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HIER(7)		   FreeBSD 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
			   hardware 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 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

		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 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)

     /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 applica-
			  tions
		compat/	  files	needed to support binary compatibility with
			  other	operating systems, such	as Linux
		include/  standard C include files

			  altq/	      C	include	files for alternate queueing
			  arpa/	      C	include	files for Internet service
				      protocols
			  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
						  describing driver- and bus-
						  independent hardware cir-
						  cuits
				      ofw/	  Open Firmware	support
				      pbio/	  8255 PPI cards; see pbio(4)
				      ppbus/	  The parallel port bus; see
						  ppbus(4)
				      usb/	  The USB subsystem
				      utopia/	  Physical chip	driver for ATM
						  interfaces; see utopia(4)
				      wi/	  The wi(4) WaveLAN driver
			  fs/
				      cd9660/	  iso9660 file system
				      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
						  (Network File	System)	ver-
						  sion 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
			  libmilter/  C	include	files for libmilter, the
				      sendmail(8) mail filter API
			  machine/    machine-specific C include files
			  net/	      miscellaneous network C include files
			  net80211/   C	include	files for 802.11 wireless net-
				      working; see net80211(4)
			  netinet/    C	include	files for Internet standard
				      protocols; see inet(4)
			  netinet6/   C	include	files for Internet protocol
				      version 6; see inet6(4)
			  netipsec/   kernel key-management service; see
				      ipsec(4)
			  netnatm/    NATM include files; see natm(4)
				      api/	  include files	for the	sig-
						  nalling API
				      msg/	  include files	that describe
						  signalling messages and
						  declare associated functions
				      saal/	  include files	for the	sig-
						  nalling AAL layer
				      sig/	  include files	for the	UNI
						  signalling protocol
			  netsmb/     SMB/CIFS requester
			  nfs/	      C	include	files for NFS (Network File
				      System) version 2	and 3 (legacy)
			  objc/	      Objective	C include files
			  openssl/    OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL	toolkit) head-
				      ers
			  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/     definition of RPC	service	structures;
				      see rpc(3)
			  security/   PAM; see pam(8)
			  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
			  aout/	      a.out archive libraries
			  compat/     shared libraries for compatibility
				      aout/	  a.out	backward compatibility
						  libraries
			  debug/      standalone debug data for	the kernel and
				      base system libraries and	binaries
			  dtrace/     DTrace library scripts
			  engines/    OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL	toolkit)
				      dynamically loadable engines
			  private/    Private system libraries not for use by
				      third-party programs.  ABI and API sta-
				      bility 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 executa-
				      bles
			  elf/	      utilities	to manipulate ELF executables
			  lpr/	      utilities	and filters for	LP print sys-
				      tem; 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 directory	(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	build-
			  ing 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
						 International
				     papers/	 reference databases; see
						 refer(1)

			  doc/	     miscellaneous documentation; source for
				     most of the printed BSD manuals (avail-
				     able from the USENIX association)
				     FAQ/	 Frequently Asked Questions
				     IPv6/	 implementation	notes for IPv6
				     bind/	 documents pertaining to BIND
						 (the Berkeley Internet	Name
						 Domain)
				     es/	 Spanish translations of docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc
				     handbook/	 FreeBSD Handbook
				     ja/	 Japanese translations of doc-
						 uments	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 Supplemen-
						 tary 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
						 Documents
				     zh/	 Chinese translations of docu-
						 ments in /usr/share/doc

			  examples/  various examples for users	and program-
				     mers
			  firmware/  Firmware images loaded by userland	pro-
				     grams
			  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
						 database; see termcap(5)
			  mk/	     templates for make; see make(1)
			  nls/	     national language support files; see
				     mklocale(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
						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)
			  tmac/	     text processing macros; see nroff(1) and
				     troff(1)
			  vi/	     localization support and utilities	for
				     vi(1)
			  zoneinfo/  timezone configuration information; see
				     tzfile(5)
		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)
		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
			  gnu/	      Utilities	covered	by the GNU General
				      Public License
			  include/    source code for files in /usr/include
			  kerberos5/  build infrastructure for kerberos	ver-
				      sion 5
			  lib/	      source code for files in /usr/lib
			  libexec/    source code for files in /usr/libexec
			  release/    files required to	produce	a FreeBSD
				      release
			  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
			  details.

     /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

			   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
			   directories

			   clientmqueue/
				       undelivered submission mail queue; see
				       sendmail(8)
			   ftp/	       commonly	~ftp; the anonymous ftp	root
				       directory
			   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 adminis-
     trator's discretion.  A well-maintained installation will include a cus-
     tomized version 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	11.1			March 15, 2016			  FreeBSD 11.1

NAME | DESCRIPTION | NOTES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY

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