The Linux File Hierarchy Standard (FHS). This describes what the folders are for on your root directory and what is typically stored there. Everything item in Linux is treated like a file.
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/bin/
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Binaries
(basic shell commands, like ls, cat, grep, etc.) |
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/sbin/
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System Binaries
(binaries that a system admin would use. A standard user typically needs permissions to access these. Both bin and sbin are needed to be accessed in single mode, a special mode that boots you as root user to do repairs and upgrades |
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/boot/
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Boot Loaders
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/dev/
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Devices
(hardware, including webcams and keyboards; hard drive "a" would be /dev/sda and the first partition on that hard drive would be /dev/sda1) |
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/etc/
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Et Cetera
(where all system-wide configurations are stored*) |
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/home/
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Home
(all your personal files, documents, and downloads; user settings are also stored here in hidden files (those beginning with a "."), namely the .bashrc or .local for individual application or desktop settings.) |
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/lib/, /lib32/, /lib64/
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Libraries
(files that binaries need to run certain application settings) |
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/media/
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Flash Drives
(removable drives and devices; Linux automatically installs these) |
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/mnt/
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Mounted Drives
(permanent storage) |
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/opt/
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Optional
(manually installed software from vendors and some repositories) |
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/proc/
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System Processes and Resources
(processes being run in your system/task manager) |
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/root/
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Root User's Home Folder
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/run/
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Run
(tempfs file system; everything in it runs in RAM, so files are created as startup and deleted at shutdown; Used for processes that start early in the boot procedure) |
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/snap/
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Snap Packages
(mainly used by Ubuntu; completely self-contained packages) |
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/srv/
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Services
(where service data is stored; typically a place to store files you want a server to access if you run a server) |
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/sys/
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System
(a way to interact with the Linux kernel; everything in here runs in RAM, so files are created at startup and deleted at shutdown) |
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/usr/
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User Applications
(where user applications are stored; applications installed here considered non-essential for basic system operation; Installed applications are stored in /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, usr/local/sbin and their libraries in /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib; Most programs installed from source code are in the local folders and larger programs in /usr/share) |
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/var/
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Variable
(used to store files that grow in size, like /var/crash for crashes, /var/log/ for program logs, and things like databases for mail and the printer spool, etc.) |
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