Definition:

  • bin/: command binaries for commands, example /bin/ls is binaries for ls command
  • boot/: system boot loader files
  • dev/: Stores hardware and software device drivers. This directory maintains file system entries that represent the devices connected to the system (for example, the /dev/sda1 partition).
  • etc/: system-wide config
    • passwd: user and group info
    • shadow: user password reset, expire info
    • profile
    • bash
    • skel/
      • files for template, all new users have these files
    • login.defs
    • group: existing group and any users account that are a member
    • sudoers:
      • sudo users, edit with visudo command
      • The syntax for /etc/sudoers entries is username hostname = (user) command
        • username is the user to whom privileges are being given
        • hostname is the terminal from which commands can be run
        • user is the level of access
        • command is the delegated executable.
      • ex: strix ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: SHUTDOWN_CMDS where SHUTDOWN_CMDS is alias for all shutdown/reboot system commands
    • share/
      • polkit-t/
        • rules.d with js files for local policies
      • polkit-1/
        • rules.d with js files for third-party policies
    • ssh/
      • sshd_config: configure who is allowed to remotely connect to the server, what level of remote access they will have, also instruction or warning message.
  • home/: user home dir, $HOME or ~
    • user1/
      • .bash_profile
  • lib/: Stores shared program libraries required by the kernel, command-line utilities, and binaries.
  • media/: media file such as CD-ROM
  • mnt/: temporary mount
  • opt/: Stores optional files of large software packages. These packages normally create a subdirectory bearing their name under the /opt directory and then place their files in the subdirectory. For example, the /opt/nessus subdirectory contains files for the Nessus vulnerability scanning program.
  • proc/: a [Virtual File System] that represents continually updated kernel information to the user in a typical file format (for example, the /proc/mounts file).
  • root/: home dir for root
  • run/: run-time program data
  • sbin/: Stores binaries that are used for completing the booting process and also the ones that are used by the root user. For example, the /sbin/ifconfig file is the binary for the ifconfig command that is used to manage network interfaces on the system
  • srv/: site-specific data served by this system
  • sys/: a Virtual File System (VFS), primarily stores information about devices. For example, /sys/block includes links to devices that are stored in various subdirectories under the /sys/ devices/ location, which presents a hierarchy of devices in the kernel.
  • tmp/: temporary files
  • usr/: unix system resources, read-only dir that stores small programs and file accessible to all users
    • bin/: include executable programs that can be executed by all users
    • local/: include custom build applications that are stored here by default
    • lib/: including object libraries and internal library that are needed by the executable programs
    • lib64/: same as lib/ but for 64 bit system
    • share/: Includes read-only architecture independent files. These files can be shared among different architectures of an operating system.
      • doc/
      • pokit-1/
        • actions/
          • .policy with XML files for defining actions
    • sbin/
  • var/: files that is expected to continuously change, Examples include log files, printer spools, and some networking services’ configuration files.