Linux Directory Structure
ANDY HOOK
A DIRECTORY STRUCTURE IS THE WAY IN WHICH
THE FILE SYSTEM AND ITS FILES OF AN
OPERATING SYSTEM ARE DISPLAYED TO THE
USER. PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE LINUX
OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE STRUCTURE OF
ITS FILE SYSTEM OFTEN FIND IT TROUBLESOME
AND MESSED UP IN DEALING WITH THE FILES
AND THEIR LOCATION. SO, LET US BEGIN TO
EXPLORE SOME OF THE BASIC INFORMATION
ABOUT THE LINUX FILE SYSTEM.
/ - ROOT Directory
Every single file and the directory of the Linux
file system starts from the root directory.
Only “root” user has the write privilege to this
directory.
/bin - Binaries
Contains executable binary files required for
booting and repairing of the system. Also
contains file and commands required to run in
single user-mode such as: ls, ping, grep etc.
/lib - System Libraries
Contains system libraries and kernel
modules required for the booting of the
system.
/dev - Device Files
Contains device related files for all
the hardware devices of the system
/etc - Configuration Files
Contains configuration files required by all
programs. It also contains start-up and
shutdown shell scripts used to start or stop
individual programs.
/home - Home Directories
This forms the “home directory” of individual users to
store their personal information. Every time a new user is
added, a new directory is created in the name of the user
under “/home”.
/user - User Programs
This directory is used to store executable binaries,
documentation, source-code files and libraries for
second level programs.
/tmp - Temporary Files
Contains temporary files for system
and users.
/var - Variable Files
Contains files whose size is expected to grow.
Examples of such files include log files, print
queues, lock files and temp files.