November 2004
Beginner
580 pages
12h 51m
English
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Chapter 9. Managing Files and Partitions
Introduction
Understanding filesystem fundamentals is key to understanding how Linux works. Everything is a file—data files, partitions, pipes, sockets, and hardware devices. Directories are simply files that list other files.
The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) was developed as a voluntary standard. Most Linuxes follow it. These are the required elements of the Linux root filesystem:
- /
Root directory, even though it is always represented at the top
- /bin
Essential system commands
- /boot
Static boot loader files
- /dev
Device files
- /etc
Host-specific system configuration files
- /lib
Shared libraries needed to run the local system
- /mnt
Temporary mount points
- /opt
Add-on software packages (not used much in Linux)
- /proc
Live kernel snapshot and configuration
- /sbin
System administration commands
- /tmp
Temporary files—a well-behaved system flushes them between startups
- /usr
Shareable, read-only data and binaries
- /var
Variably sized files, such as mail spools and logs
These are considered optional because they can be located anywhere on a network, whereas the required directories must be present to run the machine:
- /home
User’s personal files
- /root
Superuser’s personal files
The FHS goes into great detail on each directory, for those who are interested. Here are some things for the Linux user to keep in mind:
/tmp and /var can go in their own individual partitions, as a security measure. If something goes awry and causes them to fill up uncontrollably, they will be isolated from ...
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