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Linux File Hierarchy Structure

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The Linux File Hierarchy Structure or the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) defines the directory structure and directory contents in Unix-like operating systems. It is maintained by the Linux Foundation. 

  • In the FHS, all files and directories appear under the root directory /, even if they are stored on different physical or virtual devices.
  • Some of these directories only exist on a particular system if certain subsystems, such as the X Window System, are installed.
  • Most of these directories exist in all UNIX operating systems and are generally used in much the same way; however, the descriptions here are those used specifically for the FHS and are not considered authoritative for platforms other than Linux.
linux-directory

linux-directory

1. / (Root): 

Primary hierarchy root and root directory of the entire file system hierarchy. 

  • Every single file and directory start from the root directory.
  • The only root user has the right to write under this directory.
  • /root is the root user’s home directory, which is not the same as /
root-linux-directory

root-linux-directory

2. /bin : 

Essential command binaries that need to be available in single-user mode; for all users, e.g., cat, ls, cp. 

  • Contains binary executables.
  • Common linux commands you need to use in single-user modes are located under this directory.
  • Commands used by all the users of the system are located here e.g. ps, ls, ping, grep, cp 
bin-linux-directory

bin-linux-directory

3. /boot :

 Boot loader files, e.g., kernels, initrd. 
 

  • Kernel initrd, vmlinux, grub files are located under /boot
  • Example: initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic, vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic
boot-linux-directory

boot-linux-directory

4. /dev :

 Essential device files, e.g., /dev/null. 

  • These include terminal devices, usb, or any device attached to the system.
  • Example: /dev/tty1, /dev/usbmon0
dev-linux-directory

dev-linux-directory

5. /etc :

 Host-specific system-wide configuration files.

  • Contains configuration files required by all programs.
  • This also contains startup and shutdown shell scripts used to start/stop individual programs.
  • Example: /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/logrotate.conf.
etc-linux-directory

etc-linux-directory

6. /home :

 Users’ home directories, containing saved files, personal settings, etc.

  • Home directories for all users to store their personal files.
  • example: /home/kishlay, /home/kv

home-linux-directory

home-linux-directory

home-linux-directory

home-linux-directory

7. /lib:

 Libraries essential for the binaries in /bin/ and /sbin/.

  • Library filenames are either ld* or lib*.so.*
  • Example: ld-2.11.1.so, libncurses.so.5.7
lib-linux-directory

lib-linux-directory

8. /media:

 Mount points for removable media such as CD-ROMs (appeared in FHS-2.3).

  • Temporary mount directory for removable devices.
  • Examples, /media/cdrom for CD-ROM; /media/floppy for floppy drives; /media/cdrecorder for CD writer
media-linux-directory

media-linux-directory

9. /mnt :

 Temporarily mounted filesystems.

  • Temporary mount directory where sysadmins can mount filesystems.
mnt-linux-directory

mnt-linux-directory

10. /opt : 

Optional application software packages.

  • Contains add-on applications from individual vendors.
  • Add-on applications should be installed under either /opt/ or /opt/ sub-directory.
opt-linux-directory

opt-linux-directory.

11. /sbin : 

Essential system binaries, e.g., fsck, init, route.

  • Just like /bin, /sbin also contains binary executables.
  • The linux commands located under this directory are used typically by system administrators, for system maintenance purposes.
  • Example: iptables, reboot, fdisk, ifconfig, swapon

sbin-linux-directory

12. /srv : 

Site-specific data served by this system, such as data and scripts for web servers, data offered by FTP servers, and repositories for version control systems.

  • srv stands for service.
  • Contains server specific services related data.
  • Example, /srv/cvs contains CVS related data.
srv-linux-directory

srv-linux-directory

13. /tmp : 

Temporary files. Often not preserved between system reboots and may be severely size restricted.

  • Directory that contains temporary files created by system and users.
  • Files under this directory are deleted when the system is rebooted.
tmp-linux-directory

tmp-linux-directory

14. /usr : 

Secondary hierarchy for read-only user data; contains the majority of (multi-)user utilities and applications. 
 

  • Contains binaries, libraries, documentation, and source-code for second level programs.
  • /usr/bin contains binary files for user programs. If you can’t find a user binary under /bin, look under /usr/bin. For example: at, awk, cc, less, scp
  • /usr/sbin contains binary files for system administrators. If you can’t find a system binary under /sbin, look under /usr/sbin. For example: atd, cron, sshd, useradd, userdel
  • /usr/lib contains libraries for /usr/bin and /usr/sbin
  • /usr/local contains user’s programs that you install from source. For example, when you install apache from source, it goes under /usr/local/apache2
  • /usr/src holds the Linux kernel sources, header-files and documentation. 

usr_bin-linux-directory

usr_bin-linux-directory

usr_sbin-linux-directory

usr_sbin-linux-directory

usr_lib-linux-dirctory

usr_lib-linux-dirctory

usr_local-linux-directory

usr_local-linux-directory

usr_src-linux-directory

usr_src-linux-directory

15. /proc:

 Virtual filesystem providing process and kernel information as files. In Linux, it corresponds to a procs mount. Generally, automatically generated and populated by the system, on the fly.

  • Contains information about system process.
  • This is a pseudo filesystem that contains information about running processes. For example: /proc/{pid} directory contains information about the process with that particular pid.
  • This is a virtual filesystem with text information about system resources. For example: /proc/uptime

proc-linux-directory

proc-linux-directory

proc-linux-directory

proc-linux-directory

Modern Linux distributions include a /run directory as a temporary filesystem (tmpfs) which stores volatile runtime data, following the FHS version 3.0. According to the FHS version 2.3, such data were stored in /var/run but this was a problem in some cases because this directory is not always available at early boot. As a result, these programs have had to resort to trickery, such as using /dev/.udev, /dev/.mdadm, /dev/.systems or /dev/.mount directories, even though the device directory isn’t intended for such data.Among other advantages, this makes the system easier to use normally with the root filesystem mounted read-only. For example, below are the changes Debian made in its 2013 Wheezy release:

  • /dev/.* ? /run/*
  • /dev/shm ? /run/shm
  • /dev/shm/* ? /run/*
  • /etc/* (writable files) ? /run/*
  • /lib/init/rw ? /run
  • /var/lock ? /run/lock
  • /var/run ? /run
  • /tmp ? /run/tmp

 

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Last Updated : 09 Jun, 2023
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