional).
    
           _/var/cache/ <package>_
                  Package specific cache data (optional).
    
           _/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/crash_
                  System crash dumps (optional).
    
           _/var/cron_
                  Reserved for historical reasons.
    
           _/var/games_
                  Variable game data (optional).
    
           _/var/lib_
                  Variable state information for programs.
    
           _/var/lib/color_
                  Variable files containing color management information
                  (optional).
    
           _/var/lib/hwclock_
                  State directory for hwclock (optional).
    
           _/var/lib/misc_
                  Miscellaneous state data.
    
           _/var/lib/xdm_
                  X display manager variable data (optional).
    
           _/var/lib/ <editor>_
                  Editor backup files and state (optional).
    
           _/var/lib/ <name>_
                  These directories must be used for all distribution
                  packaging support.
    
           _/var/lib/ <package>_
                  State data for packages and subsystems (optional).
    
           _/var/lib/ <pkgtool>_
                  Packaging support files (optional).
    
           _/var/local_
                  Variable data for _/usr/local_.
    
           _/var/lock_
                  Lock 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 filesystem.  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/log_
                  Miscellaneous log files.
    
           _/var/opt_
                  Variable data for _/opt_.
    
           _/var/mail_
                  Users' mailboxes.  Replaces _/var/spool/mail_.
    
           _/var/msgs_
                  Reserved for historical reasons.
    
           _/var/preserve_
                  Reserved for historical reasons.
    
           _/var/run_
                  Run-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/spool_
                  Spooled (or queued) files for various programs.
    
           _/var/spool/at_
                  Spooled jobs for **at**(1).
    
           _/var/spool/cron_
                  Spooled jobs for cron(8).
    
           _/var/spool/lpd_
                  Spooled files for printing (optional).
    
           _/var/spool/lpd/printer_
                  Spools for a specific printer (optional).
    
           _/var/spool/mail_
                  Replaced by _/var/mail_.
    
           _/var/spool/mqueue_
                  Queued outgoing mail (optional).
    
           _/var/spool/news_
                  Spool directory for news (optional).
    
           _/var/spool/rwho_
                  Spooled files for **rwhod**(8) (optional).
    
           _/var/spool/smail_
                  Spooled files for the **smail**(1) mail delivery program.
    
           _/var/spool/uucp_
                  Spooled files for **uucp**(1) (optional).
    
           _/var/tmp_
                  Like _/tmp_ , this directory holds temporary files stored for
                  an unspecified duration.
    
           _/var/yp_
                  Database files for NIS, formerly known as the Sun Yellow
                  Pages (YP).
    


## STANDARDS



           The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), Version 3.0 
           ⟨https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/fhs.shtml⟩, published March
           19, 2015
    


## BUGS



           This list is not exhaustive; different distributions and systems
           may be configured differently.
    


* * *