Linux Directory
Structure
PANTHERETHICS
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
Everysingle 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
Thisforms 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
Containstemporary 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.
