Appendix E. System Directories
This is a list of the primary Red Hat Enterprise Linux system directories. Each directory is described briefly. For additional directory information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reference Guide.
/bin/ — Used to store user commands. The directory /usr/bin/ also stores user commands.
/sbin/ — Location of many system commands, such as shutdown. The directory /usr/sbin/ also contains many system commands.
/root/ — The home directory of root, the superuser.
/misc/ — This directory is used for automatically mounting directories on removeable devices (such as Zip drives) and remote directories (such as NFS shares) using autofs. Refer to the autofs manual page (type man autofs at a shell prompt) for more information.
/mnt/ — This directory typically contains the mount points for file systems mounted after the system is booted. For example, the default CD-ROM mount point is /mnt/cdrom/.
/boot/ — Contains the kernel and other files used during system startup.
/lost+found/ — Used by fsck to place orphaned files (files without names).
/lib/ — Contains many device modules and library files used by programs in /bin/ and /sbin/. The directory /usr/lib/ contains library files for user applications.
/dev/ — Stores device files.
/etc/ — Contains configuration files and directories.
/var/ — For variable (or constantly changing) files, such as log files and the printer spool.
/usr/ — Contains files and directories directly relating to users of the system, such as programs and supporting library files.
/proc/ — A virtual file system (not actually stored on the disk) that contains system information used by certain programs.
/initrd/ — A directory that is used to mount the initrd.img image file and load needed device modules during bootup.
Warning Do not delete the /initrd/ directory. You will be unable to boot your computer if you delete the directory and then reboot your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.
/tftpboot/ — Contains files and applications needed for Preboot Execution Environment (PXE), a service that allows client machines and machines without hard drives to boot an operating system from an image on a central PXE server.
/tmp/ — The temporary directory for users and programs. /tmp/ allows all users on a system read and write access.
/home/ — Default location of user home directories.
/opt/ — Directory where optional files and programs are stored. This directory is used mainly by third-party developers for easy installation and uninstallation of their software packages.