HIER(7)                    OpenBSD Reference Manual                    HIER(7)

NAME
     hier - layout of filesystems

DESCRIPTION
     A sketch of the filesystem hierarchy.

     /          Root directory.

     /altroot/  Alternate (backup) location for the root (`/') filesystem (see
                daily(8)).

     /bin/      User utilities fundamental to both single and multi-user envi-
                ronments.  These programs are statically compiled and there-
                fore do not depend on any system libraries to run.

     /bsd       Pure kernel executable (the operating system loaded into memo-
                ry at boot-time).

     /bsd.mp    Pure kernel executable for multi-processor machines.

     /bsd.rd    Installation kernel.  The built-in RAM disk contains utilities
                which can be run without an external file system, so this ker-
                nel is useful for limited system maintenance too.

     /dev/      Block and character device files.

                MAKEDEV  Script for creating device files (see MAKEDEV(8)).
                fd/      File descriptor files (see fd(4)).

     /emul/     Base directory for alternate areas searched first when system
                call emulation is in effect (see sysctl(8) and the system com-
                pat pages: compat_aout(8), compat_bsdos(8), compat_freebsd(8),
                compat_hpux(8), compat_ibcs2(8), compat_linux(8),
                compat_osf1(8), compat_sunos(8), compat_svr4(8), and
                compat_ultrix(8)).

     /etc/      System configuration files and scripts.

                localtime       Local time zone information (see ctime(3)).
                X11/            Configuration files for the X11 window system.
                afs/            AFS configuration files.
                amd/            Contains map files for amd(8).
                authpf/         Configuration files for the authenticating
                                gateway user shell (see authpf(8)).
                disklabels/     Backup disklabels (see disklabel(8)).
                firmware/       Firmware files for various devices.
                fonts/          Configuration files for X11 window system
                                fonts.
                hotplug/        Scripts for the hotplug daemon, hotplugd(8).
                isakmpd/        Configuration files for isakmpd(8).
                kerberosV/      Configuration files for the Kerberos version V
                                subsystem (see kerberos(8)).
                mail/           sendmail(8) configuration files (including
                                aliases(5)).
                mtree/          mtree configuration files (see mtree(8)).
                ppp/            pppd configuration files (see pppd(8)).
                raddb/servers/  List of radius servers and their associated
                                shared secrets for login_radius(8).
                skel/           Example `.' (dot) files for new accounts.
                skey/           One-time password user database for skey(1).
                sliphome/       Configuration files for sliplogin(8).
                ssh/            Configuration files for ssh(1) and sshd(8).
                ssl/            OpenSSL configuration files (see openssl(1)).
                systrace/       Sample systrace(1) policies.

     /home/     Default location for user home directories.

     /mnt/      Empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a
                temporary mount point.

     /root/     Default home directory for the superuser.

     /sbin/     System programs and administration utilities fundamental to
                both single and multi-user environments.  These programs are
                statically compiled and therefore do not depend on any system
                libraries to run.

     /stand/    Programs used in a stand-alone environment.

     /tmp/      Temporary files that are not preserved between system reboots.
                Periodically cleaned by daily(8).

     /usr/      Contains the majority of user utilities and applications.

                X11R6/    Files required for the X11 window system.

                          bin/      X11 binaries.
                          include/  X11-specific C include files.
                          lib/      X11 archive libraries.

                                    X11/        Default configuration files
                                                for X11 and companion applica-
                                                tions (see xdm(1), xkb(1),
                                                twm(1)).
                                    modules/    Various libraries and drivers
                                                for the X11 window system.
                                    pkgconfig/  Package metadata for
                                                pkgconfig(1).
                                    xorg/       Data files used by the X serv-
                                                er.

                          man/      X11 manual pages.
                          share/    Architecture independent data files.

                bin/      Common utilities, programming tools, and applica-
                          tions.
                games/    Useful and semi-frivolous programs.
                include/  Standard C include files.

                          altq/       C include files for the altq subsystem
                                      (see pf.conf(5)).
                          arpa/       C include files for Internet service
                                      protocols.
                          crypto/     C include files for the cryptographic
                                      libraries.
                          ddb/        C include files for the kernel debugger
                                      (see ddb(4)).
                          dev/        Device-specific C include files.
                          g++/        Include files for the GNU C++ compiler.
                          isofs/      C include files for the ISO standard
                                      file systems (currently only cd9660).
                          kerberosV/  C include files for the KerberosV au-
                                      thentication subsystem (see
                                      kerberos(8)).
                          libmilter/  C include files for the sendmail(8) mail
                                      filter API.
                          machine/    Machine specific C include files.
                          miscfs/     C include files for miscellaneous file
                                      systems.
                          net/        Miscellaneous network C include files.
                          net80211/   C include files for 802.11 wireless net-
                                      working.
                          netatalk/   C include files for the AppleTalk proto-
                                      col.
                          netbt/      C include files for the Bluetooth proto-
                                      col.
                          netinet/    C include files for Internet standard
                                      protocols (see inet(4)).
                          netinet6/   C include files for Internet protocol
                                      version 6 (see inet6(4)).
                          netmpls/    C include files for the MPLS protocol.
                          netnatm/    C include files for native mode ATM ac-
                                      cess.
                          nfs/        C include files for NFS (Network File
                                      System).
                          objc/       C include files for GNU Objective-C.
                          openssl/    C include files for the OpenSSL library
                                      (see ssl(8)).
                          protocols/  C include files for Berkeley service
                                      protocols.
                          readline/   C include files for the readline(3) li-
                                      brary.
                          rpc/        C include files for remote procedure
                                      calling (see rpc(5)).
                          rpcsvc/     C include files for rpcsvc.
                          scsi/       SCSI-specific C include files.
                          sys/        System C include files (kernel data
                                      structures).
                          ufs/        C include files for UFS (the U-word File
                                      System).
                          uvm/        C include files for the virtual memory
                                      interface.
                          xfs/        C include files for the XFS file system.

                lib/      System libraries.  See intro(3) for a description of
                          library types.
                libdata/  Miscellaneous utility data files.

                          cvs/        Placeholder for user contributed cvs(1)
                                      code/scripts.
                          ldscripts/  ELF linker scripts.
                          lint/       Prebuilt lint(1) libraries.
                          perl5/      Data files for perl(1).

                libexec/  System daemons and utilities (executed by other pro-
                          grams).

                          auth/         Login scripts used to authenticate
                                        users (for BSD authentication).
                          cvs/contrib/  User contributed cvs(1) scripts.
                          lpr/          Contains the lpf filter for lpd(8).
                          sendmail/     Contains the sendmail(8) binary.
                          sm.bin/       Binaries to be run by smrsh(8).
                          smtpd/        Binaries related to smtpd(8).

                lkm/      Loadable kernel modules.
                local/    Local executables, libraries, etc.
                mdec/     Boot-related executables.
                obj/      Architecture specific target tree produced by build-
                          ing the /usr/src tree.
                ports/    The OpenBSD ports collection (see ports(7)).
                sbin/     System daemons and utilities (executed by users).
                share/    Architecture independent data files.

                          calendar/    Variety of pre-fab calendar files (see
                                       calendar(1)).
                          dict/        Word lists (see look(1) and spell(1)).

                                       american     Spellings preferred in
                                                    American usage.
                                       british      Spellings preferred in
                                                    British usage.
                                       eign         List of common words.
                                       propernames  List of proper names.
                                       stop         Forms that would otherwise
                                                    be derivable by spell(1)
                                                    from words in the other
                                                    files in /usr/share/dict,
                                                    but should not be accept-
                                                    ed.
                                       web2         Words from Webster's 2nd
                                                    International.
                                       web2a        Additional words from Web-
                                                    ster's.
                                       words        Common words.
                                       papers/      Reference databases (see
                                                    refer(1)).
                                       special/     Custom word lists.

                          doc/         Miscellaneous documentation; source for
                                       most of the 4.3BSD manuals.

                                       html/  HTML documentation.
                                       psd/   UNIX Programmer's Supplementary
                                              Documents (PSD).
                                       smm/   UNIX System Manager's Manuals
                                              (SMM).
                                       usd/   UNIX User's Supplementary Docu-
                                              ments (USD).

                          games/       ASCII text files used by various games.
                          groff_font/  GNU troff shared fonts.
                          info/        Texinfo source files.
                          lkm/         Example source code implementing sever-
                                       al lkm module types (see lkm(4)).
                          locale/      Locales for multi-language support.
                          man/         Manual pages.

                                       cat*/   Preformatted man(1) pages.
                                               Layout similar to man (below).
                                       man1/   General commands (tools and
                                               utilities).
                                       man2/   System calls and error numbers.
                                       man3/   Libraries.
                                       man3p/  perl(1) programmers' reference
                                               guide.
                                       man4/   Special files and hardware sup-
                                               port.
                                       man5/   File formats.
                                       man6/   Games.
                                       man7/   Miscellaneous.
                                       man8/   System maintenance and opera-
                                               tion commands.
                                       man9/   Kernel internals.

                          misc/        Miscellaneous system-wide ASCII text
                                       files.

                                       termcap      Terminal characteristics
                                                    database (see termcap(5)).
                                       termcap.db   Hash database file con-
                                                    taining terminal descrip-
                                                    tions (see cap_mkdb(1)).
                                       terminfo.db  Terminal information
                                                    database.
                                       pcvtfonts/   Additional i386 console
                                                    fonts.

                          mk/          Templates for make (see make(1)).
                          nls/         National Language Support (NLS) cata-
                                       logs.
                          sendmail/    Example files for sendmail(8).
                          snmp/        Data files for snmpd(8).

                                       mibs/  Management Information Base
                                              (MIB) definitions.

                          tabset/      Tab description files for a variety of
                                       terminals; used in the termcap file
                                       (see termcap(5)).
                          texinfo/     Templates for texinfo(5).
                          tmac/        Text processing macros (see nroff(1)
                                       and troff(1)).
                          vi/catalog/  Catalog files for the vi(1) text edi-
                                       tor.
                          zoneinfo/    Time zone configuration information
                                       (see tzfile(5)).

                src/      BSD and/or local source files.

                          bin/        Source for files in /bin.
                          distrib/    Source for making distribution sets.
                          etc/        Source for files in /etc.
                          games/      Source for files in /usr/games.
                          gnu/        Source for files under GPL or other re-
                                      strictive licenses.
                          include/    Source for files in /usr/include.
                          kerberosV/  Source for Kerberos version V.
                          lib/        Source for files in /usr/lib.
                          libexec/    Source for files in /usr/libexec.
                          regress/    Regress framework.
                          sbin/       Source for files in /sbin.
                          share/      Source for files in /usr/share.
                          sys/        Kernel source files.
                          usr.bin/    Source for files in /usr/bin.
                          usr.sbin/   Source for files in /usr/sbin.

                xenocara/
                          Source for the X11 window system.

                xobj/     Architecture specific target tree produced by build-
                          ing the /usr/xenocara tree.

     /var/      Multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files.

                account/   System accounting files.

                           acct        Execution accounting file (see
                                       acct(5)).

                audit/     Audit logs.
                authpf/    PID file for authpf(8).
                backups/   Miscellaneous backup files.
                crash/     Crash dumps written by savecore(8).
                cron/      Spools and configuration files for cron(8) and
                           at(1).

                           atjobs/     at(1) jobs.
                           tabs/       Individual crontab(1) files.

                db/        Miscellaneous, automatically generated system-spe-
                           cific database files.
                empty/     Generic chroot(2) directory.
                games/     Miscellaneous game status and log files.
                log/       Miscellaneous system log files.

                           wtmp        Login/logout log (see wtmp(5)).
                           rdist/      Log files for rdist(1).

                mail/      User mailbox files.
                msgs/      Database for msgs(1).
                named/     Chroot directory for named(8).
                quotas/    Filesystem quota information files.
                run/       System information files describing various info
                           about the system since it was booted.

                           utmp        Database of current users (see
                                       utmp(5)).
                           sudo/       Timestamps for sudo(8).

                rwho/      rwho data files (see rwhod(8), rwho(1), and
                           ruptime(1)).
                spool/     Miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling di-
                           rectories.

                           clientmqueue/  Mail messages waiting to be pro-
                                          cessed by the sendmail clientmqueue
                                          helper task (see sendmail(8)).
                           ftp/           Commonly ~ftp; the anonymous ftp
                                          root directory.
                           lock/          Lock files for utilities such as
                                          cu(1), tip(1) and uucp.
                           mqueue/        Undelivered mail queue (see
                                          sendmail(8)).
                           output/        Line printer spooling directories.
                           smtpd/         Mail spool for smtpd(8).
                           uucp/          uucp spool directory.
                           uucppublic/    Commonly ~uucp; public uucp tempo-
                                          rary directory.

                tmp/       Temporary files that are kept between system re-
                           boots.  Periodically cleaned by daily(8).
                www/       ServerRoot point for httpd(8).
                yp/        Files for the yp(8) subsystem.

SEE ALSO
     apropos(1), find(1), locate(1), whatis(1), whereis(1), which(1)

HISTORY
     A hier manual page appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD 4.7                    February 11, 2010                             6
