HIER(7)

NAME
hier - layout of filesystems

DESCRIPTION
A sketch of the filesystem hierarchy.

/   root directory of the filesystem

/bin/
    user utilities fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments

/dev/
    block and character device files

    MAKEDEV
        script for creating device files; see MAKEDEV(8)
    fd/ file descriptor files; see fd(4)

/etc/
    system configuration files and scripts

    gnats/
        gnats configuration files; see send-pr(1)
    kerberosIV/
        configuration files for the kerberos version IV; see kerberos(1)
    localtime
        local timezone information; see ctime(3)
    mtree/
        mtree configuration files; see mtree(8)
    namedb/
        named configuration files; see named(8)
    ppp/
        ppp(8) ppp configuration files; see ppp(8)
    skel/
        local example . (dot) files for new accounts; see adduser(8)
    uucp/
        uucp configuration files; see uucp(1)

/kernel
    pure kernel executable (the operating system loaded into memory at boot time).

/lkm/
    loadable kernel modules; see lkm(4)

/mnt/
    empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a temporary mount point

/proc/
    process file system; see procfs(5), mount_procfs(8)

/root
    root's HOME directory

/sbin/
    system programs and administration utilities fundamental to 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 user utilities and applications

    bin/
        common utilities, programming tools, and applications
    games/
        useful and semi-frivolous programs
    include/
        standard C include files

        arpa/
            C include files for Internet service protocols
        g++/
            GNU C++ include files
            std GNU C++ libstdc++ include files
        isofs
            cd9660
                iso9660 filesystem
        kerberosIV/
            C include files for kerberos authentication package; see kerberos(1)
        machine/
            machine specific C include files
        msdosfs/
            MS-DOS file system
        net/
            misc network C include files
        netatalk/
            Appletalk protocol
        netinet/
            C include files for Internet standard protocols; see inet(4)
        netipx/
            IPX/SPX protocol stacks
        netkey/
            kernel key-management service
        netns/
            Xerox NS protocols
        nfs/
            C include files for NFS (Network File System)
        objc/
            ???
        pccard/
            PC-CARD controllers
        protocols/
            C include files for Berkeley service protocols
        readline/
            get a line from a user with editing; see readline(3)
        rpc/
            remote procedure calls; see rpc(3)
        rpcsvc/
            ???
        ss/ libss ???
        sys/
            system C include files (kernel data structures)
        tcl/
            Tcl language; see Xr Tcl n
            generic/
                ???
            unix/
                ???
        ufs/
            C include files for UFS (The U-word File System)
            ffs/
                Fast filesystem
            lfs/
                log filesystem; see mount_lfs(8)
            mfs/
                memory file system; see mount_mfs(8)
            ufs/
                UFS filesystem
        vm/ virtual memory; see vmstat(8)

    lib/
        archive libraries
        compat/
            shared libraries for compatibly

    libdata/
        misc. utility data files
        gcc/
            ???
        lint/
            various prebuilt lint libraries; see lint(1)
        stallion/
            holding the download firmware images
        tcl ???; see Tcl(n)

    libexec/
        system daemons & system utilities (executed by other programs)
        lpr/
            ??? see lpr(1)
        sm.bin/
            restricted shell for sendmail; see smrsh(8)
        uucp/
            uucp utilities; see uucp(1)

    local/
        local executables, libraries, etc.
        Also used as the default destination for the FreeBSD ports framework. Within local/, the general layout sketched out by hier(7) for /usr should be used. Exceptions are the man directory is directly under local/ rather than under local/share/. Ports documentation is in share/doc/<port>/
    mdec/
        boot programs; see disklabel(8)
    obj/
        architecture-specific target tree produced by building the /usr/src tree
    ports
        The FreeBSD ports collection (optional).
    sbin/
        system daemons & system utilities (executed by users)
    share/
        architecture-independent ascii text files

        calendar/
            a variety of pre-fab calendar files; see calendar(1)
        dict/
            word lists; see look(1)

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

        doc/
            misc documentation; src for most of the printed BSDBSD manuals (available from the USENIX association)
            FAQ/
                Frequently Asked Questions
            handbook/
                FreeBSD Handbook
            papers/
                UNIX Papers
            psd/
                UNIX Programmer's Supplementary Documents
            smm/
                UNIX System Manager's Manual
            usd/
                UNIX User's Supplementary Documents

        examples/
            various examples for users and programmers
        games/
            ascii text files used by various games
        groff_font/
            device description file for device name
        info/
            GNU Info hypertext system
        isdn/
            ISDN
        libg++/
            libg++'s genclass prototype/template class files
        locale/
            internationalization files; see setlocale(3)
        man/
            manual pages
        me/ macros for use with the me macro package
        misc/
            misc system-wide ascii text files
            fonts/
                ???
            pcvtfonts/
                ???; see pcvt(4)
            pkg_manage/
                package manager help files; see pkg_manage
            termcap
                terminal characteristics database; see termcap(5)
        mk/ templates for make; see make(1)
        ms/ macros for use with the ms macro package
        nls/
            national language support files; see mklocale(1)
        perl/
            perl library files; see perl(1)
        sgml/
            SGML tools files; see instant(1)
        skel/
            example . (dot) files for new 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)
    src/
        BSD and/or local source files

        bin/
            src for files in /bin
        contrib/
            src for file from contributed software
        eBones
            Kerberos and DES
        etc/
            src for files in /etc
        games/
            src for files in /usr/games
        gnu/
            Utilities covered by the GNU Public License
        include/
            src for files in /usr/include
        kerberosIV/
            src for kerberos version IV
        lib/
            src for files in /usr/lib
        libexec/
            src for files in /usr/libexec
        local/
            src for files in /usr/local
        lkm src for files in /lkm
        release
            Files required to produce a FreeBSD release
        sbin/
            src for files in /sbin
        secure
            DES Sources
        share/
            src for files in /usr/share
        sys/
            kernel src files
        usr.bin/
            src for files in /usr/bin
        usr.sbin/
            src for files in /usr/sbin

    X11R6/
        X11R6 distribution executables, libraries, etc (optional).

/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)
        jobs
            directory containing job files
        spool
            directory containing output spool files

    backups/
        misc. backup files
    crash
        ???; see crash(8)
    cron/
        log cron log files; see cron(8)
        tabs
            crontab files; see crontab(5)

    db/ misc. automatically generated system-specific database files
    games/
        misc. game status and log files
    games/
        games score files
    log/
        misc. system log files

        wtmp
            login/logout log; see wtmp(5)

    mail/
        user mailbox files
    preserve/
        temporary home of files preserved after an accidental death of an editor; see ex(1)
    msgs/
        system messages database; see msgs(1)
    quotas/
        filesystem quota information files
    preserve
        ???
    run/
        system information files describing various info about system since it was booted

        utmp
            database of current users; see utmp(5)

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

        ftp/
            commonly ~ftp; the anonymous ftp root directory
        mqueue/
            undelivered mail queue; see sendmail(8)
        output/
            line printer spooling directories
        secretmail/
            secretmail spool directory; see xget(1)
        uucp/
            uucp spool directory
        uucppublic/
            commonly ~uucp; public uucp temporary directory

    tmp/
        temporary files that are kept between system reboots
        vi.recover
            the directory where recovery files are stored
    yp  the NIS maps

SEE ALSO
apropos(1), find(1), finger(1), grep(1), ls(1), whatis(1), whereis(1), which(1), fsck(8)

HISTORY
A hier manual page appeared in AT&T UNIX.