file-hierarchy

FILE-HIERARCHY(7)               file-hierarchy               FILE-HIERARCHY(7)

NAME
       file-hierarchy - File system hierarchy overview

DESCRIPTION
       Operating systems using the systemd(1) system and service manager are
       organized based on a file system hierarchy inspired by UNIX, more
       specifically the hierarchy described in the File System Hierarchy[1]
       specification and hier(7), with various extensions, partially
       documented in the XDG Base Directory Specification[2] and XDG User
       Directories[3]. This manual page describes a more generalized, though
       minimal and modernized subset of these specifications that defines more
       strictly the suggestions and restrictions systemd makes on the file
       system hierarchy.

       Many of the paths described here can be queried with the systemd-
       path(1) tool.

GENERAL STRUCTURE
       /
           The file system root. Usually writable, but this is not required.
           Possibly a temporary file system ("tmpfs"). Not shared with other
           hosts (unless read-only).

       /boot/
           The boot partition used for bringing up the system. On EFI systems,
           this is possibly the EFI System Partition (ESP), also see systemd-
           gpt-auto-generator(8). This directory is usually strictly local to
           the host, and should be considered read-only, except when a new
           kernel or boot loader is installed. This directory only exists on
           systems that run on physical or emulated hardware that requires
           boot loaders.

       /efi/
           If the boot partition /boot/ is maintained separately from the EFI
           System Partition (ESP), the latter is mounted here. Tools that need
           to operate on the EFI system partition should look for it at this
           mount point first, and fall back to /boot/ -- if the former doesn't
           qualify (for example if it is not a mount point or does not have
           the correct file system type MSDOS_SUPER_MAGIC).

       /etc/
           System-specific configuration. This directory may or may not be
           read-only. Frequently, this directory is pre-populated with
           vendor-supplied configuration files, but applications should not
           make assumptions about this directory being fully populated or
           populated at all, and should fall back to defaults if configuration
           is missing.

       /home/
           The location for normal user's home directories. Possibly shared
           with other systems, and never read-only. This directory should only
           be used for normal users, never for system users. This directory
           and possibly the directories contained within it might only become
           available or writable in late boot or even only after user
           authentication. This directory might be placed on
           limited-functionality network file systems, hence applications
           should not assume the full set of file API is available on this
           directory. Applications should generally not reference this
           directory directly, but via the per-user $HOME environment
           variable, or via the home directory field of the user database.

       /root/
           The home directory of the root user. The root user's home directory
           is located outside of /home/ in order to make sure the root user
           may log in even without /home/ being available and mounted.

       /srv/
           The place to store general server payload, managed by the
           administrator. No restrictions are made how this directory is
           organized internally. Generally writable, and possibly shared among
           systems. This directory might become available or writable only
           very late during boot.

       /tmp/
           The place for small temporary files. This directory is usually
           mounted as a "tmpfs" instance, and should hence not be used for
           larger files. (Use /var/tmp/ for larger files.) Since the directory
           is accessible to other users of the system, it is essential that
           this directory is only written to with the mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3)
           and related calls. This directory is usually flushed at boot-up.
           Also, files that are not accessed within a certain time are usually
           automatically deleted. If applications find the environment
           variable $TMPDIR set, they should prefer using the directory
           specified in it over directly referencing /tmp/ (see environ(7) and
           IEEE Std 1003.1[4] for details). For further details about this
           directory, see Using /tmp/ And /var/tmp/ Safely[5].

RUNTIME DATA
       /run/
           A "tmpfs" file system for system packages to place runtime data in.
           This directory is flushed on boot, and generally writable for
           privileged programs only. Always writable.

       /run/log/
           Runtime system logs. System components may place private logs in
           this directory. Always writable, even when /var/log/ might not be
           accessible yet.

       /run/user/
           Contains per-user runtime directories, each usually individually
           mounted "tmpfs" instances. Always writable, flushed at each reboot
           and when the user logs out. User code should not reference this
           directory directly, but via the $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment
           variable, as documented in the XDG Base Directory Specification[2].

VENDOR-SUPPLIED OPERATING SYSTEM RESOURCES
       /usr/
           Vendor-supplied operating system resources. Usually read-only, but
           this is not required. Possibly shared between multiple hosts. This
           directory should not be modified by the administrator, except when
           installing or removing vendor-supplied packages.

       /usr/bin/
           Binaries and executables for user commands that shall appear in the
           $PATH search path. It is recommended not to place binaries in this
           directory that are not useful for invocation from a shell (such as
           daemon binaries); these should be placed in a subdirectory of
           /usr/lib/ instead.

       /usr/include/
           C and C++ API header files of system libraries.

       /usr/lib/
           Static, private vendor data that is compatible with all
           architectures (though not necessarily architecture-independent).
           Note that this includes internal executables or other binaries that
           are not regularly invoked from a shell. Such binaries may be for
           any architecture supported by the system. Do not place public
           libraries in this directory, use $libdir (see below), instead.

       /lib/arch-id/
           Location for placing dynamic libraries into, also called $libdir.
           The architecture identifier to use is defined on Multiarch
           Architecture Specifiers (Tuples)[6] list. Legacy locations of
           $libdir are /lib/, /lib64/. This directory should not be used for
           package-specific data, unless this data is architecture-dependent,
           too. To query $libdir for the primary architecture of the system,
           invoke:

               # systemd-path system-library-arch

       /usr/share/
           Resources shared between multiple packages, such as documentation,
           man pages, time zone information, fonts and other resources.
           Usually, the precise location and format of files stored below this
           directory is subject to specifications that ensure
           interoperability.

       /usr/share/doc/
           Documentation for the operating system or system packages.

       /usr/share/factory/etc/
           Repository for vendor-supplied default configuration files. This
           directory should be populated with pristine vendor versions of all
           configuration files that may be placed in /etc/. This is useful to
           compare the local configuration of a system with vendor defaults
           and to populate the local configuration with defaults.

       /usr/share/factory/var/
           Similar to /usr/share/factory/etc/, but for vendor versions of
           files in the variable, persistent data directory /var/.

PERSISTENT VARIABLE SYSTEM DATA
       /var/
           Persistent, variable system data. Must be writable. This directory
           might be pre-populated with vendor-supplied data, but applications
           should be able to reconstruct necessary files and directories in
           this subhierarchy should they be missing, as the system might start
           up without this directory being populated. Persistency is
           recommended, but optional, to support ephemeral systems. This
           directory might become available or writable only very late during
           boot. Components that are required to operate during early boot
           hence shall not unconditionally rely on this directory.

       /var/cache/
           Persistent system cache data. System components may place
           non-essential data in this directory. Flushing this directory
           should have no effect on operation of programs, except for
           increased runtimes necessary to rebuild these caches.

       /var/lib/
           Persistent system data. System components may place private data in
           this directory.

       /var/log/
           Persistent system logs. System components may place private logs in
           this directory, though it is recommended to do most logging via the
           syslog(3) and sd_journal_print(3) calls.

       /var/spool/
           Persistent system spool data, such as printer or mail queues.

       /var/tmp/
           The place for larger and persistent temporary files. In contrast to
           /tmp/, this directory is usually mounted from a persistent physical
           file system and can thus accept larger files. (Use /tmp/ for
           smaller files.) This directory is generally not flushed at boot-up,
           but time-based cleanup of files that have not been accessed for a
           certain time is applied. The same security restrictions as with
           /tmp/ apply, and hence only mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3) or similar calls
           should be used to make use of this directory. If applications find
           the environment variable $TMPDIR set, they should prefer using the
           directory specified in it over directly referencing /var/tmp/ (see
           environ(7) for details). For further details about this directory,
           see Using /tmp/ And /var/tmp/ Safely[5].

VIRTUAL KERNEL AND API FILE SYSTEMS
       /dev/
           The root directory for device nodes. Usually, this directory is
           mounted as a "devtmpfs" instance, but might be of a different type
           in sandboxed/containerized setups. This directory is managed
           jointly by the kernel and systemd-udevd(8), and should not be
           written to by other components. A number of special purpose virtual
           file systems might be mounted below this directory.

       /dev/shm/
           Place for POSIX shared memory segments, as created via shm_open(3).
           This directory is flushed on boot, and is a "tmpfs" file system.
           Since all users have write access to this directory, special care
           should be taken to avoid name clashes and vulnerabilities. For
           normal users, shared memory segments in this directory are usually
           deleted when the user logs out. Usually, it is a better idea to use
           memory mapped files in /run/ (for system programs) or
           $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (for user programs) instead of POSIX shared memory
           segments, since these directories are not world-writable and hence
           not vulnerable to security-sensitive name clashes.

       /proc/
           A virtual kernel file system exposing the process list and other
           functionality. This file system is mostly an API to interface with
           the kernel and not a place where normal files may be stored. For
           details, see proc(5). A number of special purpose virtual file
           systems might be mounted below this directory.

       /proc/sys/
           A hierarchy below /proc/ that exposes a number of kernel tunables.
           The primary way to configure the settings in this API file tree is
           via sysctl.d(5) files. In sandboxed/containerized setups, this
           directory is generally mounted read-only.

       /sys/
           A virtual kernel file system exposing discovered devices and other
           functionality. This file system is mostly an API to interface with
           the kernel and not a place where normal files may be stored. In
           sandboxed/containerized setups, this directory is generally mounted
           read-only. A number of special purpose virtual file systems might
           be mounted below this directory.

COMPATIBILITY SYMLINKS
       /bin/, /sbin/, /usr/sbin/
           These compatibility symlinks point to /usr/bin/, ensuring that
           scripts and binaries referencing these legacy paths correctly find
           their binaries.

       /lib/
           This compatibility symlink points to /lib/, ensuring that programs
           referencing this legacy path correctly find their resources.

       /lib64/
           On some architecture ABIs, this compatibility symlink points to
           $libdir, ensuring that binaries referencing this legacy path
           correctly find their dynamic loader. This symlink only exists on
           architectures whose ABI places the dynamic loader in this path.

       /var/run/
           This compatibility symlink points to /run/, ensuring that programs
           referencing this legacy path correctly find their runtime data.

HOME DIRECTORY
       User applications may want to place files and directories in the user's
       home directory. They should follow the following basic structure. Note
       that some of these directories are also standardized (though more
       weakly) by the XDG Base Directory Specification[2]. Additional
       locations for high-level user resources are defined by
       xdg-user-dirs[3].

       ~/.cache/
           Persistent user cache data. User programs may place non-essential
           data in this directory. Flushing this directory should have no
           effect on operation of programs, except for increased runtimes
           necessary to rebuild these caches. If an application finds
           $XDG_CACHE_HOME set, it should use the directory specified in it
           instead of this directory.

       ~/.config/
           Application configuration and state. When a new user is created,
           this directory will be empty or not exist at all. Applications
           should fall back to defaults should their configuration or state in
           this directory be missing. If an application finds $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
           set, it should use the directory specified in it instead of this
           directory.

       ~/.local/bin/
           Executables that shall appear in the user's $PATH search path. It
           is recommended not to place executables in this directory that are
           not useful for invocation from a shell; these should be placed in a
           subdirectory of ~/.local/lib/ instead. Care should be taken when
           placing architecture-dependent binaries in this place, which might
           be problematic if the home directory is shared between multiple
           hosts with different architectures.

       ~/.local/lib/
           Static, private vendor data that is compatible with all
           architectures.

       ~/.local/lib/arch-id/
           Location for placing public dynamic libraries. The architecture
           identifier to use is defined on Multiarch Architecture Specifiers
           (Tuples)[6] list.

       ~/.local/share/
           Resources shared between multiple packages, such as fonts or
           artwork. Usually, the precise location and format of files stored
           below this directory is subject to specifications that ensure
           interoperability. If an application finds $XDG_DATA_HOME set, it
           should use the directory specified in it instead of this directory.

UNPRIVILEGED WRITE ACCESS
       Unprivileged processes generally lack write access to most of the
       hierarchy.

       The exceptions for normal users are /tmp/, /var/tmp/, /dev/shm/, as
       well as the home directory $HOME (usually found below /home/) and the
       runtime directory $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (found below /run/user/) of the
       user, which are all writable.

       For unprivileged system processes, only /tmp/, /var/tmp/ and /dev/shm/
       are writable. If an unprivileged system process needs a private
       writable directory in /var/ or /run/, it is recommended to either
       create it before dropping privileges in the daemon code, to create it
       via tmpfiles.d(5) fragments during boot, or via the StateDirectory= and
       RuntimeDirectory= directives of service units (see systemd.unit(5) for
       details).

NODE TYPES
       Unix file systems support different types of file nodes, including
       regular files, directories, symlinks, character and block device nodes,
       sockets and FIFOs.

       It is strongly recommended that /dev/ is the only location below which
       device nodes shall be placed. Similarly, /run/ shall be the only
       location to place sockets and FIFOs. Regular files, directories and
       symlinks may be used in all directories.

SYSTEM PACKAGES
       Developers of system packages should follow strict rules when placing
       their own files in the file system. The following table lists
       recommended locations for specific types of files supplied by the
       vendor.

       Table 1. System Package Vendor Files Locations
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |Directory             | Purpose                    |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |/usr/bin/             | Package executables that   |
       |                      | shall appear in the $PATH  |
       |                      | executable search path,    |
       |                      | compiled for any of the    |
       |                      | supported architectures    |
       |                      | compatible with the        |
       |                      | operating system. It is    |
       |                      | not recommended to place   |
       |                      | internal binaries or       |
       |                      | binaries that are not      |
       |                      | commonly invoked from the  |
       |                      | shell in this directory,   |
       |                      | such as daemon binaries.   |
       |                      | As this directory is       |
       |                      | shared with most other     |
       |                      | packages of the system,    |
       |                      | special care should be     |
       |                      | taken to pick unique names |
       |                      | for files placed here,     |
       |                      | that are unlikely to clash |
       |                      | with other package's       |
       |                      | files.                     |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |/lib/arch-id/         | Public shared libraries of |
       |                      | the package. As above, be  |
       |                      | careful with using too     |
       |                      | generic names, and pick    |
       |                      | unique names for your      |
       |                      | libraries to place here to |
       |                      | avoid name clashes.        |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |/lib/package/         | Private static vendor      |
       |                      | resources of the package,  |
       |                      | including private binaries |
       |                      | and libraries, or any      |
       |                      | other kind of read-only    |
       |                      | vendor data.               |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |/lib/arch-id/package/ | Private other vendor       |
       |                      | resources of the package   |
       |                      | that are                   |
       |                      | architecture-specific and  |
       |                      | cannot be shared between   |
       |                      | architectures. Note that   |
       |                      | this generally does not    |
       |                      | include private            |
       |                      | executables since binaries |
       |                      | of a specific architecture |
       |                      | may be freely invoked from |
       |                      | any other supported system |
       |                      | architecture.              |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+
       |/usr/include/package/ | Public C/C++ APIs of       |
       |                      | public shared libraries of |
       |                      | the package.               |
       +----------------------+----------------------------+

       Additional static vendor files may be installed in the /usr/share/
       hierarchy to the locations defined by the various relevant
       specifications.

       During runtime, and for local configuration and state, additional
       directories are defined:

       Table 2. System Package Variable Files Locations
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |Directory           | Purpose                    |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/etc/package/       | System-specific            |
       |                    | configuration for the      |
       |                    | package. It is recommended |
       |                    | to default to safe         |
       |                    | fallbacks if this          |
       |                    | configuration is missing,  |
       |                    | if this is possible.       |
       |                    | Alternatively, a           |
       |                    | tmpfiles.d(5) fragment may |
       |                    | be used to copy or symlink |
       |                    | the necessary files and    |
       |                    | directories from           |
       |                    | /usr/share/factory/ during |
       |                    | boot, via the "L" or "C"   |
       |                    | directives.                |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/run/package/       | Runtime data for the       |
       |                    | package. Packages must be  |
       |                    | able to create the         |
       |                    | necessary subdirectories   |
       |                    | in this tree on their own, |
       |                    | since the directory is     |
       |                    | flushed automatically on   |
       |                    | boot. Alternatively, a     |
       |                    | tmpfiles.d(5) fragment may |
       |                    | be used to create the      |
       |                    | necessary directories      |
       |                    | during boot, or the        |
       |                    | RuntimeDirectory=          |
       |                    | directive of service units |
       |                    | may be used to create them |
       |                    | at service startup (see    |
       |                    | systemd.unit(5) for        |
       |                    | details).                  |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/run/log/package/   | Runtime log data for the   |
       |                    | package. As above, the     |
       |                    | package needs to make sure |
       |                    | to create this directory   |
       |                    | if necessary, as it will   |
       |                    | be flushed on every boot.  |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/var/cache/package/ | Persistent cache data of   |
       |                    | the package. If this       |
       |                    | directory is flushed, the  |
       |                    | application should work    |
       |                    | correctly on next          |
       |                    | invocation, though         |
       |                    | possibly slowed down due   |
       |                    | to the need to rebuild any |
       |                    | local cache files. The     |
       |                    | application must be        |
       |                    | capable of recreating this |
       |                    | directory should it be     |
       |                    | missing and necessary. To  |
       |                    | create an empty directory, |
       |                    | a tmpfiles.d(5) fragment   |
       |                    | or the CacheDirectory=     |
       |                    | directive of service units |
       |                    | (see systemd.unit(5)) may  |
       |                    | be used.                   |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/var/lib/package/   | Persistent private data of |
       |                    | the package. This is the   |
       |                    | primary place to put       |
       |                    | persistent data that does  |
       |                    | not fall into the other    |
       |                    | categories listed.         |
       |                    | Packages should be able to |
       |                    | create the necessary       |
       |                    | subdirectories in this     |
       |                    | tree on their own, since   |
       |                    | the directory might be     |
       |                    | missing on boot. To create |
       |                    | an empty directory, a      |
       |                    | tmpfiles.d(5) fragment or  |
       |                    | the StateDirectory=        |
       |                    | directive of service units |
       |                    | (see systemd.unit(5)) may  |
       |                    | be used.                   |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/var/log/package/   | Persistent log data of the |
       |                    | package. As above, the     |
       |                    | package should make sure   |
       |                    | to create this directory   |
       |                    | if necessary, possibly     |
       |                    | using tmpfiles.d(5) or     |
       |                    | LogsDirectory= (see        |
       |                    | systemd.unit(5)), as it    |
       |                    | might be missing.          |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+
       |/var/spool/package/ | Persistent spool/queue     |
       |                    | data of the package. As    |
       |                    | above, the package should  |
       |                    | make sure to create this   |
       |                    | directory if necessary, as |
       |                    | it might be missing.       |
       +--------------------+----------------------------+

USER PACKAGES
       Programs running in user context should follow strict rules when
       placing their own files in the user's home directory. The following
       table lists recommended locations in the home directory for specific
       types of files supplied by the vendor if the application is installed
       in the home directory. (Note, however, that user applications installed
       system-wide should follow the rules outlined above regarding placing
       vendor files.)

       Table 3. User Package Vendor File Locations
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+
       |Directory                     | Purpose                    |
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.local/bin/                 | Package executables that   |
       |                              | shall appear in the $PATH  |
       |                              | executable search path. It |
       |                              | is not recommended to      |
       |                              | place internal executables |
       |                              | or executables that are    |
       |                              | not commonly invoked from  |
       |                              | the shell in this          |
       |                              | directory, such as daemon  |
       |                              | executables. As this       |
       |                              | directory is shared with   |
       |                              | most other packages of the |
       |                              | user, special care should  |
       |                              | be taken to pick unique    |
       |                              | names for files placed     |
       |                              | here, that are unlikely to |
       |                              | clash with other package's |
       |                              | files.                     |
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.local/lib/arch-id/         | Public shared libraries of |
       |                              | the package. As above, be  |
       |                              | careful with using too     |
       |                              | generic names, and pick    |
       |                              | unique names for your      |
       |                              | libraries to place here to |
       |                              | avoid name clashes.        |
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.local/lib/package/         | Private, static vendor     |
       |                              | resources of the package,  |
       |                              | compatible with any        |
       |                              | architecture, or any other |
       |                              | kind of read-only vendor   |
       |                              | data.                      |
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.local/lib/arch-id/package/ | Private other vendor       |
       |                              | resources of the package   |
       |                              | that are                   |
       |                              | architecture-specific and  |
       |                              | cannot be shared between   |
       |                              | architectures.             |
       +------------------------------+----------------------------+

       Additional static vendor files may be installed in the ~/.local/share/
       hierarchy to the locations defined by the various relevant
       specifications.

       During runtime, and for local configuration and state, additional
       directories are defined:

       Table 4. User Package Variable File Locations
       +--------------------------+----------------------------+
       |Directory                 | Purpose                    |
       +--------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.config/package/        | User-specific              |
       |                          | configuration and state    |
       |                          | for the package. It is     |
       |                          | required to default to     |
       |                          | safe fallbacks if this     |
       |                          | configuration is missing.  |
       +--------------------------+----------------------------+
       |$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/package/ | User runtime data for the  |
       |                          | package.                   |
       +--------------------------+----------------------------+
       |~/.cache/package/         | Persistent cache data of   |
       |                          | the package. If this       |
       |                          | directory is flushed, the  |
       |                          | application should work    |
       |                          | correctly on next          |
       |                          | invocation, though         |
       |                          | possibly slowed down due   |
       |                          | to the need to rebuild any |
       |                          | local cache files. The     |
       |                          | application must be        |
       |                          | capable of recreating this |
       |                          | directory should it be     |
       |                          | missing and necessary.     |
       +--------------------------+----------------------------+

SEE ALSO
       systemd(1), hier(7), systemd-path(1), systemd-gpt-auto-generator(8),
       sysctl.d(5), tmpfiles.d(5), pkg-config(1), systemd.unit(5)

NOTES
        1. File System Hierarchy
           http://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs-3.0.html

        2. XDG Base Directory Specification
           http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html

        3. XDG User Directories
           https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/xdg-user-dirs/

        4. IEEE Std 1003.1
           http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap08.html#tag_08_03

        5. Using /tmp/ And /var/tmp/ Safely
           https://systemd.io/TEMPORARY_DIRECTORIES

        6. Multiarch Architecture Specifiers (Tuples)
           https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/Tuples

systemd 245                                                  FILE-HIERARCHY(7)
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