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HIER(7) 		 Miscellaneous Information Manual		 HIER(7)

NAME
     hier -- layout of file systems

DESCRIPTION
     A sketch of the file system hierarchy.

     /		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)
		firmware/  Loadable modules containing binary firmware for hard-
			   ware that needs firmware downloaded to it to function
		kernel/    pure  kernel  executable (the operating system loaded
			   into memory at boot time)
		modules/   third-party loadable kernel modules; see kldstat(8)
		zfs/	   Contains zfs(8) zpool cache files.

     /cdrom/	default mount point for CD-ROM drives

     /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)
		net/  network devices

     /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 Authentication
			    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

		geom/  class-specific libraries for the geom(8) utility

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

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

     /mnt/	empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a tem-
		porary mount point

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

     /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 system
		reboots

     /usr/	contains the majority of user utilities and applications

		bin/	  common utilities, programming tools, and applications
		compat/   files  needed  to  support  binary  compatibility with
			  other operating systems, such as Linux
		games/	  useful and semi-frivolous programs
		include/  standard C include files

			  altq/       C include files for alternate queueing
			  arpa/       C include files for Internet service  pro-
				      tocols
			  bsnmp/      C include files for the SNMP daemon
			  c++/	      C++ include files
			  cam/	      C  include  files  for  the  Common Access
				      Methods Layer
				      scsi/	  The SCSI device on top of CAM
			  dev/	      C include files  for  programming  various
				      FreeBSD devices
				      ic/	  Various  header files describ-
						  ing driver-  and  bus-indepen-
						  dent hardware circuits
				      ofw/	  Open Firmware support
				      pbio/	  8255 PPI cards; see pbio(4)
				      ppbus/	  The parallel port bus; see pp-
						  bus(4)
				      usb/	  The USB subsystem
				      utopia/	  Physical  chip  driver for ATM
						  interfaces; see utopia(4)
				      wi/	  The wi(4) WaveLAN driver
			  fs/
				      fdescfs/	  per-process  file  descriptors
						  file system
				      fifofs/	  IEEE	Std  1003.1  ("POSIX.1")
						  FIFOs file system
				      msdosfs/	  MS-DOS file system
				      nfs/	  C include files for NFS  (Net-
						  work 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

			  isc/	      ISC utility library libisc include files
			  isofs/
				      cd9660/	  iso9660 file system
			  libmilter/  C  include  files for libmilter, the send-
				      mail(8) mail filter API
			  machine/    machine-specific C include files
			  net/	      miscellaneous network C include files
			  netatalk/   Appletalk protocol
			  netinet/    C include files for Internet standard pro-
				      tocols; see inet(4)
			  netinet6/   C include files for Internet protocol ver-
				      sion 6; see inet6(4)
			  netipsec/   kernel   key-management	 service;    see
				      ipsec(4)
			  netipx/     IPX/SPX protocol stacks
			  netnatm/    NATM include files; see natm(4)
				      api/	  include  files  for  the  sig-
						  nalling API
				      msg/	  include  files  that	describe
						  signalling  messages	and  de-
						  clare associated functions
				      saal/	  include  files  for  the  sig-
						  nalling AAL layer
				      sig/	  include files for the UNI sig-
						  nalling protocol
			  netsmb/     SMB/CIFS requester
			  nfs/	      C include files for NFS (Network File Sys-
				      tem) version 2 and 3 (legacy)
			  objc/       Objective C include files
			  openssl/    OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit) headers
			  pccard/     PC-CARD controllers
			  protocols/  C  include files for Berkeley service pro-
				      tocols
			  readline/   get a line from a user, with editing;  see
				      readline(3)
			  rpc/	      remote procedure calls; see rpc(3)
			  rpcsvc/     definition  of RPC service structures; see
				      rpc(3)
			  security/   PAM; see pam(8)
			  sys/	      system C include files (kernel data struc-
				      tures)
			  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
			  aout/       a.out archive libraries
			  compat/     shared libraries for compatibility
				      aout/	  a.out  backward  compatibility
						  libraries
			  dtrace/     DTrace library scripts
			  engines/    OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit) dynami-
				      cally loadable engines
			  private/    Private system libraries not  for  use  by
				      third-party programs.  ABI and API stabil-
				      ity are not guaranteed.

		libdata/  miscellaneous utility data files
			  gcc/	      gcc(1) configuration data
			  ldscripts/  linker scripts; see ld(1)
			  lint/       various	prebuilt   lint  libraries;  see
				      lint(1)

		libexec/  system daemons & system utilities (executed  by  other
			  programs)
			  aout/       utilities to manipulate a.out executables
			  elf/	      utilities to manipulate ELF executables
			  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 FreeBSD ports framework.
			  Within local/, the general layout sketched out by hier
			  for /usr should be used.  Exceptions are the	man  di-
			  rectory  (directly  under  local/  rather  than  under
			  local/share/),      ports	 documentation	     (in
			  share/doc/<port>/), and /usr/local/etc (mimics /etc).
		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 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 jargon
				     words	 common words
				     web2	 words from Webster's 2nd Inter-
						 national
				     papers/	 reference  databases;	see  re-
						 fer(1)

			  doc/	     miscellaneous  documentation;  source   for
				     most  of the printed BSD manuals (available
				     from the USENIX association)
				     FAQ/	 Frequently Asked Questions
				     IPv6/	 implementation notes for IPv6
				     bind/	 documents  pertaining	to  BIND
						 (the Berkeley Internet Name Do-
						 main)
				     es/	 Spanish  translations	of docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc
				     handbook/	 FreeBSD Handbook
				     ja/	 Japanese translations of  docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc
				     legal/	 License  files  for vendor sup-
						 plied firmwares
				     ncurses/	 HTML  documents  pertaining  to
						 ncurses; see ncurses(3)
				     ntp/	 HTML  documents  pertaining  to
						 the Network Time Protocol
				     papers/	 UNIX Papers
				     psd/	 UNIX Programmer's Supplementary
						 Documents
				     ru/	 Russian translations  of  docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc
				     smm/	 UNIX System Manager's Manual
				     tutorials/  FreeBSD tutorials
				     usd/	 UNIX User's Supplementary Docu-
						 ments
				     zh/	 Chinese  translations	of docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc

			  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
			  keys/      known trusted and revoked keys.
				     keys/pkg/	fingerprints  for   pkg(7)   and
						pkg(8)

			  locale/    localization files; see setlocale(3)
			  man/	     manual pages
			  mdocml/    data files used by mdocml
			  me/	     macros  for  use with the me macro package;
				     see me(7)
			  misc/      miscellaneous system-wide ASCII text files
				     fonts/	 ???
				     termcap	 terminal characteristics  data-
						 base; see termcap(5)
			  mk/	     templates for make; see make(1)
			  nls/	     national  language support files; see mklo-
				     cale(1)
			  security/  data files for security  policies	such  as
				     mac_lomac(4)
			  sendmail/  sendmail(8) configuration files
			  skel/      example . (dot) files for new accounts
			  snmp/      MIBs,  example  files  and tree definitions
				     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 kbd-
						control(1) and kbdmap(1)
				     scrnmaps/	console screen maps
			  tabset/    tab description files for a variety of ter-
				     minals; used in the termcap file; see term-
				     cap(5)
			  tmac/      text processing macros;  see  nroff(1)  and
				     troff(1)
			  vi/	     localization   support  and  utilities  for
				     vi(1)
			  zoneinfo/  timezone configuration information; see tz-
				     file(5)
		vt/	  files used by vt; see vt(4)
			  fonts/     console fonts; see vidcontrol(1)  and  vid-
				     font(1)
			  keymaps/   console  keyboard	maps;  see kbdcontrol(1)
				     and kbdmap(1)
		src/	  BSD, third-party, and/or local source files

			  bin/	      source code for files in /bin
			  cddl/       Utilities covered by the	Common	Develop-
				      ment and Distribution License
			  contrib/    source code for contributed software
			  crypto/     source  code  for contributed cryptography
				      software
			  etc/	      source code for files in /etc
			  games/      source code for files in /usr/games
			  gnu/	      Utilities covered by the GNU General  Pub-
				      lic License
			  include/    source code for files in /usr/include
			  kerberos5/  build  infrastructure for kerberos version
				      5
			  lib/	      source code for files in /usr/lib
			  libexec/    source code for files in /usr/libexec
			  release/    files required to produce  a  FreeBSD  re-
				      lease
			  sbin/       source code for files in /sbin
			  secure/     build	directory     for    files    in
				      /usr/src/crypto
			  share/      source for files in /usr/share
			  sys/	      kernel source code
			  tools/      tools used for maintenance and testing  of
				      FreeBSD
			  usr.bin/    source code for files in /usr/bin
			  usr.sbin/   source code for files in /usr/sbin

		tests/	  The  FreeBSD	test  suite.   See tests(7) for more de-
			  tails.

     /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-specific
			   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 accidental
			   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

			   ppp/        writable by the "network" group for  com-
				       mand connection sockets; see ppp(8)
			   utx.active  database  of  current  users; see getutx-
				       ent(3)

		rwho/	   rwho data files;  see  rwhod(8),  rwho(1),  and  rup-
			   time(1)
		spool/	   miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling direc-
			   tories

			   clientmqueue/
				       undelivered  submission	mail  queue; see
				       sendmail(8)
			   ftp/        commonly ~ftp; the anonymous ftp root di-
				       rectory
			   mqueue/     undelivered mail queue; see sendmail(8)
			   output/     line printer spooling directories

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

NOTES
     This  manual page documents the default FreeBSD file system layout, but the
     actual hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system administrator's
     discretion.  A well-maintained installation will include a customized  ver-
     sion of this document.

SEE ALSO
     apropos(1),  find(1),  finger(1),	grep(1),  ls(1),  whatis(1), whereis(1),
     which(1), fd(4), devfs(5), fsck(8)

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

FreeBSD 10.2			January 14, 2015			 HIER(7)

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