Understanding the Linux file system hierarchy
This is a short description of the Linux file system hierarchy. In Linux systems, all files are stored in the file system. A kind File system hierarchy These files are organized into a single inverted directory tree. Because the root of the directory tree is at the top of the hierarchy, the directory tree is called an inverted directory, and the branches of directories and subdirectories extend below the root.
The following figure shows the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 file system directory.
as the picture shows, / Is the root directory at the top of the file system tree. All other directories by / character. and so Variant Is a subdirectory of the root directory (/). So how do we describe the contents of a file system directory?
Linux file system hierarchy content types
These are the main content types stored in the Linux file system.
- lasting – These are things that should be retained after a restart, such as system and application configuration settings.
- run – Content generated by a running process; usually deleted by restart
- Variable / dynamic – These contents can be appended or modified by processes running on the Linux system.
- Static content – This setting remains unchanged until explicitly edited or reconfigured.
Important Linux directories-may vary by distribution
These are the standard Linux directories-this is extracted from the RHEL 8 server.
| System catalog | purpose |
/etc | Contains configuration files used by system services |
/root | This is the home directory of the Linux superuser account, root |
/boot | Contains all the files needed to start the startup process. |
/home | Standard users store their personal configuration and data here, such as documents, videos, music, etc. |
/var | Variable data persisted between bootstraps-database, log files, mail, cache directories, web data, etc |
/tmp | Store temporary files. All Linux users can write to this directory. Files older than 10 days will be automatically deleted. |
/usr | This directory contains shared libraries, installed software, and read-only program data. Some important subdirectories include: / usr / bin: Most user commands are located here. • / usr / sbin: Host system management commands that require a privilege escalation to run. • / usr / local: Software for local customization. |
/dev | It contains special device files that the system uses to access the hardware. |
/run | Processes that have started since the last boot stored their runtime data here, such as process ID files and lock files. These are recreated on restart. |
Other directories that could be other symbolic links:
- / bin and / usr / bin
- / sbin and / usr / sbin
- / lib and / usr / lib
- / lib64 and / usr / lib6
in conclusion
By understanding the Linux file system hierarchy, you can easily describe how Linux organizes files and how different applications store their configuration files, logs, and persistent data. It will help you become a better Linux SysAdmin.
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