UNIX directory layout
"The great thing about standards is that there are so many of
them."
Starting from the top:
- /bin
- essential user binaries (some systems, symlink to /usr/bin)
- /sbin
- essential system administration binaries
- /lib
- essential libraries (some systems, symlink to /usr/lib)
- /shlib
- (BSD) essential shared libraries
- /etc
- system configuration files (may contain binaries on old systems)
- /dev
- device node files
- /tmp
- temporary files, usually not preserved across reboots
- /usr
- most software goes here
- /var
- "variable" files -- system logs, work files, etc.
- /proc
- pseudo-filesystem with process and kernel information
- /lost+found
- where fsck puts mystery files (may appear in any
filesystem top-level directory)
Next ->
Steve VanDevender
Last modified: Tue Jun 21 16:24:35 PDT 2011