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Man Pages
HIER(7) FreeBSD Miscellaneous Information Manual HIER(7)

hier
layout of file systems

A sketch of the file system hierarchy.
/
root directory of the file system
/bin/
user utilities fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments
/boot/
programs and configuration files used during operating system bootstrap

defaults/
default bootstrapping configuration files; see loader.conf(5)
dtb/
Compiled flattened device tree (FDT) files; see fdt(4) and dtc(1)
efi/
Mount point for EFI System Partition (ESP) on UEFI systems
firmware/
loadable kernel modules containing binary firmware for hardware that needs firmware downloaded to it to function
kernel/
pure kernel executable (the operating system loaded into memory at boot time) and kernel modules
modules/
third-party loadable kernel modules, such as the ones installed from ports(7)
overlays/
Compiled flattened device tree (FDT) overlays; see fdt(4) and dtc(1)
zfs/
zfs(8) zpool cache files
/cdrom/
default mount point for CD-ROM drives
/compat/
normally a link to /usr/compat. If not, then the /usr/compat comments apply
/dev/
device special files managed by devfs(5)

fd/
file descriptor files; see fd(4)
/etc/
system configuration files and scripts

defaults/
default system configuration files; see rc(8)
bluetooth/
bluetooth configuration files
localtime
local timezone information; see ctime(3)
mail/
Sendmail control files
mtree/
mtree configuration files; see mtree(8)
pam.d/
configuration files for the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) library
periodic/
scripts that are run daily, weekly, and monthly, via cron(8); see periodic(8)
rc.d/
system and daemon startup/control scripts; see rc(8)
security/
OpenBSM audit configuration files; see audit(8)
ppp/
ppp configuration files; see ppp(8)
ssh/
OpenSSH configuration files; see ssh(1)
ssl/
OpenSSL configuration files
/lib/
critical system libraries needed for binaries in /bin and /sbin

casper/
service-specific libcasper(3) Capsicum support libraries
geom/
class-specific libraries for the geom(8) utility
nvmecontrol/
vendor-specific libraries to extend the nvmecontrol(8) utility
/libexec/
critical system utilities needed for binaries in /bin and /sbin
/media/
contains subdirectories to be used as mount points for removable media such as CDs, USB drives, and floppy disks
/mnt/
empty directory commonly used by system administrators as a temporary mount point
/net/
automounted NFS shares; see auto_master(5)
/proc/
process file system; see procfs(5)
/rescue/
statically linked programs for emergency recovery; see rescue(8)
/root/
root's HOME directory
/sbin/
system programs and administration utilities fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments
/tmp/
temporary files that are not guaranteed to persist across system reboots
/usr/
contains the majority of user utilities and applications

bin/
common utilities, programming tools, and applications
compat/
files needed to support binary compatibility with other operating systems; see linux(4)
include/
standard C include files

arpa/
C include files for Internet service protocols
bsnmp/
C include files for the SNMP daemon
c++/
C++ include files
cam/
C include files for the Common Access Methods Layer
scsi/
SCSI device on top of CAM
dev/
C include files for programming various FreeBSD devices
ic/
various header files describing driver- and bus-independent hardware circuits
ofw/
Open Firmware support
pbio/
8255 PPI cards; see pbio(4)
ppbus/
parallel port bus; see ppbus(4)
usb/
USB subsystem
fs/
fdescfs/
per-process file descriptors file system
msdosfs/
MS-DOS file system
nfs/
C include files for NFS (Network File System) version 2, 3 and 4
nullfs/
loopback file system
procfs/
process file system
smbfs/
SMB/CIFS file system
udf/
UDF file system
unionfs
union file system
geom/
GEOM framework
concat/
CONCAT GEOM class
gate/
GATE GEOM class
mirror/
MIRROR GEOM class
nop/
NOP GEOM class
raid3/
RAID3 GEOM class
stripe/
STRIPE GEOM class
libmilter/
C include files for libmilter, the sendmail(8) mail filter API
machine/
machine-specific C include files
net/
miscellaneous network C include files
altq/
C include files for alternate packet queueing; see altq(4)
net80211/
C include files for 802.11 wireless networking; see net80211(4)
netinet/
C include files for Internet standard protocols; see inet(4)
netinet6/
C include files for Internet protocol version 6; see inet6(4)
netipsec/
kernel key-management service; see ipsec(4)
netsmb/
SMB/CIFS requester
nfs/
C include files for NFS (Network File System) version 2 and 3 (legacy)
openssl/
OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit) headers
protocols/
C include files for Berkeley service protocols
rpc/
remote procedure calls; see rpc(3)
rpcsvc/
definition of RPC service structures; see rpc(3)
security/
PAM; see pam(8)
sys/
system C include files (kernel data structures)
ufs/
C include files for UFS (The U-word File System)
ffs/
Fast file system
ufs/
UFS file system
vm/
virtual memory; see vmstat(8)

lib/
shared and archive ar(1)-type libraries

aout/
a.out archive libraries
compat/
shared libraries for compatibility
aout/
a.out backward compatibility libraries
debug/
standalone debug data for the kernel and base system libraries and binaries
dtrace/
DTrace library scripts
engines/
OpenSSL (Cryptography/SSL toolkit) dynamically loadable engines

libdata/
miscellaneous utility data files

gcc/
gcc(1) configuration data
ldscripts/
linker scripts; see ld(1)

libexec/
system daemons & system utilities (executed by other programs)

aout/
utilities to manipulate a.out executables
elf/
utilities to manipulate ELF executables
lpr/
utilities and filters for LP print system; see lpr(1)
sendmail/
the sendmail(8) binary; see mailwrapper(8)
sm.bin/
restricted shell for sendmail(8); see smrsh(8)

local/
local executables, libraries, etc. Also used as the default destination for the ports(7) framework. Within local/, the general layout sketched out by hier for /usr should be used. Exceptions are the ports documentation (in share/doc/<port>/), and /usr/local/etc (mimics /etc).
obj/
architecture-specific target tree produced by building the /usr/src tree
ports/
FreeBSD ports collection; see ports(7)
sbin/
system daemons & system utilities (executed by users)
share/
architecture-independent files

calendar/
a variety of pre-fab calendar files; see calendar(1)
dict/
word lists; see look(1)
freebsd
FreeBSD-specific terms, proper names, and jargon
web2
words from Webster's 2nd International
doc/
miscellaneous documentation; source for most of the printed BSD manuals (available from the USENIX association)
FAQ/
Frequently Asked Questions
IPv6/
implementation notes for IPv6
es/
Spanish translations of documents in /usr/share/doc
handbook/
FreeBSD Handbook
ja/
Japanese translations of documents in /usr/share/doc
legal/
License files for vendor supplied firmware files
ncurses/
HTML documents pertaining to ncurses; see ncurses(3)
ntp/
HTML documents pertaining to the Network Time Protocol
ru/
Russian translations of documents in /usr/share/doc
tutorials/
FreeBSD tutorials
zh/
Chinese translations of documents in /usr/share/doc
examples/
various examples for users and programmers
firmware/
firmware images loaded by userland programs
games/
ASCII text files used by various games
keys/
known trusted and revoked keys
pkg/
fingerprints for pkg(7) and pkg(8)
locale/
localization files; see setlocale(3)
man/
manual pages
misc/
miscellaneous system-wide ASCII text files
fonts/
???
termcap
terminal characteristics database; see termcap(5)
mk/
templates for make; see make(1)
nls/
national language support files
security/
data files for security policies such as mac_lomac(4)
sendmail/
sendmail(8) configuration files
skel/
example . (dot) files for new accounts
snmp/
MIBs, example files and tree definitions for the SNMP daemon
defs/
tree definition files for use with gensnmptree(1)
mibs/
MIB files
syscons/
files used by syscons; see syscons(4)
fonts/
console fonts; see vidcontrol(1) and vidfont(1)
keymaps/
console keyboard maps; see kbdcontrol(1) and kbdmap(1)
scrnmaps/
console screen maps
tabset/
tab description files for a variety of terminals; used in the termcap file; see termcap(5)
vi/
localization support and utilities for vi(1)
vt/
files used by vt; see vt(4)
fonts/
console fonts; see vidcontrol(1) and vidfont(1)
keymaps/
console keyboard maps; see kbdcontrol(1) and kbdmap(1)
zoneinfo/
timezone configuration information; see tzfile(5)

src/
FreeBSD source code; see development(7)

bin/
source code for files in /bin
cddl/
utilities covered by the Common Development and Distribution License
contrib/
source code for contributed software
crypto/
source code for contributed cryptography software
etc/
source code for files in /etc
gnu/
utilities covered by the GNU General Public License
include/
source code for files in /usr/include
kerberos5/
build infrastructure for Kerberos version 5
lib/
source code for files in /lib and /usr/lib
libexec/
source code for files in /usr/libexec
release/
files required to produce a FreeBSD release
rescue/
source code for files in /rescue
sbin/
source code for files in /sbin
secure/
build directory for files in /usr/src/crypto
share/
source for files in /usr/share
stand/
boot loader source code
sys/
kernel source code
amd64/
AMD64 architecture support
arm/
ARM architecture support
arm64/
ARMv8 architecture support
cam/
cam(4) and ctl(4)
cddl/
CDDL-licensed optional sources, including ZFS and DTrace
ddb/
ddb(4)
fs/
most filesystems
dev/
device drivers
geom/
geom(4)
i386/
i386 (32 bit) architecture support
kern/
main part of the kernel
mips/
MIPS architecture support
net80211/
net80211(4)
netgraph/
netgraph(4)
netinet/
inet(4)
netinet6/
inet6(4)
netipsec/
ipsec(4)
netpfil/
ipfw(4) and pf(4)
opencrypto/
crypto(7)
powerpc/
PowerPC/POWER architecture support
riscv/
RISC-V architecture support
security/
audit(4) and mac(4)
sparc64/
SPARC64 architecture support
sys/
kernel headers
ufs/
Unix File System
x86/
code shared by AMD64 and i386 architectures
targets/
support for experimental DIRDEPS_BUILD
tests/
source code for files in /usr/tests
tools/
tools used for maintenance and testing of FreeBSD
usr.bin/
source code for files in /usr/bin
usr.sbin/
source code for files in /usr/sbin

tests/
The FreeBSD test suite; see tests(7)
/var/
multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files

account/
system accounting files

acct
execution accounting file; see acct(5)

at/
timed command scheduling files; see at(1)

jobs/
directory containing job files
spool/
directory containing output spool files

backups/
miscellaneous backup files
cache/
miscellaneous cached files

pkg/
cached packages for pkg(8)

crash/
default directory to store kernel crash dumps; see crash(8) and savecore(8)
cron/
files used by cron; see cron(8)

tabs/
crontab files; see crontab(5)

db/
miscellaneous automatically generated system-specific database files
empty/
empty directory for use by programs that need a specifically empty directory. Used for instance by sshd(8) for privilege separation
games/
miscellaneous game status and score files
heimdal/
Kerberos server databases; see kdc(8)
log/
miscellaneous system log files

utx.lastlogin
last login log; see getutxent(3)
utx.log
login/logout log; see getutxent(3)

mail/
user mailbox files
msgs/
system messages database; see msgs(1)
preserve/
temporary home of files preserved after an accidental death of an editor; see ex(1)
quotas/
file system quota information files
run/
system information files describing various info about system since it was booted

ppp/
writable by the “network” group for command connection sockets; see ppp(8)
utx.active
database of current users; see getutxent(3)

rwho/
rwho data files; see rwhod(8), rwho(1), and ruptime(1)
spool/
miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling directories

clientmqueue/
undelivered submission mail queue; see sendmail(8)
ftp/
commonly ~ftp; the anonymous ftp root directory
mqueue/
undelivered mail queue; see sendmail(8)
output/
line printer spooling directories

tmp/
temporary files that are kept between system reboots

vi.recover/
the directory where recovery files are stored

yp/
the NIS maps; see yp(8)

This manual page documents the default FreeBSD file system layout, but the actual hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system administrator's discretion. A well-maintained installation will include a customized version of this document.

apropos(1), find(1), grep(1), ls(1), whereis(1), which(1)

A hier manual page appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.
December 11, 2021 FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE

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