Provided by: systemd_255.4-1ubuntu8.5_amd64 
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).
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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).
Added in version 239.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.) This directory is
usually flushed at boot-up. Also, files that are not accessed within a certain time may be
automatically deleted.
If applications find the environment variable $TMPDIR set, they should use the directory specified in
it instead of /tmp/ (see environ(7) and IEEE Std 1003.1[4] for details).
Since /tmp/ is accessible to other users of the system, it is essential that files and subdirectories
under this directory are only created with mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3), and similar calls. For more
details, see Using /tmp/ and /var/tmp/ Safely[5].
Added in version 215.
RUNTIME DATA
/run/
A "tmpfs" file system for system packages to place runtime data, socket files, and similar. This
directory is flushed on boot, and generally writable for privileged programs only. Always writable.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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].
Added in version 215.
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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/usr/include/
C and C++ API header files of system libraries.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/usr/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
/usr/lib/, /usr/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
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/usr/share/doc/
Documentation for the operating system or system packages.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/usr/share/factory/var/
Similar to /usr/share/factory/etc/, but for vendor versions of files in the variable, persistent data
directory /var/.
Added in version 215.
PERSISTENT VARIABLE SYSTEM DATA
/var/
Persistent, variable system data. Writable during normal system operation. 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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/var/lib/
Persistent system data. System components may place private data in this directory.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/var/spool/
Persistent system spool data, such as printer or mail queues.
Added in version 215.
/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 small
ephemeral 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.
If applications find the environment variable $TMPDIR set, they should use the directory specified in
it instead of /var/tmp/ (see environ(7) for details).
The same security restrictions as with /tmp/ apply: mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3), and similar calls should
be used. For further details about this directory, see Using /tmp/ and /var/tmp/ Safely[5].
Added in version 215.
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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/sys/fs/cgroup/
A virtual kernel file system exposing process control groups (cgroups). This file system is an API to
interface with the kernel and not a place where normal files may be stored. On current systems
running in the default "unified" mode, this directory serves as the mount point for the "cgroup2"
filesystem, which provides a unified cgroup hierarchy for all resource controllers. On systems with
non-default configurations, this directory may instead be a tmpfs filesystem containing mount points
for various "cgroup" (v1) resource controllers; in such configurations, if "cgroup2" is mounted it
will be mounted on /sys/fs/cgroup/unified/, but cgroup2 will not have resource controllers attached.
In sandboxed/containerized setups, this directory may either not exist or may include a subset of
functionality.
Added in version 251.
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.
Added in version 215.
/lib/
This compatibility symlink points to /usr/lib/, ensuring that programs referencing this legacy path
correctly find their resources.
Added in version 215.
/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.
Added in version 215.
/var/run/
This compatibility symlink points to /run/, ensuring that programs referencing this legacy path
correctly find their runtime data.
Added in version 215.
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.
Added in version 215.
~/.config/
Application configuration. 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 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.
Added in version 215.
~/.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.
Added in version 215.
~/.local/lib/
Static, private vendor data that is compatible with all architectures.
Added in version 215.
~/.local/lib/arch-id/
Location for placing public dynamic libraries. The architecture identifier to use is defined on
Multiarch Architecture Specifiers (Tuples)[6] list.
Added in version 215.
~/.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.
Added in version 215.
~/.local/state/
Application 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 state in this directory be missing. If an
application finds $XDG_STATE_HOME set, it should use the directory specified in it instead of this
directory.
Added in version 254.
WRITE ACCESS
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).
/tmp/, /var/tmp/ and /dev/shm/ should be mounted nosuid and nodev, which means that set-user-id mode and
character or block special devices are not interpreted on those file systems. In general it is not
possible to mount them noexec, because various programs use those directories for dynamically generated
or optimized code, and with that flag those use cases would break. Using this flag is OK on
special-purpose installations or systems where all software that may be installed is known and doesn't
require such functionality. See the discussion of nosuid/nodev/noexec in mount(8) and PROT_EXEC in
mmap(2).
Lack of Write Access on Read-Only Systems and during System Recovery
As noted above, some systems operate with the /usr and /etc hierarchies mounted read-only, possibly only
allowing write access during package upgrades. Other part of the hierarchy are generally mounted
read-write (in particular /var and /var/tmp), but may be read-only when the kernel remounts the file
system read-only in response to errors, or when the system is booted read-only for recovery purposes. To
the extent reasonable, applications should be prepared to execute without write access, so that for
example, failure to save non-essential data to /var/cache/ or failure to create a custom log file under
/var/log does not prevent the application from running.
The /run/ directory is available since the earliest boot and is always writable. It should be used for
any runtime data and sockets, so that write access to e.g. /etc or /var is not needed.
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 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. │
├──────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│/usr/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. │
├──────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│/usr/lib/package/ │ Private static vendor resources of │
│ │ the package, including private │
│ │ binaries and libraries, or any other │
│ │ kind of read-only vendor data. │
├──────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│/usr/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.
The following directories shall be used by the package for local configuration and files created during
runtime:
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.exec(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. (User applications
installed system-wide are covered by the rules outlined above for vendor files.)
Table 3. Vendor package file locations under the home directory of the user
┌──────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┐
│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 overly 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, mirroring the
subdirectories specified in the section "Vendor-supplied operating system resources" above.
The following directories shall be used by the package for per-user local configuration and files created
during runtime:
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
https://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