Updated: 2022/Sep/29
Please read Privacy Policy. It's for your privacy.
HIER(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual HIER(7)
NAME
hier - layout of file systems
DESCRIPTION
An outline of the file system hierarchy.
Naming is very important. The UNIX System relies on filename conventions
for much of its power as a system. The following file system layout
describes generally where things are and what they are, with references
to other man pages for more detailed documentation.
Not all files will be in every system.
/ Root directory of the system.
/COPYRIGHT
System copyright notice, most often put on CD-ROM
distributions.
/[a-z]/ User file systems.
/altroot/ Alternate root file system, in case of disaster.
/bin/ Utilities used in both single and multi-user environments.
/boot* Second-stage boot loader(s) for some platforms; see
installboot(8).
/cdrom/ Empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a
temporary mount point for ISO-9660 file systems on CD (or DVD)
media.
/dev/ Block, character, and other special device files.
MAKEDEV Script for creating device files; see makedev(8).
console The computer's console device.
drum The computer's swap space device; see drum(4).
fd/ File descriptor files; see fd(4).
klog Kernel logging device; see syslog(3).
kmem Kernel virtual memory device; see mem(4).
log UNIX domain datagram log socket; see syslogd(8).
mem Kernel physical memory device; see mem(4).
null The null device; see null(4).
pts/ Mount point for the pseudo-terminal device file
system; see mount_ptyfs(8).
stderr
stdin
stdout File descriptor files; see fd(4).
tty Device pointing to each process's own controlling
terminal; see tty(4).
zero The zero device; see zero(4).
/etc/ System configuration files and scripts.
amd* Configuration files for amd(8).
changelist Files backed up by the security script.
crontab Schedule used by the cron(8) daemon.
csh.cshrc
csh.login
csh.logout System-wide scripts for csh(1).
daily Script run each day by cron(8).
daily.conf Configuration file for daily; see
daily.conf(5).
defaults/ Default configuration files read by various
/etc/*.conf files.
disktab Disk description file; see disktab(5).
dm.conf Dungeon master configuration; see dm.conf(5).
dumpdates Dump history; see dump(8).
exports File system export information; see mountd(8).
fstab File system mounting table; see fstab(5) and
mount(8).
ftpusers Users denied ftp(1) access; see ftpd(8).
ftpwelcome ftp(1) initial message; see ftpd(8).
gettytab Terminal configuration database; see
gettytab(5).
group Group permissions file; see group(5).
hosts Host name database backup for named(8); see
hosts(5).
hosts.equiv Trusted machines with equivalent user IDs.
(Obsolete.)
hosts.lpd Trusted machines with printing privileges.
inetd.conf Internet server configuration file; see
inetd(8).
kerberosV/ Configuration files for Kerberos version V; see
kerberos(8).
localtime Local time zone; see ctime(3).
login.conf Configuration of user classes and limits; see
login.conf(5).
mail/ Configuration files for sendmail(1).
aliases* Username alias files.
sendmail.* sendmail(1) configuration
information.
mail.rc System-wide initialization script for mail(1).
man.conf Configuration file for man(1); see man.conf(5).
master.passwd Main password file, readable only by root; see
passwd(5).
mk.conf Optional file containing make(1) variables,
used to configure pkgsrc and the system
sources.
monthly Script run each month by cron(8).
monthly.conf Configuration file for monthly; see
monthly.conf(5).
motd System message of the day.
mtree/ mtree(8) configuration files.
named.*
namedb/ named(8) configuration files and databases.
netgroup Network groups; see netgroup(5).
networks Network name database; see networks(5).
openssl/ OpenSSL TLS trust anchors, configuration file,
private keys, and more. Returned by
X509_get_default_cert_area(3).
certs/ Hashed directory of trust anchors for
TLS certificate validation. Managed by
certctl(8) according to certs.conf.
See openssl_rehash(1). Returned by
X509_get_default_cert_dir(3).
certs/ca-certificates.crt
Bundle of TLS anchors in PEM format
formed by concatenation of PEM-format
certificates. Managed by certctl(8)
according to certs.conf.
certs.conf
Configuration file for certctl(8).
misc/ Miscellaneous OpenSSL scripts. Unused
in NetBSD base.
openssl.cnf
Optional default OpenSSL configuration
file. See openssl_config(5). Returned
by CONF_get1_default_config_file(3).
private/
Private key area. Read/write/execute
permitted only by root. Unused in
NetBSD base. Returned by
X509_get_default_private_dir(3).
passwd World readable password file generated from
master.passwd; see passwd(5), pwd_mkdb(8).
phones Remote host telephone number data base; see
phones(5).
printcap Printer configuration for lpr(1); see
printcap(5).
profile System-wide scripts for sh(1).
protocols Protocol name database; see protocols(5).
pwd.db Database form of passwd file; see pwd_mkdb(8).
rc Master system startup script invoked by
init(8); see rc(8).
rc.conf Configuration file for system startup and
shutdown scripts; see rc.conf(5).
rc.d/ Directory containing per-subsystem startup and
shutdown scripts; see rc(8).
rc.local Locally editable system startup script.
rc.shutdown Master system shutdown script invoked by
shutdown(8); see rc(8).
remote Remote host description file; see remote(5).
security Daily (in)security script run by cron(8).
security.conf Configuration file for security; see
security.conf(5).
services Service name data base; see services(5).
shells List of permitted shells; see shells(5).
skel/ Sample initialization files for new user
accounts.
sliphome/ SLIP login/logout scripts; see sliplogin(8).
spwd.db Database form of master.passwd file; see
pwd_mkdb(8).
syslog.conf syslogd(8) Configuration file; see
syslog.conf(5).
ttyaction Login hooks for specific ttys, typically used
to chown console devices. See ttyaction(5).
ttys Terminal initialization information; see
ttys(5).
weekly Script run each week by cron(8).
weekly.conf Configuration file for weekly; see
weekly.conf(5).
/home/ Default location for user home directories.
/kern/ Mount point for the kern file system; see mount_kernfs(8).
/lib/ Dynamic linked libraries used by dynamically linked programs
that cannot rely upon /usr/lib/ being available, such as those
in /bin/ and /sbin/.
/libdata/ Non-executable files (such as device firmware) required at
boot time, when /usr/libdata may not be available.
/libexec/ System utilities (such as the dynamic linker) required by
programs and libraries that cannot rely upon /usr/libexec/
being available.
/mnt/ Empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a
temporary mount point.
/net/ automounted NFS shares; see auto_master(5)
/netbsd Kernel executable image (the operating system loaded into
memory at boot time).
/proc/ Mount point for the process file system; see mount_procfs(8).
/rescue/ Statically linked rescue tools, for use in system recovery.
/root/ Home directory for the super-user.
.cshrc Super-user start-up file for csh(1).
.login super-user start-up file for csh(1).
.profile super-user start-up file for sh(1).
.rhosts Super-user id mapping between machines. (Obsolete.)
/sbin/ System programs and administration utilities used in both
single-user and multi-user environments.
/stand/ Programs used in a standalone environment, that is, things
that run on bare hardware without a kernel. Currently kernel
modules are also placed here, although this remains somewhat
controversial and they may yet get moved.
/tmp/ Temporary files. The contents of /tmp are usually not
preserved across a system reboot.
/usr/ Contains the majority of the system utilities and files.
X11R7/ X11 files (for X11 revision 7).
bin/ X11 binaries.
include/ X11 include files.
lib/ X11 libraries.
bin/ Common utilities, programming tools, and
applications.
games/ The important stuff.
include/ Standard C (and extension) include files.
arpa/ Include files for Internet service
protocols.
atf/ Include files for the Automated Testing
Framework; see atf(7).
g++/ Include files for the GNU C++ compiler.
machine/ Machine specific include files.
net/ Miscellaneous network include files.
netatalk/ C include files for AppleTalk protocols
see atalk(4).
netinet/ Include files for Internet standard
protocols; see inet(4).
netinet6/ Include files for Internet protocol
version 6; see inet6(4).
netipsec/ Include files for secret key management,
used for security protocols; see
ipsec(4).
nfs/ C include files for NFS (Network File
System).
protocols/ C include files for Berkeley service
protocols.
sys/ ``System-level'' C include files.
ufs/ C include files for several mutually
related file systems. (The `u' was
originally for UNIX.)
lib/ Archive, profiled, position independent archive, and
shared libraries.
lua/
5.3/ Lua 5.3 modules.
libdata/ Miscellaneous utility data files.
libexec/ System daemons & system utilities (executed by other
programs).
mdec/ Boot blocks, etc.
obj/ Architecture-specific target tree produced by
building the /usr/src tree; often a symbolic link or
mounted file system.
pkg/ Installed third-party software packages.
bin/ Package binaries.
etc/ Package configuration files.
include/ Package include files.
lib/ Package libraries.
libdata/ Package data files.
libexec/ Package daemons.
sbin/ Package system utilities.
pkgsrc/ Build descriptions (packaging) for the NetBSD
package system.
distfiles/ Downloaded upstream source archives.
packages/ Compiled binary packages.
There are also several other subdirectories which
contain packages of a certain category, e.g.,
archivers, graphics, ...
sbin/ System daemons and system utilities (normally
executed by the super-user).
share/ Architecture-independent files, mostly text.
calendar/ A variety of calendar files; see
calendar(1).
certs/mozilla/
X.509 certificates from Mozilla's curated
set of certificate authorities (CAs),
certdata.txt, in PEM format. See
https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA/Included_Certificates
for details. Used by certctl(8) to
populate OpenSSL trust anchors at
/etc/openssl/certs.
all/ Certificates of all CAs in
Mozilla certdata.txt, for all
purposes, including CAs Mozilla
may no longer trust.
code/ Certificates of CAs trusted by
Mozilla for code-signing.
email/ Certificates of CAs trusted by
Mozilla for email with S/MIME.
code/ Certificates of CAs trusted by
Mozilla for TLS server
authentication.
dict/ Word lists; see look(1) and spell(1).
words Common words.
web2 Words from Webster's Second
International Dictionary.
papers/ Reference databases; see
refer(1).
special/ Custom word lists; see
spell(1).
doc/ Miscellaneous documentation.
games/ Data files used by various games.
i18n/ internationalization databases; see
iconv(3).
locale/ Locale databases and gettext message
catalogs; see setlocale(3) and
gettext(3).
man/ Manual pages.
me/ Macros for use with the me(7) roff macro
package.
misc/ Miscellaneous system-wide text files.
terminfo Terminal characteristics
database; see terminfo(5).
terminfo.cdb database form of terminfo
file; see tic(1).
mk/ Include files for make(1).
ms/ Macros for use with the ms(7) roff macro
package.
nls/ Message catalogs; see catgets(3).
tmac/ Text processing macros; see nroff(1) and
troff(1).
zoneinfo/ Time zone database; see tzfile(5).
tests/ Test programs; see tests(7) for information on how
to run them.
/usr/src/ NetBSD and local source files.
bin/ Source for utilities/files in /bin.
common/ Sources shared between kernel and userland.
crypto/ Cryptographic source, which may have import or
export restrictions.
dist/ Third-party `virgin' source code, referenced by
other parts of the source tree. (Deprecated; use
external/ instead.)
distrib/ Tools and data files for making NetBSD releases and
distributions.
doc/ Documentation about the source tree (i.e., about
the tree, not about how to use the software in the
tree.)
etc/ Source (usually example files) for files in /etc.
external/ Source for programs from external third parties
(where NetBSD is the not the primary maintainer),
grouped by license, and then products per license.
apache2/ Apache 2.0 license.
bsd/ BSD (or equivalent) licensed
software, possibly with the
"advertising clause".
broadcom/ Broadcom firmware license.
cddl/ Common Development and
Distribution License (the Sun
license which is based on the
Mozilla Public License version
1.1).
gpl2/ GNU Public License, version 2 (or
earlier).
gpl3/ GNU Public License, version 3.
historical/ Lucent's old license.
ibm-public/ IBM's public license.
intel-fw-eula/ Intel firmware license with
redistribution restricted to OEM.
intel-fw-public/ Intel firmware license permitting
redistribution with terms similar
to BSD licensed software.
intel-public/ Intel license permitting
redistribution with terms similar
to BSD licensed software.
lgpl3/ GNU lesser general public
license, version 3.
mit/ MIT (X11) style license.
mpl/ Mozilla Public License.
zlib/ BSD-like zlib license.
games/ Source for utilities/files in /usr/games.
include/ Source for files in /usr/include.
lib/ Source for libraries in /usr/lib.
libexec/ Source for utilities/files in /usr/libexec.
regress/ Various legacy regression tests.
rescue/ Source/makefiles for /rescue.
sbin/ Source for utilities/files in /sbin.
share/ Source for files in /usr/share.
doc/
papers/ Source for various historical
technical papers (many from
Berkeley).
psd/ Source for Programmer's
Supplementary Documents.
smm/ Source for System Manager's Manual.
usd/ Source for User's Supplementary
Documents.
sys/ Kernel source files.
arch/ Architecture-specific support.
acorn32/ Acorn RiscPC/A7000 and
VLSI RC7500.
algor/ Algorithmics Ltd. MIPS
evaluations boards.
alpha/ Digital/Compaq Alpha.
amd64/ Computers with x86_64
capable CPUs.
amiga/ Commodore Amiga and
MacroSystem DraCo.
amigappc/ PowerPC based Amiga
boards.
arc/ MIPS-based machines
following the Advanced
RISC Computing spec.
arm/ ARM processor general
support.
atari/ Atari TT030, Falcon and
Hades.
bebox/ Be Inc. BeBox.
cats/ Chalice Technology's
CATS and Intel's
EBSA-285 evaluation
boards.
cesfic/ CES FIC8234 VME
processor board.
cobalt/ Cobalt Networks' MIPS-
based Microserver.
dreamcast/ Sega Dreamcast game
console.
emips/ Machines based on
Extensible MIPS.
evbarm/ ARM based evaluation
boards.
evbmips/ MIPS based evaluation
boards.
evbppc/ PowerPC based
evaluation boards and
appliances.
evbsh3/ SH3/SH4 based
evaluation boards.
ews4800mips/ NEC's MIPS based
EWS4800 workstations.
hp300/ Hewlett-Packard
9000/300 and 400
680x0-based
workstations.
hppa/ Hewlett-Packard
9000/700 and 9000/800
HPPA based
workstations.
hpcarm/ StrongARM based WinCE
PDA machines.
hpcmips/ MIPS based WinCE PDA
machines.
hpcsh/ Hitachi SH3/4 based
WinCE PDA machines.
hppa/ HPPA processor general
support.
i386/ 32-bit 80x86-based IBM
PCs and clones.
ibmnws/ IBM Network Station
1000.
iyonix/ Castle Technology's
Iyonix ARM based PCs.
luna68k/ Omron Tateishi
Electric's 680x0-based
LUNA workstations.
m68k/ 680x0 processor general
support.
mac68k/ Apple Macintosh with
68k CPU.
macppc/ Apple Power Macintosh
and clones.
mips/ MIPS processor general
support.
mipsco/ MIPS Computer Systems
Inc. family of
workstations and
servers.
mmeye/ Brains Inc. SH3 based
mmEye multimedia
server.
mvme68k/ Motorola MVME
680x0-based SBCs.
mvmeppc/ Motorola PowerPC VME
SBCs.
netwinder/ StrongARM based
NetWinder machines.
news68k/ Sony's 680x0-based NEWS
workstations.
newsmips/ Sony's MIPS-based NEWS
workstations.
next68k/ NeXT 68k "black"
hardware.
ofppc/ Open Firmware PowerPC
workstations.
playstation2/ SONY PlayStation 2.
pmax/ Digital MIPS-based
DECstations and
DECsystems.
powerpc/ PowerPC processor
general support.
prep/ PReP (PowerPC Reference
Platform) and CHRP
(Common Hardware
Reference Platform)
machines.
sandpoint/ Motorola Sandpoint
reference platform.
sbmips/ Broadcom/SiByte
evaluation boards.
sgimips/ Silicon Graphics' MIPS-
based workstations.
sh3/ SH3/SH4 processor
general support.
shark/ Digital DNARD
("Shark").
sparc/ Sun Microsystems SPARC
(32-bit) and UltraSPARC
(in 32-bit mode).
sparc64/ Sun Microsystems
UltraSPARC (in native
64-bit mode).
sun2/ Sun Microsystems
68010-based Sun 2
architecture.
sun3/ Sun Microsystems
68020/68030-based Sun
3/3x architecture.
sun68k/ 680x0-based Sun
architecture general
support.
vax/ Digital VAX.
x68k/ Sharp X680x0
680x0-based
workstations.
x86/ General support for
PC/AT compatibles with
ia32 or x86_64 CPUs.
xen/ The Xen virtual machine
monitor.
zaurus/ Sharp C3x00 Arm based
PDA.
compat/ Kernel compatibility modules
directory.
common/ Common compatibility
routines, old 4BSD and
NetBSD routines.
freebsd/ Support for FreeBSD
binaries; see
compat_freebsd(8).
hpux/ Support for 68000 HP-UX
binaries.
linux/ Support for Linux binaries;
see compat_linux(8).
m68k4k/ Support for 4KB page 68000
binaries.
netbsd32/ Support for NetBSD 32-bit
binaries on 64 bit
platforms with compatible
CPU families.
ossaudio/ Support for OSS audio.
sunos/ Support for SunOS 4.x
binaries; see
compat_sunos(8).
ultrix/ Support for ULTRIX
binaries.
vax1k/ Support for older VAX
binaries that started on a
1 KB boundary.
conf/ Architecture independent configuration
directory.
crypto/ Cryptographic kernel source, which may
have import or export restrictions.
ddb/ In-kernel debugger.
dev/ Architecture independent device
support.
fs/ File systems. See also ufs/ and
miscfs/.
adosfs/ AmigaDOS file-system
support; see
mount_ados(8).
cd9660/ Support for the ISO-9660
file system; see
mount_cd9660(8).
filecorefs/ Support for the Acorn
RISC OS filecore file
system; see
mount_filecore(8).
msdosfs/ MS-DOS file system; see
mount_msdos(8).
ntfs/ NTFS file system support;
see mount_ntfs(8).
ptyfs/ Pseudo-terminal device
file system; see
mount_ptyfs(8).
union/ Union file system; see
mount_union(8).
gdbscripts/ Support for accessing kernel
structures from within the debugger
gdb(1).
kern/ Primary kernel source code.
lib/ Libraries supporting the kernel.
libkern/ C library routines used in
the kernel.
libsa/ Machine-independent
standalone library, used by
boot loaders.
libz/ Compression library.
miscfs/ More file systems.
deadfs/ Kernel only dead file system.
fdesc/ File descriptor file system;
see mount_fdesc(8).
fifofs/ POSIX FIFO (named pipe)
support.
genfs/ Generic file system code that
supports other file systems.
kernfs/ Kernel namespace file system;
see mount_kernfs(8).
nullfs/ Loop back file system; see
mount_null(8).
overlay/
Overlay file system; see
mount_overlay(8).
procfs/ Process file system; see
mount_procfs(8).
specfs/ Support for block and
character special files.
syncfs/ Kernel trickle sync
algorithm.
umapfs/ User and group re-mapping
file system; see
mount_umap(8).
net/ Miscellaneous networking support.
netatalk/ AppleTalk networking support.
netinet/ IP networking support.
netinet6/ IPv6 networking support.
netipsec/ Key database for IPsec networking
support.
nfs/ NFS (network file system) support,
both client and server.
stand/ Kernel standalone support.
sys/ Kernel (and system) include files.
ufs/ Still more file systems.
chfs/
A FFS-based file system for use
on raw flash.
ext2fs/
The Linux ext2 file system.
ffs/ The Berkeley Fast File System.
lfs/ The Berkeley log-structured file
system.
mfs/ The in-memory file system.
ufs/ Shared UNIX file system support.
uvm/ UVM virtual memory system.
tests/ Source for test programs in /usr/tests.
usr.bin/ Source for utilities/files in /usr/bin.
usr.sbin/ Source for utilities/files in /usr/sbin.
/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).
backups/ Miscellaneous backup files, largely of files found
in /etc.
chroot/ Home directories of applications which are run in a
chroot(8) "cage".
crash/ System (kernel) crash dumps; see savecore(8).
cron/ Scheduled commands configuration files; see cron(8)
and crontab(5).
db/ Miscellaneous automatically generated system-
specific database files, and persistent files used
in the maintenance of third party software.
pkg Default location for metadata related
to third party software packages. See
pkg_add(1) for more details of the
NetBSD Packages Collection, or pkgsrc.
games/ Miscellaneous game status, log, and high score
files.
heimdal/ Kerberos 5 KDC database; see kdc(8).
log/ Miscellaneous system log files.
amd.* amd(8) logs.
daily.out Output of the last run of the
/etc/daily script.
ftp.* ftp(1) logs.
kerberos.* kerberos(8) logs.
lastlog System last-time-logged-in database;
see utmp(5).
lpd-errs.* Printer daemon error logs; see lpd(8).
maillog.* sendmail(1) and postfix(1) (and other
mail-related) log files.
messages.* General system information log.
monthly.out Output of the last run of the
/etc/monthly script.
secure Sensitive security information log.
sendmail.st sendmail(1) statistics.
timed.* timed(8) logs.
weekly.out Output of the last run of the
/etc/weekly script.
wtmp Login and logout log; see utmp(5).
wtmpx Another login and logout log; see
utmpx(5).
mail/ User e-mail inboxes.
msgs/ System messages; see msgs(1).
preserve/ Temporary home of files preserved after an
accidental death of ex(1) or vi(1).
quotas/ File system quota information. (Legacy.)
run/ System information files, rebuilt after each
reboot.
dmesg.boot
A dump from dmesg(8) taken at boot time.
utmp Database of currently logged in users; see
utmp(5).
utmpx
Another database of currently logged in
users; see utmpx(5).
rwho/ Rwho data files; see rwhod(8), rwho(1), and
ruptime(1).
spool/ Miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling
directories.
ftp/ Commonly "~ftp", the anonymous ftp root
directory; see ftpd(8).
mqueue/ Sendmail mail queue; see sendmail(1).
news/ Network news archival and spooling
directories.
output/ Printer spooling directories.
postfix/ Postfix mail queue; see postfix(1).
tmp/ Temporary files that are not discarded between
system reboots.
vi.recover/ Recovery directory for new (current)
vi(1).
yp/ Databases and configuration for the NIS (YP)
system; see nis(8).
SEE ALSO
apropos(1), ls(1), whatis(1), whereis(1), which(1), paths(3)
HISTORY
A hier manual page appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.
NetBSD 10.99 May 12, 2020 NetBSD 10.99