Linux Filesystem

Introduction

The top level of the filesystem on many linux machines contains most of the following directories. You’ll find a brief description of each below.

Directories

/bin

  • common binaries (i.e. applications you can run)
  • you’ll find many of the commands you can use here, like ls
  • Note: ls -l /bin shows that it is a link to /usr/bin

/sbin

  • system binaries (applications for system admin, like adduser)

/home

  • the personal files for each user
  • Run ls /home to see a directory for yourself.

/lib

  • where shared libraries live.
  • code that applications can use to interact with the kernel
  • note, you will see lib files elsewhere, but this one is for the kernel specifically.

/etc

  • Short for et cetera (we say et-see)
  • Mainly contains configuration files

/dev

  • short for device
  • contains files related to devices attached to the machine (like a webcam)

/boot

  • contains the files necessary to boot the system.

/media

  • where external storage is auto mounted when you plug it in

/mnt

  • where external storage is manually mounted

/opt

  • frequently where custom built software lands

/proc

  • contains info about your computer

/root

  • home directory of the superuser
  • its not under /home for a reason (those are not the superuser)

/run

  • stores temporary data for system processes

/usr

  • where user’s home directories used to be kept (now under /home)
  • contains a collection of stuff that needs to be shared by applications

/tmp

  • contains temporary files

/var

  • short for variable
  • usually contains logs