# phpman > man > hier(7) [HIER(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HIER/7/markdown) Linux Programmer's Manual [HIER(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HIER/7/markdown) ## 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 lo‐ cated in either _/_ or _/boot_. _/dev_ Special or device files, which refer to physical devices. See [**mknod**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mknod/1/markdown). _/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 configu‐ ration 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 de‐ cisions (optional). _/lib_ This directory should hold those shared libraries that are necessary to boot the sys‐ tem and to run the commands in the root filesystem. _/lib_ 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 distri‐ butions, _/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 run‐ ning processes and the kernel. This pseudo-filesystem is described in more detail in [**proc**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/proc/5/markdown). _/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 usu‐ ally 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 infra‐ structure. _/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. Of‐ ten, 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 nor‐ mal 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_ is the traditional place to look for X11 executables; on Linux, it usually is a sym‐ bolic 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 exe‐ cuted directly by users shell or scripts. _/usr/lib_ These directories are variants of _/usr/lib_ on system which support more than one bi‐ nary format requiring separate libraries, except that the symbolic link _/usr/lib/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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gcc/1/markdown). _/usr/lib/groff_ Files for the GNU groff document formatting system. _/usr/lib/uucp_ Files for [**uucp**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/uucp/1/markdown). _/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_ 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 es‐ sential 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//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 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/mathtml_ 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 refer‐ ence 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 compati‐ bility 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 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 sec‐ tion. (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 backup files and state (optional). _/var/lib/_ These directories must be used for all distribution packaging support. _/var/lib/_ State data for packages and subsystems (optional). _/var/lib/_ 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.._ where __ 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/at/1/markdown). _/var/spool/cron_ Spooled jobs for [**cron**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/cron/8/markdown). _/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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rwhod/8/markdown) (optional). _/var/spool/smail_ Spooled files for the [**smail**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/smail/1/markdown) mail delivery program. _/var/spool/uucp_ Spooled files for [**uucp**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/uucp/1/markdown) (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). ## CONFORMING TO The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), Version 3.0, published March 19, 2015 ⟨⟩. ## BUGS This list is not exhaustive; different distributions and systems may be configured differ‐ ently. ## SEE ALSO [**find**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/find/1/markdown), [**ln**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ln/1/markdown), [**proc**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/proc/5/markdown), [**file-hierarchy**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/file-hierarchy/7/markdown), [**mount**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mount/8/markdown) The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard ## COLOPHON This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux _man-pages_ project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at . Linux 2020-06-09 [HIER(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HIER/7/markdown)