HIER(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual HIER(7)

NAME

hierlayout of filesystems

DESCRIPTION

An outline of the filesystem hierarchy.

Naming is very important. The UNIX System relies on filename conventions for much of its power as a system. The following file system layout describes generally where things are and what they are, with references to other man pages for more detailed documentation.

Not all files will be in every system.

/
root directory of the system
/COPYRIGHT
system copyright notice, most often put on CD-ROM distributions.
/[a-z]/
user filesystems
/altroot/
alternate root filesystem, in case of disaster
/bin/
utilities used in both single and multi-user environments
/boot*
second-stage boot loader(s) for some platforms; see installboot(8)
/cdrom/
empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a temporary mount point for CD devices for ISO-9660 file systems
/dev/
block, character and other special device files

MAKEDEV
script for creating device files; see makedev(8)
console
the computer's console device
drum
system swap space; see drum(4)
fd/
file descriptor files; see fd(4)
klog
kernel logging device; see syslog(3)
kmem
kernel virtual memory device; see mem(4)
log
UNIX domain datagram log socket; see syslogd(8)
mem
kernel physical memory device; see mem(4)
null
the null device; see null(4)
pts/
mount point for the pseudo-terminal device file system; see mount_ptyfs(8)
stderr
stdin
stdout
file descriptor files; see fd(4)
tty
process' controlling terminal device; see tty(4)
zero
the zero device; see zero(4)
/etc/
system configuration files and scripts

amd*
configuration files for amd(8)
changelist
files backed up by the security script
crontab
schedule used by the cron(8) daemon
csh.cshrc
csh.login
csh.logout
system-wide scripts for csh(1)
daily
script run each day by cron(8)
daily.conf
configuration file for daily; see daily.conf(5)
defaults/
default configuration files read by various /etc/*.conf files
disktab
disk description file, see disktab(5)
dm.conf
dungeon master configuration; see dm.conf(5)
dumpdates
dump history; see dump(8)
exports
filesystem export information; see mountd(8)
fstab
filesystem information; see fstab(5) and mount(8)
ftpusers
users denied ftp(1) access; see ftpd(8)
ftpwelcome
ftp(1) initial message; see ftpd(8)
gettytab
terminal configuration database; see gettytab(5)
group
group permissions file; see group(5)
hosts
host name database backup for named(8); see hosts(5)
hosts.equiv
trusted machines with equivalent user ID's
hosts.lpd
trusted machines with printing privileges
inetd.conf
Internet server configuration file; see inetd(8)
kerberosV/
configuration files for the kerberos version V; see kerberos(8)
localtime
local timezone information; see ctime(3)
mail/
configuration files for sendmail(8)

aliases*
name alias files
sendmail.*
sendmail(8) configuration information
mail.rc
system-wide initialization script for mail(1)
man.conf
configuration file for man(1); see man.conf(5)
master.passwd
Main password file, readable only by root; see passwd(5)
mk.conf
optional file containing make(1) variables, read by pkgsrc and the system sources.
monthly
script run each month by cron(8)
monthly.conf
configuration file for monthly; see monthly.conf(5)
motd
system message of the day
mtree/
mtree configuration files; see mtree(8)
named.*
namedb/
named configuration files and databases; see named(8)
netgroup
network groups; see netgroup(5)
netstart
network startup script
networks
network name data base; see networks(5)
passwd
World readable password file generated from master.passwd; see passwd(5), pwd_mkdb(8)
phones
remote host phone number data base; see phones(5)
printcap
system printer configuration; see printcap(5)
protocols
protocol name database; see protocols(5)
pwd.db
database form of passwd file; see pwd_mkdb(8)
rc
master system startup script invoked by init(8); see rc(8)
rc.conf
configuration file for system startup and shutdown scripts; see rc.conf(5)
rc.d/
directory containing per-subsystem startup and shutdown scripts; see rc(8)
rc.local
locally editable system startup script
rc.shutdown
master system shutdown script invoked by shutdown(8); see rc(8)
remote
remote host description file; see remote(5)
security
daily (in)security script run by cron(8)
security.conf
configuration file for security; see security.conf(5)
services
service name data base; see services(5)
shells
list of permitted shells; see shells(5)
sliphome/
SLIP login/logout scripts; see sliplogin(8)
spwd.db
database form of master.passwd file; see pwd_mkdb(8)
syslog.conf
syslogd(8) configuration file; see syslog.conf(5)
termcap
terminal type database; see termcap(3)
ttys
terminal initialization information; see ttys(5)
weekly
script run each week by cron(8)
weekly.conf
configuration file for weekly; see weekly.conf(5)
/home/
mount point for the automounter; see amd(8)
/kern/
mount point for the kern file system; see mount_kernfs(8)
/lib/
dynamic linked libraries used by dynamic linked programs (such as those in /bin/ and /sbin/) that cannot rely upon /usr/lib/ being available.
/libexec/
system utilities (such as the dynamic linker) required by programs and libraries that cannot rely upon /usr/libexec/ being available.
/mnt/
empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a temporary mount point
/netbsd
pure kernel executable (the operating system loaded into memory at boot time).
/proc/
mount point for the process file system; see mount_procfs(8)
/rescue/
statically linked rescue tools, for use in system recovery
/root/
home directory for the super-user

.cshrc
super-user start-up file
.login
super-user start-up file
.profile
super-user start-up file
.rhosts
super-user id mapping between machines
/sbin/
system programs and administration utilities used in both single-user and multi-user environments
/stand/
programs used in a standalone environment
/tmp/
temporary files, usually a mfs(8) memory-based filesystem (the contents of /tmp are usually not preserved across a system reboot)
/usr/
contains the majority of the system utilities and files

X11R6/
X11 files
X11R7/
X11 files

bin/
X11 binaries
include/
X11 include files
lib/
X11 libraries

bin/
common utilities, programming tools, and applications
games/
the important stuff
include/
standard C include files

arpa/
include files for Internet service protocols
atf/
include files for the Automated Testing Framework; see atf(7)
g++/
include files for the C++ compiler
machine/
machine specific include files
net/
netatalk/
C include files for AppleTalk protocols miscellaneous network include files; see atalk(4)
netinet/
include files for Internet standard protocols; see inet(4)
netinet6/
include files for Internet protocol version 6; see inet6(4)
netiso/
include files for ISO standard protocols; see iso(4)
netkey/
include files for secret key management, used for security protocols; see ipsec(4)
netnatm/
C include files for native mode ATM
nfs/
C include files for NFS (Network File System)
protocols/
C include files for Berkeley service protocols
sys/
system C include files (kernel data structures)
ufs/
C include files for UFS (The U-word File System)

lib/
archive, profiled, position independent archive, and shared libraries

lua/
5.1/
Lua 5.1 modules

libdata/
miscellaneous utility data files
libexec/
system daemons & system utilities (executed by other programs)

mdec/
boot blocks, etc.
obj/
architecture-specific target tree produced by building the /usr/src tree; normally a symbolic link or mounted filesystem
pkg/
packages maintained by groups other than the NetBSD Project.

bin/
contributed binaries
include/
contributed include files
lib/
contributed libraries
libdata/
contributed data files
libexec/
contributed daemons
sbin/
contributed system utilities

pkgsrc/
build descriptions ("packages") for the NetBSD packages system.

distfiles/
Where unchanged source archives are fetched to/stored
packages/
Where compiled binary packages are stored

There are also several other subdirectories which contain packages of a certain category, e.g., archivers, graphics, ...

sbin/
system daemons and system utilities (normally executed by the super-user)
share/
architecture-independent text files

calendar/
a variety of calendar files; see calendar(1)
dict/
word lists; see look(1) and spell(1)

words
common words
web2
words of Webster's 2nd International
papers/
reference databases; see refer(1)
special/
custom word lists; see spell(1)

doc/
miscellaneous documentation; source for most of the printed 4.3BSD manuals (available from the USENIX association)
games/
text files used by various games
i18n/
internationalization databases; see iconv(3)
locale/
locale databases and gettext message catalogs; see setlocale(3) and gettext(3)
man/
formatted manual pages
me/
macros for use with the me(7) macro package
misc/
miscellaneous system-wide text files

<<<<<<< hier.7

termcap
=======
terminfo
>>>>>>> 1.101 terminal characteristics database; see <<<<<<< hier.7 termcap(5) ======= terminfo(5)
terminfo.cdb
database form of terminfo file; see tic(1) >>>>>>> 1.101

mk/
include files for make(1)
ms/
macros for use with the ms(7) macro package
nls/
message catalogs; see catgets(3)
skel/
sample initialization files for new user accounts
tabset/
tab description files for a variety of terminals, used in the termcap file; see termcap(5)
tmac/
text processing macros; see nroff(1) and troff(1)
zoneinfo/
timezone configuration information; see tzfile(5)
tests/
test programs; see atf-run(1) for information on how to run them

/usr/src/
NetBSD and local source files

bin/
source for utilities/files in /bin
common/
sources shared between kernel and userland
crypto/
cryptographic source, which may have import or export restrictions
dist/
third-party ‘virgin' source code, referenced by other parts of the source tree (deprecated, use external/ instead)
distrib/
tools and data-files for making distributions
doc/
documentation about the source tree (i.e., about the tree, not about how to use the built software.)
etc/
source (usually example files) for files in /etc
external/
source for programs from external third parties (where NetBSD is the not the primary maintainer), grouped by license, and then products per license

apache2/
Apache 2.0 license.
bsd/
BSD (or equivalent) licensed software, possibly with the “advertising clause”.
cddl/
Common Development and Distribution License (the Sun license which is based on the Mozilla Public License version 1.1).
gpl2/
GNU Public License, version 2 (or earlier).
gpl3/
GNU Public License, version 3.
historical/
Lucent's old license.
ibm-public/
IBM's public license.
intel-fw-eula/
Intel firmware license with redistribution restricted to OEM.
intel-fw-public/
Intel firmware license permitting redistribution with terms similar to BSD licensed software.
intel-public/
Intel license permitting redistribution with terms similar to BSD licensed software.
mit/
MIT (X11) style license.
zlib/
BSD-like zlib license.

games/
source for utilities/files in /usr/games
gnu/
source for programs covered by the GNU license (or similar) (deprecated; use external/gpl2/ or external/gpl3/ as appropriate)
include/
source for files in /usr/include
lib/
source for libraries in /usr/lib
libexec/
source for utilities/files in /usr/libexec
regress/
various regression tests
rescue/
source/makefiles for /rescue
sbin/
source for utilities/files in /sbin
share/
source for files in /usr/share

doc/

papers/
source for various Berkeley technical papers
psd/
source for Programmer's Supplementary Documents
smm/
source for System Manager's Manual
usd/
source for User's Supplementary Documents

sys/
kernel source files

arch/
architecture-specific support

acorn26/
Acorn Archimedes, A-series and R-series systems
acorn32/
Acorn RiscPC/A7000 and VLSI RC7500
algor/
Algorithmics Ltd. MIPS evaluations boards
alpha/
Digital/Compaq Alpha
amd64/
Computers with x86_64 capable CPUs
amiga/
Commodore Amiga and MacroSystem DraCo
amigappc/
PowerPC based Amiga boards
arc/
MIPS-based machines following the Advanced RISC Computing spec
arm/
ARM processor general support
atari/
Atari TT030, Falcon and Hades
bebox/
Be Inc. BeBox
cats/
Chalice Technology's CATS and Intel's EBSA-285 evaluation boards
cesfic/
CES FIC8234 VME processor board
cobalt/
Cobalt Networks' MIPS-based Microserver
dreamcast/
Sega Dreamcast game console
emips/
Machines based on Extensible MIPS
evbarm/
ARM based evaluation boards
evbmips/
MIPS based evaluation boards
evbppc/
PowerPC based evaluation boards and appliances
evbsh3/
SH3/SH4 based evaluation boards
ews4800mips/
NEC's MIPS based EWS4800 workstations
hp300/
Hewlett-Packard 9000/300 and 400 680x0-based workstations
hp700/
Hewlett-Packard 9000/700 HPPA based workstations
hpcarm/
StrongARM based WinCE PDA machines
hpcmips/
MIPS based WinCE PDA machines
hpcsh/
Hitachi SH3/4 based WinCE PDA machines
hppa/
HPPA processor general support
i386/
80x86-based IBM PCs and clones
ibmnws/
IBM Network Station 1000
iyonix/
Castle Technology's Iyonix ARM based PCs
luna68k/
Omron Tateishi Electric's 680x0-based LUNA workstations
m68k/
680x0 processor general support
mac68k/
Apple Macintosh with 68k CPU
macppc/
Apple Power Macintosh and clones
mips/
MIPS processor general support
mipsco/
MIPS Computer Systems Inc. family of workstations and servers
mmeye/
Brains Inc. SH3 based mmEye multimedia server
mvme68k/
Motorola MVME 680x0-based SBCs
mvmeppc/
Motorola PowerPC VME SBCs
netwinder/
StrongARM based NetWinder machines
news68k/
Sony's 680x0-based NEWS workstations
newsmips/
Sony's MIPS-based NEWS workstations
next68k/
NeXT 68k "black" hardware
ofppc/
Open Firmware PowerPC workstations
pmax/
Digital MIPS-based DECstations and DECsystems
powerpc/
PowerPC processor support
prep/
PReP (PowerPC Reference Platform) and CHRP machines
sandpoint/
Motorola Sandpoint reference platform
sbmips/
Broadcom/SiByte evaluation boards
sgimips/
Silicon Graphics' MIPS-based workstations
sh3/
SH3/SH4 processor general support
shark/
Digital DNARD ("Shark")
sparc/
Sun Microsystems SPARC (32-bit) and UltraSPARC (in 32-bit mode)
sparc64/
Sun Microsystems UltraSPARC (in native 64-bit mode)
sun2/
Sun Microsystems 68010-based Sun 2 architecture
sun3/
Sun Microsystems 68020/68030-based Sun 3/3x architecture
sun68k/
680x0-based Sun architecture general support
vax/
Digital VAX
x68k/
Sharp X680x0 680x0-based workstations
x86/
General support for PC/AT compatibles with ia32 or x86_64 CPUs
xen/
The Xen virtual machine monitor
zaurus/
Sharp C3x00 Arm based PDA

compat/
kernel compatibility modules directory

common/
common compatibility routines, old 4BSD and NetBSD routines.
freebsd/
support for FreeBSD binaries; see compat_freebsd(8)
hpux/
support for 68000 HP-UX binaries
ibcs2/
support for Intel Binary binaries
linux/
support for Linux binaries; see compat_linux(8)
m68k4k/
support for 4KB page 68000 binaries
netbsd32/
support for NetBSD 32-bit binaries on 64 bit platforms with compatible CPU families
osf1/
support for Digital UNIX (formerly OSF/1) binaries
ossaudio/
support for OSS audio
sunos/
support for SunOS 4.x binaries; see compat_sunos(8)
svr4/
support for System V Release 4 binaries; see compat_svr4(8)
ultrix/
support for ULTRIX binaries
vax1k/
support for older VAX binaries that started on a 1 KB boundary

conf/
architecture independent configuration directory
crypto/
cryptographic kernel source, which may have import or export restrictions
ddb/
in kernel debugger
dev/
architecture independent device support
fs/
miscellaneous file systems
adosfs/
AmigaDOS file-system support; see mount_ados(8)
cd9660/
support for the ISO-9660 filesystem; see mount_cd9660(8)
filecorefs/
support for the Acorn RISC OS filecore filesystem; see mount_filecore(8)
msdosfs/
MS-DOS file system; see mount_msdos(8)
ntfs/
NTFS filesystem support; see mount_ntfs(8)
ptyfs/
pseudo-terminal device filesystem; see mount_ptyfs(8)
smbfs/
SMB/CIFS filesystem support; see mount_smbfs(8)
union/
union file system; see mount_union(8)
gdbscripts/
support for accessing kernel structures from within the debugger gdb(1).
ipkdb/
support for kernel debugging over the network

kern/
support for the high kernel (system calls)
lib/
kernel libraries

libkern/
C library routines used in the kernel
libsa/
machine independent stand alone kernel library
libz/
compression library

miscfs/
miscellaneous file systems

deadfs/
kernel only dead file system
fdesc/
file descriptor file system; see mount_fdesc(8)
fifofs/
POSIX FIFO support
genfs/
kernel only generic file system
kernfs/
kernel namespace file system; see mount_kernfs(8)
nullfs/
loop back file system; see mount_null(8)
overlay/
overlay file system; see mount_overlay(8)
procfs/
process file system; see mount_procfs(8)
specfs/
kernel only special file system
syncfs/
kernel trickle sync algorithm
umapfs/
user and group re-mapping file system; see mount_umap(8)

net/
miscellaneous networking support
netatalk/
AppleTalk networking support
netinet/
IP networking support
netinet6/
IPv6 networking support
netiso/
ISO networking support
netkey/
Key database for IPsec networking support
netnatm/
ATM networking support
nfs/
NFS support
stand/
kernel standalone support
sys/
kernel (and system) include files
ufs/
local filesystem support

ffs/
the Berkeley Fast File System
lfs/
the log-structured file system
mfs/
the in-memory file system
ufs/
shared UNIX file system support
uvm/
UVM virtual memory system
tests/
source for test programs in /usr/tests
usr.bin/
source for utilities/files in /usr/bin
usr.sbin/
source for utilities/files in /usr/sbin
/var/
multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files

account/
system accounting files

acct
execution accounting file; see acct(5)

at/
timed command scheduling files; see at(1)
backups/
miscellaneous backup files, largely of files found in /etc
chroot/
home directories of applications which are run in a chroot(8) “cage”.
crash/
system crash dumps; see savecore(8)
cron/
scheduled commands configuration files; see cron(8)
db/
miscellaneous automatically generated system-specific database files, and persistent files used in the maintenance of third party software.

pkg
default location for metadata related to third party software packages. See pkg_add(1) for more details of the NetBSD Packages Collection, or pkgsrc.

games/
miscellaneous game status and log files
heimdal/
Kerberos 5 KDC database; see kdc(8)
log/
miscellaneous system log files

amd.*
amd(8) logs
daily.out
output of the last run of the /etc/daily script
ftp.*
ftp(1) logs
kerberos.*
kerberos(8) logs
lastlog
system last time logged in log; see utmp(5)
lpd-errs.*
printer daemon error logs; see lpd(8)
maillog.*
sendmail(8) log files
messages.*
general system information log
monthly.out
output of the last run of the /etc/monthly script
secure
sensitive security information log
sendmail.st
sendmail(8) statistics
timed.*
timed(8) logs
weekly.out
output of the last run of the /etc/weekly script
wtmp
login/logout log; see utmp(5)

mail/
user system mailboxes
msgs/
system messages; see msgs(1)
preserve/
temporary home of files preserved after an accidental death of ex(1) or vi(1)
quotas/
filesystem quota information
run/
system information files, rebuilt after each reboot

utmp
database of current users; see utmp(5)

rwho/
rwho data files; see rwhod(8), rwho(1), and ruptime(1)
spool/
miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling directories

ftp/
commonly “~ftp”, the anonymous ftp root directory; see ftpd(8)
mqueue/
sendmail mail queue; see sendmail(8)
news/
Network news archival and spooling directories
output/
printer spooling directories
postfix/
postfix mail queue; see postfix(1)
uucp/
uucp spool directory
uucppublic/
commonly “~uucp”, the uucp public temporary directory; see uucp(1)

tmp/
temporary files that are not discarded between system reboots

vi.recover/
recovery directory for new vi(1)

yp/
Databases and configuration for the NIS (YP) system; see nis(8).

SEE ALSO

apropos(1), ls(1), whatis(1), whereis(1), which(1), paths(3)

HISTORY

A hier manual page appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.
June 3, 2012 NetBSD 6.1