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HIER(7)		   FreeBSD Miscellaneous Information Manual	       HIER(7)

NAME
     hier -- layout of file systems

SYNOPSIS
     A sketch of the file system hierarchy.

DESCRIPTION
     /		root directory of the file system

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

     /boot/	programs and configuration files used during operating system
		bootstrap

		defaults/  default bootstrapping configuration files; see
			   loader.conf(5)
		dtb/	   Compiled flattened device tree (FDT)	files; see
			   fdt(4) and dtc(1)
		efi/	   Mount point for EFI System Partition	(ESP) on UEFI
			   systems
		firmware/  loadable kernel modules containing binary firmware
			   for hardware	that needs firmware downloaded to it
			   to function
		kernel/	   pure	kernel executable (the operating system	loaded
			   into	memory at boot time) and kernel	modules
		modules/   third-party loadable	kernel modules,	such as	the
			   ones	installed from ports(7)
		overlays/  Compiled flattened device tree (FDT)	overlays; see
			   fdt(4) and dtc(1)
		zfs/	   zfs(8) zpool	cache files

     /compat/	normally a link	to /usr/compat.	 If not, then the /usr/compat
		comments apply

     /dev/	device special files managed by	devfs(5)

		fd/	   file	descriptor files; see fd(4)

     /etc/	system configuration files and scripts

		defaults/  default system configuration	files; see rc(8)
		bluetooth/
			   bluetooth configuration files
		localtime  local timezone information; see ctime(3)
		mail/	   Sendmail control files
		mtree/	   mtree configuration files; see mtree(8)
		pam.d/	   configuration files for the Pluggable Authentica-
			   tion	Modules	(PAM) library
		periodic/  scripts that	are run	daily, weekly, and monthly,
			   via cron(8);	see periodic(8)
		rc.d/	   system and daemon startup/control scripts; see
			   rc(8)
		security/  OpenBSM audit configuration files; see audit(8)
		ppp/	   ppp configuration files; see	ppp(8)
		ssh/	   OpenSSH configuration files;	see ssh(1)
		ssl/	   OpenSSL configuration files

     /lib/	critical system	libraries needed for binaries in /bin and
		/sbin

		casper/	   service-specific libcasper(3) Capsicum support li-
			   braries
		geom/	   class-specific libraries for	the geom(8) utility
		nvmecontrol/
			   vendor-specific libraries to	extend the
			   nvmecontrol(8) utility

     /libexec/	critical system	utilities needed for binaries in /bin and
		/sbin

     /media/	contains subdirectories	to be used as mount points for remov-
		able media such	as CDs,	USB drives, and	floppy disks

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

     /net/	automounted NFS	shares;	see auto_master(5)

     /nonexistent/
		a non-existent directory; by convention, it serves as a	home
		directory for special user accounts that need no home direc-
		tory; see also /var/empty/

     /proc/	process	file system; see procfs(5)

     /rescue/	statically linked programs for emergency recovery; see
		rescue(8)

     /root/	root's HOME directory

     /sbin/	system programs	and administration utilities fundamental to
		both single-user and multi-user	environments

     /tmp/	temporary files	that are not guaranteed	to persist across sys-
		tem reboots

     /usr/	contains the majority of user utilities	and applications

		bin/	       common utilities, programming tools, and	appli-
			       cations
		compat/	       files needed to support binary compatibility
			       with other operating systems; see linux(4)
		freebsd-dist/  distribution files (like	base.txz); see
			       release(7) and bsdinstall(8)
		include/       standard	C include files

			       arpa/	   C include files for Internet	ser-
					   vice	protocols
			       bsnmp/	   C include files for the SNMP	daemon
			       c++/	   C++ include files
			       cam/	   C include files for the Common Ac-
					   cess	Methods	Layer
					   scsi/       SCSI device on top of
						       CAM
			       dev/	   C include files for programming
					   various FreeBSD devices
					   ic/	       various header files
						       describing driver- and
						       bus-independent hard-
						       ware circuits
					   ofw/	       Open Firmware support
					   pbio/       8255 PPI	cards; see
						       pbio(4)
					   ppbus/      parallel	port bus; see
						       ppbus(4)
					   usb/	       USB subsystem
			       fs/
					   fdescfs/    per-process file	de-
						       scriptors file system
					   msdosfs/    MS-DOS file system
					   nfs/	       C include files for NFS
						       (Network	File System)
						       version 2, 3 and	4
					   nullfs/     loopback	file system
					   procfs/     process file system
					   smbfs/      SMB/CIFS	file system
					   udf/	       UDF file	system
					   unionfs     union file system
			       geom/	   GEOM	framework
					   concat/     CONCAT GEOM class
					   gate/       GATE GEOM class
					   mirror/     MIRROR GEOM class
					   nop/	       NOP GEOM	class
					   raid3/      RAID3 GEOM class
					   stripe/     STRIPE GEOM class
			       libmilter/  C include files for libmilter, the
					   sendmail(8) mail filter API
			       machine/	   machine-specific C include files
			       net/	   miscellaneous network C include
					   files
					   altq/       C include files for al-
						       ternate packet queuing;
						       see altq(4)
			       net80211/   C include files for 802.11 wireless
					   networking; see net80211(4)
			       netinet/	   C include files for Internet	stan-
					   dard	protocols; see inet(4)
			       netinet6/   C include files for Internet	proto-
					   col version 6; see inet6(4)
			       netipsec/   kernel key-management service; see
					   ipsec(4)
			       netsmb/	   SMB/CIFS requester
			       nfs/	   C include files for NFS (Network
					   File	System)	version	2 and 3
					   (legacy)
			       openssl/	   OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit)
					   headers
			       protocols/  C include files for Berkeley	ser-
					   vice	protocols
			       rpc/	   remote procedure calls; see rpc(3)
			       rpcsvc/	   definition of RPC service struc-
					   tures; see rpc(3)
			       security/   PAM;	see pam(3)
			       sys/	   system C include files (kernel data
					   structures)
			       ufs/	   C include files for UFS (The	U-word
					   File	System)
					   ffs/	       Fast file system
					   ufs/	       UFS file	system
			       vm/	   virtual memory; see vmstat(8)

		lib/	       shared and archive ar(1)-type libraries

			       compat/	   shared libraries for	compatibility
			       debug/	   standalone debug data for the ker-
					   nel and base	system libraries and
					   binaries
			       dtrace/	   DTrace library scripts
			       engines/	   OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit)
					   dynamically loadable	engines

		libdata/       miscellaneous utility data files

			       gcc/	   GCC configuration data
			       ldscripts/  linker scripts; see ld(1)

		libexec/       system daemons &	system utilities (executed by
			       other programs)

			       aout/	   utilities to	manipulate a.out exe-
					   cutables
			       elf/	   utilities to	manipulate ELF exe-
					   cutables
			       lpr/	   utilities and filters for LP	print
					   system; see lpr(1)
			       sendmail/   the sendmail(8) binary; see
					   mailwrapper(8)
			       sm.bin/	   restricted shell for	sendmail(8);
					   see smrsh(8)

		local/	       local executables, libraries, etc.  Also	used
			       as the default destination for the ports(7)
			       framework.  Within local/, the general layout
			       sketched	out by hier for	/usr should be used.
			       Exceptions are the ports	documentation (in
			       share/doc/_port_/), and /usr/local/etc (mimics
			       /etc).
		obj/	       architecture-specific target tree produced by
			       building	FreeBSD	from source; see build(7)
		ports/	       FreeBSD ports collection; see ports(7)
		sbin/	       system daemons &	system utilities (executed by
			       users)
		share/	       architecture-independent	files

			       calendar/   a variety of	pre-fab	calendar
					   files; see calendar(1)
			       dict/	   word	lists; see look(1)
					   freebsd     FreeBSD-specific	terms,
						       proper names, and jar-
						       gon
					   web2	       words from Webster's
						       Second International
			       doc/	   miscellaneous documentation;	source
					   for most of the printed BSD manuals
					   (available from the USENIX associa-
					   tion)
					   FAQ/	       Frequently Asked	Ques-
						       tions
					   IPv6/       implementation notes
						       for IPv6
					   es/	       Spanish translations of
						       documents in
						       /usr/share/doc
					   handbook/   FreeBSD Handbook
					   ja/	       Japanese	translations
						       of documents in
						       /usr/share/doc
					   legal/      License files for ven-
						       dor supplied firmware
						       files
					   ncurses/    HTML documents pertain-
						       ing to ncurses; see
						       ncurses(3)
					   ntp/	       HTML documents pertain-
						       ing to the Network Time
						       Protocol
					   ru/	       Russian translations of
						       documents in
						       /usr/share/doc
					   tutorials/  FreeBSD tutorials
					   zh/	       Chinese translations of
						       documents in
						       /usr/share/doc
			       examples/   various examples for	users and pro-
					   grammers
			       firmware/   firmware images loaded by userland
					   programs
			       games/	   ASCII text files used by various
					   games
			       keys/	   known trusted and revoked keys
					   pkg/	       fingerprints for	pkg(7)
						       and pkg(8)
			       locale/	   localization	files; see
					   setlocale(3)
			       man/	   manual pages
			       misc/	   miscellaneous system-wide ASCII
					   text	files
					   fonts/      ???
					   termcap     terminal	characteris-
						       tics database; see
						       termcap(5)
			       mk/	   templates for make; see make(1)
			       nls/	   national language support files
			       security/   data	files for security policies
					   such	as mac_lomac(4)
			       sendmail/   sendmail(8) configuration files
			       skel/	   example . (dot) files for new ac-
					   counts
			       snmp/	   MIBs, example files and tree	defi-
					   nitions for the SNMP	daemon
					   defs/       tree definition files
						       for use with
						       gensnmptree(1)
					   mibs/       MIB files
			       syscons/	   files used by syscons; see
					   syscons(4)
					   fonts/      console fonts; see
						       vidcontrol(1) and
						       vidfont(1)
					   keymaps/    console keyboard	maps;
						       see kbdcontrol(1) and
						       kbdmap(1)
					   scrnmaps/   console screen maps
			       tabset/	   tab description files for a variety
					   of terminals; used in the termcap
					   file; see termcap(5)
			       vi/	   localization	support	and utilities
					   for vi(1)
			       vt/	   files used by vt; see vt(4)
					   fonts/      console fonts; see
						       vidcontrol(1) and
						       vidfont(1)
					   keymaps/    console keyboard	maps;
						       see kbdcontrol(1) and
						       kbdmap(1)
			       zoneinfo/   timezone configuration information;
					   see tzfile(5)

		src/	       FreeBSD source code; see	development(7).	 The
			       layout of the source tree is described by the
			       top-level README.md file.

		tests/	       The FreeBSD test	suite; see tests(7)

     /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/   miscellaneous backup	files
		cache/	   miscellaneous cached	files

			   pkg/	       cached packages for pkg(8)

		crash/	   default directory to	store kernel crash dumps; see
			   crash(8) and	savecore(8)
		cron/	   files used by cron; see cron(8)

			   tabs/       crontab files; see crontab(5)

		db/	   miscellaneous automatically generated system-spe-
			   cific database files
		empty/	   empty directory for use by programs that need a
			   specifically	empty directory.  Used for instance by
			   sshd(8) for privilege separation
		games/	   miscellaneous game status and score files
		heimdal/   Kerberos server databases; see kdc(8)
		log/	   miscellaneous system	log files

			   utx.lastlogin
				       last login log; see getutxent(3)
			   utx.log     login/logout log; see getutxent(3)

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

			   bhyve/      bhyve vm	unix domain sockets
			   ppp/	       writable	by the "network" group for
				       command connection sockets; see ppp(8)
			   utx.active  database	of current users; see
				       getutxent(3)

		rwho/	   rwho	data files; see	rwhod(8), rwho(1), and
			   ruptime(1)
		spool/	   miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling di-
			   rectories

			   clientmqueue/
				       undelivered submission mail queue; see
				       sendmail(8)
			   ftp/	       ftp root	directory; see ftpd(8)
			   mqueue/     undelivered mail	queue; see sendmail(8)
			   output/     line printer spooling directories

		tmp/	   temporary files that	are kept between system	re-
			   boots

			   vi.recover/
				       the directory where recovery files are
				       stored

		yp/	   the NIS maps; see yp(8)

NOTES
     This manual page documents	the default FreeBSD file system	layout,	but
     the actual	hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system adminis-
     trator's discretion.  A well-maintained installation will include a cus-
     tomized version of	this document.

SEE ALSO
     apropos(1), find(1), grep(1), ls(1), whereis(1), which(1)

HISTORY
     A hier manual page	appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.

FreeBSD	13.0		       November	23, 2022		  FreeBSD 13.0

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | NOTES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY

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