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3.1 /: The root directory 3.2 The Directory Structure 3.3 /dev:The Directory to Devices 3.4 /proc: The Directory of Processes 3.5 More Information on Linux Directory
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In the root directory you will find the following subdirectories.
*Note* Depending on the distribution you are using, you may or
may not have all of the following directories.
| /bin | /etc | /lost+found | /proc | /tmp |
| /boot | /home | /mnt | /root | /usr |
| /dev | /lib | /opt | /sbin | /var |
Once you have a basic understanding of the GNU/Linux directory structure, it is easy to find and modify any file you wish.
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/bin directory has basic executables for commands, such as
ls, sync, cat.The /bin directory holds
programs that make the system usable, but aren't absolutely necessary to
have to keep the system running.
The next directory is /boot. Not all distributions have this
directory. If present, it usually contains kernels and boot maps for
booting.
Next is the /dev directory, which is an interface to the devices
attached to the computer. The files in /dev are not actually
drivers. For more information, see 3.3 /dev:The Directory to Devices.
Next is the directory /etc. /etc holds the configuration
files for most applications. All manner of systems configuration files
go in /etc.
Next is the directory /home/user. The files created by the users
of their own that they need to store are usually stored in
/home/user. Each user has a user name and a directory in
/home with that user name to use as their home directory. They can
place any kind of files there, and set up permissions to allow exactly
whom they wish to see their data.
The next directory is /lib.The /lib directory contains shared
object libraries that are needed by programs,which make system and
library calls. The directories /usr/X11R6/lib, /usr/lib and
/usr/local/lib are other repositories of libraries.
Next is the directory /lost+found. Files can be lost due to
improper shutdown. The /lost+found directory is used for any
pieces of files that can't be identified when the file system is cleaned
up. If you lose some data mysteriously, check here.
/mnt is a mount point for temporarily mounted file systems.
Usually to use floppy and CD-ROM drives, they are mounted in the
/mnt directory. Some distributions use /cdrom for CD-ROMs
and /mnt for floppies, while still others use /mnt/cdrom
for CD-ROMs and /mnt/floppy for floppies.
Next is /proc. /proc is used as an interface to kernel
data structure. For more information, see 3.4 /proc: The Directory of Processes.
The /root directory is the home directory of root (the system
administrator). Often, in /root, you will find programs or
scripts written by root that perform some task for the machine.
The /sbin directory contains binaries that normal users generally
don't need-- binaries meant for root. Other sbin directories are
/usr/sbin, /usr/local/sbin.
The /tmp directory is used as scratch space. If you are
decompressing an application but the combined size of the zip file and
the untarred data is too large for your /home, use can use
/tmp for temporarily storing the zip file.The /tmp
directory is meant to be used as storage space. It is usually deleted
often to keep the system clean, so you shouldn't leave files laying
around in there.
/usr contains many files for users (as the name implies) and
their programs. It has sub directories similar to those in the root
directory, i.e. /usr/lib,/usr/bin etc. /usr/src has the
source code for apps and the Linux kernel resides here.
Finally, there is the /var directory. As the name implies it is
used to store variable files (in size or time or content). It is used to
store temporary material, like files waiting to be printed or mail
waiting to be read, and you don't know how long you will need to store
them (so /tmp isn't an option). /var/tmp can be used to
store temporary information here instead of in /tmp. The
advantage is that /var/tmp doesn't get deleted regularly.
With an understanding of where files are located in GNU/Linux, system maintenance becomes easier.
However, the two directories, /proc and /dev are not at
first glance easily understandable. They are, however, powerful tools
for understanding and using GNU/Linux. I have covered them separately.
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Block devices read data in larger chunks. Data storage devices, such as IDE hard drives, SCSI hard drives, and CD- ROMs are block devices. Input/output interactions with block devices transact with chunks of data, which allows large quantities of data to be moved back and forth more efficiently.
Devices are often named after the equipment they represent. For example,
devices name /dev/hd* represent IDE hard disks (hd).
In some cases, there may be multiple devices of the same type. For
instance, a machine may have two ATAPI CD-ROMS. Two devices will be used
-- one for each device. For instance, /dev/cdrom0 will be the
first CD-ROM, and /dev/cdrom1 will be the second.
A hard disk device name is composed of the type of disk followed by the
position of the disk, and then the disk partition. The first hard disk
may be called /dev/hda, with the "hd" part indicating that it is
an IDE hard disk, and the "a" part indicating that it is the first hard
disk. /dev/hdb would then refer to the second hard disk. Each
hard disk is divided into partitions. The first partition on the first
hard drive would be /dev/hda1, where the "1" at the end indicates
the location of the partition.
SCSI hard disks use /dev/sd instead of /dev/hd, but
otherwise the convention is the same.
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/proc file system is where the kernel stores
information about processes. /proc is controlled by the kernel and does
not have an underlying device. In addition to storing information about
specific processes, the /proc file system contains a great deal
of information generated by the kernel itself to describe the state of
the system.
The kernel and its modules may generate files in /proc to provide
information about their current state.
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man
hier. It has a detailed explanation on the hierarchy of the Linux
directory structure. When you press q, you will exit from the man
pageman proc 5. This will give
you a very detailed explanation of the files and directories found in
the /proc directory. To exit the man page type q.
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