{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "hier",
    "section": "7",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hier/7/json",
    "generated": "2026-06-12T12:56:07Z",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "hier - description of the filesystem hierarchy\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "A typical Linux system has, among others, the following directories:\n\n/      This is the root directory.  This is where the whole tree starts.\n\n/bin   This  directory  contains executable programs which are needed in single user mode and\nto bring the system up or repair it.\n\n/boot  Contains static files for the boot loader.  This directory holds only the files  which\nare  needed during the boot process.  The map installer and configuration files should\ngo to /sbin and /etc.  The operating system kernel (initrd for example)  must  be  lo‐\ncated in either / or /boot.\n\n/dev   Special or device files, which refer to physical devices.  See mknod(1).\n\n/etc   Contains  configuration  files  which  are local to the machine.  Some larger software\npackages, like X11, can have their own subdirectories below /etc.  Site-wide  configu‐\nration  files may be placed here or in /usr/etc.  Nevertheless, programs should always\nlook for these files in /etc and you may have links for these files to /usr/etc.\n\n/etc/opt\nHost-specific configuration files for add-on applications installed in /opt.\n\n/etc/sgml\nThis directory contains the configuration files for SGML (optional).\n\n/etc/skel\nWhen a new user account is created, files from this directory are usually copied  into\nthe user's home directory.\n\n/etc/X11\nConfiguration files for the X11 window system (optional).\n\n/etc/xml\nThis directory contains the configuration files for XML (optional).\n\n/home  On machines with home directories for users, these are usually beneath this directory,\ndirectly or not.  The structure of this directory depends on local administration  de‐\ncisions (optional).\n\n/lib   This  directory should hold those shared libraries that are necessary to boot the sys‐\ntem and to run the commands in the root filesystem.\n\n/lib<qual>\nThese directories are variants of /lib on system which support more  than  one  binary\nformat requiring separate libraries (optional).\n\n/lib/modules\nLoadable kernel modules (optional).\n\n/lost+found\nThis  directory contains items lost in the filesystem.  These items are usually chunks\nof files mangled as a consequence of a faulty disk or a system crash.\n\n/media This directory contains mount points for removable media such as CD and DVD  disks  or\nUSB  sticks.  On systems where more than one device exists for mounting a certain type\nof media, mount directories can be created by appending a digit to the name  of  those\navailable above starting with '0', but the unqualified name must also exist.\n\n/media/floppy[1-9]\nFloppy drive (optional).\n\n/media/cdrom[1-9]\nCD-ROM drive (optional).\n\n/media/cdrecorder[1-9]\nCD writer (optional).\n\n/media/zip[1-9]\nZip drive (optional).\n\n/media/usb[1-9]\nUSB drive (optional).\n\n/mnt   This directory is a mount point for a temporarily mounted filesystem.  In some distri‐\nbutions, /mnt contains subdirectories intended to be used as mount points for  several\ntemporary filesystems.\n\n/opt   This directory should contain add-on packages that contain static files.\n\n/proc  This  is  a mount point for the proc filesystem, which provides information about run‐\nning processes and the kernel.  This pseudo-filesystem is described in more detail  in\nproc(5).\n\n/root  This directory is usually the home directory for the root user (optional).\n\n/run   This  directory  contains  information which describes the system since it was booted.\nOnce this purpose was served by /var/run and programs may continue to use it.\n\n/sbin  Like /bin, this directory holds commands needed to boot the system, but which are usu‐\nally not executed by normal users.\n\n/srv   This directory contains site-specific data that is served by this system.\n\n/sys   This  is  a mount point for the sysfs filesystem, which provides information about the\nkernel like /proc, but better structured, following the formalism  of  kobject  infra‐\nstructure.\n\n/tmp   This  directory  contains temporary files which may be deleted with no notice, such as\nby a regular job or at system boot up.\n\n/usr   This directory is usually mounted from a separate  partition.   It  should  hold  only\nshareable,  read-only  data,  so  that  it  can be mounted by various machines running\nLinux.\n\n/usr/X11R6\nThe X-Window system, version 11 release 6 (present in FHS 2.3, removed in FHS 3.0).\n\n/usr/X11R6/bin\nBinaries which belong to the X-Window system; often, there is a symbolic link from the\nmore traditional /usr/bin/X11 to here.\n\n/usr/X11R6/lib\nData files associated with the X-Window system.\n\n/usr/X11R6/lib/X11\nThese  contain  miscellaneous  files needed to run X;  Often, there is a symbolic link\nfrom /usr/lib/X11 to this directory.\n\n/usr/X11R6/include/X11\nContains include files needed for compiling programs using the X11 window system.  Of‐\nten, there is a symbolic link from /usr/include/X11 to this directory.\n\n/usr/bin\nThis is the primary directory for executable programs.  Most programs executed by nor‐\nmal users which are not needed for booting or for repairing the system and  which  are\nnot installed locally should be placed in this directory.\n\n/usr/bin/mh\nCommands for the MH mail handling system (optional).\n\n/usr/bin/X11\nis  the  traditional place to look for X11 executables; on Linux, it usually is a sym‐\nbolic link to /usr/X11R6/bin.\n\n/usr/dict\nReplaced by /usr/share/dict.\n\n/usr/doc\nReplaced by /usr/share/doc.\n\n/usr/etc\nSite-wide configuration files to be shared between several machines may be  stored  in\nthis  directory.  However, commands should always reference those files using the /etc\ndirectory.  Links from files  in  /etc  should  point  to  the  appropriate  files  in\n/usr/etc.\n\n/usr/games\nBinaries for games and educational programs (optional).\n\n/usr/include\nInclude files for the C compiler.\n\n/usr/include/bsd\nBSD compatibility include files (optional).\n\n/usr/include/X11\nInclude  files for the C compiler and the X-Window system.  This is usually a symbolic\nlink to /usr/X11R6/include/X11.\n\n/usr/include/asm\nInclude files which declare some assembler functions.  This used to be a symbolic link\nto /usr/src/linux/include/asm.\n\n/usr/include/linux\nThis  contains  information which may change from system release to system release and\nused to be a symbolic link to /usr/src/linux/include/linux to get at operating-system-\nspecific information.\n\n(Note  that  one  should have include files there that work correctly with the current\nlibc and in user space.  However, Linux kernel source is not designed to be used  with\nuser  programs  and  does  not know anything about the libc you are using.  It is very\nlikely that things will break if you let /usr/include/asm and /usr/include/linux point\nat  a  random  kernel tree.  Debian systems don't do this and use headers from a known\ngood kernel version, provided in the libc*-dev package.)\n\n/usr/include/g++\nInclude files to use with the GNU C++ compiler.\n\n/usr/lib\nObject libraries, including dynamic libraries, plus some executables which usually are\nnot invoked directly.  More complicated programs may have whole subdirectories there.\n\n/usr/libexec\nDirectory  contains  binaries  for internal use only and they are not meant to be exe‐\ncuted directly by users shell or scripts.\n\n/usr/lib<qual>\nThese directories are variants of /usr/lib on system which support more than  one  bi‐\nnary   format   requiring   separate   libraries,   except   that  the  symbolic  link\n/usr/lib<qual>/X11 is not required (optional).\n\n/usr/lib/X11\nThe usual place for data files associated with X programs, and configuration files for\nthe X system itself.  On Linux, it usually is a symbolic link to /usr/X11R6/lib/X11.\n\n/usr/lib/gcc-lib\ncontains executables and include files for the GNU C compiler, gcc(1).\n\n/usr/lib/groff\nFiles for the GNU groff document formatting system.\n\n/usr/lib/uucp\nFiles for uucp(1).\n\n/usr/local\nThis is where programs which are local to the site typically go.\n\n/usr/local/bin\nBinaries for programs local to the site.\n\n/usr/local/doc\nLocal documentation.\n\n/usr/local/etc\nConfiguration files associated with locally installed programs.\n\n/usr/local/games\nBinaries for locally installed games.\n\n/usr/local/lib\nFiles associated with locally installed programs.\n\n/usr/local/lib<qual>\nThese directories are variants of /usr/local/lib on system which support more than one\nbinary format requiring separate libraries (optional).\n\n/usr/local/include\nHeader files for the local C compiler.\n\n/usr/local/info\nInfo pages associated with locally installed programs.\n\n/usr/local/man\nMan pages associated with locally installed programs.\n\n/usr/local/sbin\nLocally installed programs for system administration.\n\n/usr/local/share\nLocal application data that can be shared among different architectures  of  the  same\nOS.\n\n/usr/local/src\nSource code for locally installed software.\n\n/usr/man\nReplaced by /usr/share/man.\n\n/usr/sbin\nThis  directory  contains program binaries for system administration which are not es‐\nsential for the boot process, for mounting /usr, or for system repair.\n\n/usr/share\nThis directory contains subdirectories with specific application  data,  that  can  be\nshared  among different architectures of the same OS.  Often one finds stuff here that\nused to live in /usr/doc or /usr/lib or /usr/man.\n\n/usr/share/color\nContains color management information, like International Color Consortium (ICC) Color\nprofiles (optional).\n\n/usr/share/dict\nContains the word lists used by spell checkers (optional).\n\n/usr/share/dict/words\nList of English words (optional).\n\n/usr/share/doc\nDocumentation about installed programs (optional).\n\n/usr/share/games\nStatic data files for games in /usr/games (optional).\n\n/usr/share/info\nInfo pages go here (optional).\n\n/usr/share/locale\nLocale information goes here (optional).\n\n/usr/share/man\nManual pages go here in subdirectories according to the man page sections.\n\n/usr/share/man/<locale>/man[1-9]\nThese  directories  contain  manual pages for the specific locale in source code form.\nSystems which use a unique language and code set for all manual  pages  may  omit  the\n<locale> substring.\n\n/usr/share/misc\nMiscellaneous data that can be shared among different architectures of the same OS.\n\n/usr/share/nls\nThe message catalogs for native language support go here (optional).\n\n/usr/share/ppd\nPostscript Printer Definition (PPD) files (optional).\n\n/usr/share/sgml\nFiles for SGML (optional).\n\n/usr/share/sgml/docbook\nDocBook DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/sgml/tei\nTEI DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/sgml/html\nHTML DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/sgml/mathtml\nMathML DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/terminfo\nThe database for terminfo (optional).\n\n/usr/share/tmac\nTroff macros that are not distributed with groff (optional).\n\n/usr/share/xml\nFiles for XML (optional).\n\n/usr/share/xml/docbook\nDocBook DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/xml/xhtml\nXHTML DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/xml/mathml\nMathML DTD (optional).\n\n/usr/share/zoneinfo\nFiles for timezone information (optional).\n\n/usr/src\nSource files for different parts of the system, included with some packages for refer‐\nence purposes.  Don't work here with your own projects, as files below /usr should  be\nread-only except when installing software (optional).\n\n/usr/src/linux\nThis was the traditional place for the kernel source.  Some distributions put here the\nsource for the default kernel they ship.  You should probably  use  another  directory\nwhen building your own kernel.\n\n/usr/tmp\nObsolete.   This should be a link to /var/tmp.  This link is present only for compati‐\nbility reasons and shouldn't be used.\n\n/var   This directory contains files which may change in size, such as spool and log files.\n\n/var/account\nProcess accounting logs (optional).\n\n/var/adm\nThis directory is superseded by /var/log and should be a symbolic link to /var/log.\n\n/var/backups\nReserved for historical reasons.\n\n/var/cache\nData cached for programs.\n\n/var/cache/fonts\nLocally generated fonts (optional).\n\n/var/cache/man\nLocally formatted man pages (optional).\n\n/var/cache/www\nWWW proxy or cache data (optional).\n\n/var/cache/<package>\nPackage specific cache data (optional).\n\n/var/catman/cat[1-9] or /var/cache/man/cat[1-9]\nThese directories contain preformatted manual pages according to their man  page  sec‐\ntion.  (The use of preformatted manual pages is deprecated.)\n\n/var/crash\nSystem crash dumps (optional).\n\n/var/cron\nReserved for historical reasons.\n\n/var/games\nVariable game data (optional).\n\n/var/lib\nVariable state information for programs.\n\n/var/lib/color\nVariable files containing color management information (optional).\n\n/var/lib/hwclock\nState directory for hwclock (optional).\n\n/var/lib/misc\nMiscellaneous state data.\n\n/var/lib/xdm\nX display manager variable data (optional).\n\n/var/lib/<editor>\nEditor backup files and state (optional).\n\n/var/lib/<name>\nThese directories must be used for all distribution packaging support.\n\n/var/lib/<package>\nState data for packages and subsystems (optional).\n\n/var/lib/<pkgtool>\nPackaging support files (optional).\n\n/var/local\nVariable data for /usr/local.\n\n/var/lock\nLock  files are placed in this directory.  The naming convention for device lock files\nis LCK..<device> where <device> is the device's name in the  filesystem.   The  format\nused  is  that  of HDU UUCP lock files, that is, lock files contain a PID as a 10-byte\nASCII decimal number, followed by a newline character.\n\n/var/log\nMiscellaneous log files.\n\n/var/opt\nVariable data for /opt.\n\n/var/mail\nUsers' mailboxes.  Replaces /var/spool/mail.\n\n/var/msgs\nReserved for historical reasons.\n\n/var/preserve\nReserved for historical reasons.\n\n/var/run\nRun-time variable files, like files holding process identifiers (PIDs) and logged user\ninformation  (utmp).   Files  in  this  directory  are usually cleared when the system\nboots.\n\n/var/spool\nSpooled (or queued) files for various programs.\n\n/var/spool/at\nSpooled jobs for at(1).\n\n/var/spool/cron\nSpooled jobs for cron(8).\n\n/var/spool/lpd\nSpooled files for printing (optional).\n\n/var/spool/lpd/printer\nSpools for a specific printer (optional).\n\n/var/spool/mail\nReplaced by /var/mail.\n\n/var/spool/mqueue\nQueued outgoing mail (optional).\n\n/var/spool/news\nSpool directory for news (optional).\n\n/var/spool/rwho\nSpooled files for rwhod(8) (optional).\n\n/var/spool/smail\nSpooled files for the smail(1) mail delivery program.\n\n/var/spool/uucp\nSpooled files for uucp(1) (optional).\n\n/var/tmp\nLike /tmp, this directory holds temporary files stored for an unspecified duration.\n\n/var/yp\nDatabase files for NIS, formerly known as the Sun Yellow Pages (YP).\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "CONFORMING TO": {
            "content": "The  Filesystem  Hierarchy  Standard  (FHS),  Version   3.0,   published   March   19,   2015\n⟨https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/fhs.shtml⟩.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "BUGS": {
            "content": "This  list  is  not exhaustive; different distributions and systems may be configured differ‐\nently.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "find(1), ln(1), proc(5), file-hierarchy(7), mount(8)\n\nThe Filesystem Hierarchy Standard\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "COLOPHON": {
            "content": "This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A  description  of  the\nproject,  information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found\nat https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.\n\n\n\nLinux                                        2020-06-09                                      HIER(7)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "hier - description of the filesystem hierarchy",
    "flags": [],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "find",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/find/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "ln",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ln/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "proc",
            "section": "5",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/proc/5/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "file-hierarchy",
            "section": "7",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/file-hierarchy/7/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "mount",
            "section": "8",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mount/8/json"
        }
    ]
}