Linux File System Hierarchy (FSH)

Quick reference on folder structure of Linux OS

FSH stands for File System Hierarchy in Linux and is a standard in the Linux ecosystem in which all Linux distributions can have the same folder structure making it easy to develop, package and maintain the Linux software

Let’s dive in deeper to understand what all the above directories are:

/

• The base of the Linux directory (Forward Slash)
• The starting point of the FSH
• In Linux, everything is treated as files

/bin

• Contains executable files that are used to run various system commands & utilities
• These executables can be executed by regular users
• Example: cp, mv, cat, ls, etc

/boot

• Stores files related to the booting process of the Linux system
• Example: Boot loader config files, kernel images, etc

/dev

• Contains device files
• Used to interact with various devices in system such as disks, partitions, printers, and other hardware devices

/etc

• Stores configuration files for system wide settings, applications, services, and daemons
• Example: /etc/passwd, /etc/hosts, /etc/fstab and etc

/home

• Stores home directories of all regular users of the system
• Example: /home/<username>

/lib

• Used to store important shared libraries

/media

• Used as a mount point for mounting removable media like CDs, DVDs, USB drives and other external devices

/mnt

• Mnt stands for mount point
• Mount point for temporarily mounting file systems, devices, or network shares

/opt

• Directory used for installing optional or add-on software packages which are part of the base system
• Example: third party softwares

/proc

• Proc stands for process
• Virtual file system which is used to interact with the kernel to get the system process information, system resources, hardware config and etc in real time
• Example: /proc/cpuinfo, /proc/meminfo

/root

• Home directory for the root user where root users config files, personal files and settings are stored

/sbin

• Stores system executable or binaries
• These binaries are reserved to be executed by system admins

/tmp

• Tmp stands for temporary
• Used to store temporary files that are created and used by various programs and processes by the system
• Tmp folder is cleaned after every reboot

/usr

• Usr stands for Unix System Resources
• Used to store user related files, libraries, etc
• Example: /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local and etc

/var

• Var stands for variables files
• Used to store files that are expected to grow/shrink over time
• Example: Log files, spool files, temporary files

Hope I was able to make a good understanding of the concept. Thank you.

Please let me know in the comment section about any corrections/mistakes, am open to improvements and suggestions.

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Cheers, Vish. Happy Learning!!!