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</style><a href="index.html">Index </a>·
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<a href="../libudev/index.html">gudev </a><span style="float:right">systemd 217</span><hr><div class="refentry"><a name="file-hierarchy"></a><div class="titlepage"></div><div class="refnamediv"><h2>Name</h2><p>file-hierarchy — File system hierarchy overview</p></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214179616496"></a><h2 id="Description">Description<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Description"></a></h2><p>Operating systems using the
<a href="systemd.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd</span>(1)</span></a>
system and service manager are organized based on a
file system hierarchy inspired by UNIX, more
specifically the hierarchy described in the <a class="ulink" href="http://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_2.3/fhs-2.3.html" target="_top">File
System Hierarchy</a> specification and
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/hier.7.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">hier</span>(7)</span></a>. This
manual page describes a more minimal, modernized
subset of these specifications that defines more
strictly the suggestions and restrictions systemd
makes on the file system hierarchy.</p><p>Many of the paths described here are queriable
with the
<a href="systemd-path.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd-path</span>(1)</span></a>
tool.</p></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214175827696"></a><h2 id="General Structure">General Structure<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#General%20Structure"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/"></a></dt><dd><p>The file system
root. Usually writable, but this is
not required. Possibly a temporary
file system ("<code class="literal">tmpfs</code>"). Not shared with
other hosts (unless read-only).
</p></dd><dt id="/boot"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/boot</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/boot"></a></dt><dd><p>The boot partition
used for bringing up the system. On
EFI systems this is possibly the EFI
System Partition, also see
<a href="systemd-efi-boot-generator.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd-efi-boot-generator</span>(8)</span></a>. 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.</p></dd><dt id="/etc"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/etc</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/etc"></a></dt><dd><p>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.</p></dd><dt id="/home"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/home</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/home"></a></dt><dd><p>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
<code class="varname">$HOME</code> environment
variable, or via the home directory
field of the user
database.</p></dd><dt id="/root"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/root</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/root"></a></dt><dd><p>The home directory of
the root user. The root user's home
directory is located outside of
<code class="filename">/home</code> in order to
make sure the root user may log in
even without <code class="filename">/home</code>
being available and
mounted.</p></dd><dt id="/srv"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/srv</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/srv"></a></dt><dd><p>The place to store
general server payload, managed by the
administrator. No restrictions are
made how this directory is organized
internally. Generally writable, and
possibly shared among systems. This
directory might become available or
writable only very late during
boot.</p></dd><dt id="/tmp"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/tmp</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/tmp"></a></dt><dd><p>The place for small
temporary files. This directory is
usually mounted as
a "<code class="literal">tmpfs</code>" instance, and
should hence not be used for larger
files. (Use
<code class="filename">/var/tmp</code> for
larger files.) Since the directory is
accessible to other users of the
system it is essential that this
directory is only written to with the
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/mkstemp.3.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">mkstemp</span>(3)</span></a>,
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/mkdtemp.3.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">mkdtemp</span>(3)</span></a>
and related calls. This directory is
usually flushed at boot-up. Also,
files that are not accessed within a
certain time are usually automatically
deleted. If applications find the
environment variable
<code class="varname">$TMPDIR</code> set they
should prefer using the directory
specified in it over directly
referencing
<code class="filename">/tmp</code> (see <a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/environ.7.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">environ</span>(7)</span></a>
and
<a class="ulink" href="http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap08.html#tag_08_03" target="_top">IEEE Std 1003.1</a> for details).</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214179691648"></a><h2 id="Runtime Data">Runtime Data<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Runtime%20Data"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/run"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/run</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/run"></a></dt><dd><p>A
"<code class="literal">tmpfs</code>" file system
for system packages to place runtime
data in. This directory is flushed on
boot, and generally writable for
privileged programs
only. Always writable.</p></dd><dt id="/run/log"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/run/log</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/run/log"></a></dt><dd><p>Runtime system
logs. System components may place
private logs in this directory. Always
writable, even when
<code class="filename">/var/log</code> might
not be accessible
yet.</p></dd><dt id="/run/user"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/run/user</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/run/user"></a></dt><dd><p>Contains per-user
runtime directories, each usually
individually mounted
"<code class="literal">tmpfs</code>"
instances. Always writable, flushed at
each reboot and when the user logs
out. User code should not reference
this directory directly, but via the
<code class="varname">$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</code>
environment variable, as documented in
the <a class="ulink" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html" target="_top">XDG
Base Directory
Specification</a>.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214179680832"></a><h2 id="Vendor-supplied Operating System Resources">Vendor-supplied Operating System Resources<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Vendor-supplied%20Operating%20System%20Resources"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/usr"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr"></a></dt><dd><p>Vendor-supplied
operating system resources. Usually
read-only, but this is not
required. Possibly shared between
multiple hosts. This directory should
not be modified by the administrator,
except when installing or removing
vendor-supplied
packages.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/bin"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/bin</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/bin"></a></dt><dd><p>Binaries and
executables for user commands, that
shall appear in the
<code class="varname">$PATH</code> 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
<code class="filename">/usr/lib</code>
instead.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/include"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/include</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/include"></a></dt><dd><p>C and C++ API header
files of system
libraries.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/lib"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/lib</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/lib"></a></dt><dd><p>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
<code class="varname">$libdir</code> (see
below), instead.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/lib/arch-id"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em></code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/lib/arch-id"></a></dt><dd><p>Location for placing
dynamic libraries, also called <code class="varname">$libdir</code>.
The architecture identifier to use is defined on <a class="ulink" href="https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/Tuples" target="_top">Multiarch Architecture Specifiers (Tuples)</a>
list. Legacy locations of <code class="varname">$libdir</code> are
<code class="filename">/usr/lib</code>,
<code class="filename">/usr/lib64</code>.
This directory should not
be used for package-specific data,
unless this data is
architecture-dependent, too. To query
<code class="varname">$libdir</code> for the
primary architecture of the system,
invoke:
</p><pre class="programlisting"># pkg-config --variable=libdir systemd</pre><p> or
</p><pre class="programlisting"># systemd-path system-library-arch</pre><p>
</p></dd><dt id="/usr/share"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/share</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/share"></a></dt><dd><p>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.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/share/doc"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/share/doc</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/share/doc"></a></dt><dd><p>Documentation for the
operating system or system
packages.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/share/factory/etc"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/share/factory/etc</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/share/factory/etc"></a></dt><dd><p>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
<code class="filename">/etc</code>. This is
useful to compare the local
configuration of a system with vendor
defaults and to populate the local
configuration with
defaults.</p></dd><dt id="/usr/share/factory/var"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/share/factory/var</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/usr/share/factory/var"></a></dt><dd><p>Similar to
<code class="filename">/usr/share/factory/etc</code>
but for vendor versions of files in
the variable, persistent data
directory
<code class="filename">/var</code>.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174739888"></a><h2 id="Persistent Variable System Data">Persistent Variable System Data<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Persistent%20Variable%20System%20Data"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/var"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var"></a></dt><dd><p>Persistent, variable
system data. Must be writable. 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.</p></dd><dt id="/var/cache"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/cache</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/cache"></a></dt><dd><p>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.</p></dd><dt id="/var/lib"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/lib</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/lib"></a></dt><dd><p>Persistent system
data. System components may
place private data in this
directory.</p></dd><dt id="/var/log"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/log</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/log"></a></dt><dd><p>Persistent system
logs. System components may place
private logs in this directory, though
it is recommended to do most logging
via the
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/syslog.3.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">syslog</span>(3)</span></a>
and
<a href="sd_journal_print.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">sd_journal_print</span>(3)</span></a>
calls.</p></dd><dt id="/var/spool"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/spool</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/spool"></a></dt><dd><p>Persistent system
spool data, such as printer or mail
queues.</p></dd><dt id="/var/tmp"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/tmp</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/tmp"></a></dt><dd><p>The place for larger
and persistent temporary files. In
contrast to <code class="filename">/tmp</code>
this directory is usually mounted from
a persistent physical file system and
can thus accept larger files. (Use
<code class="filename">/tmp</code> for smaller
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. The same security
restrictions as with
<code class="filename">/tmp</code> apply, and
hence only
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/mkstemp.3.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">mkstemp</span>(3)</span></a>,
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/mkdtemp.3.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">mkdtemp</span>(3)</span></a>
or similar calls should be used to
make use of this directory. If
applications find the environment
variable <code class="varname">$TMPDIR</code>
set they should prefer using the
directory specified in it over
directly referencing
<code class="filename">/var/tmp</code> (see <a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/environ.7.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">environ</span>(7)</span></a>
for details).
</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174717600"></a><h2 id="Virtual Kernel and API File Systems">Virtual Kernel and API File Systems<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Virtual%20Kernel%20and%20API%20File%20Systems"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/dev"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/dev</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/dev"></a></dt><dd><p>The root directory for
device nodes. Usually this directory
is mounted as a
"<code class="literal">devtmpfs</code>" instance,
but might be of a different type in
sandboxed/containerized setups. This
directory is managed jointly by the
kernel and
<a href="systemd-udevd.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd-udevd</span>(8)</span></a>,
and should not be written to by other
components. A number of special
purpose virtual file systems might be
mounted below this
directory.</p></dd><dt id="/dev/shm"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/dev/shm</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/dev/shm"></a></dt><dd><p>Place for POSIX shared
memory segments, as created via
<a href="shm_open.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">shm_open</span>(3)</span></a>. This
directory is flushed on boot, and is a
"<code class="literal">tmpfs</code>" 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
<code class="filename">/run</code> (for system
programs) or
<code class="varname">$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</code>
(for user programs) instead of POSIX
shared memory segments, since those
directories are not world-writable and
hence not vulnerable to
security-sensitive name
clashes.</p></dd><dt id="/proc"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/proc</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/proc"></a></dt><dd><p>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
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/proc.5.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">proc</span>(5)</span></a>. A
number of special purpose virtual file
systems might be mounted below this
directory.</p></dd><dt id="/proc/sys"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/proc/sys</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/proc/sys"></a></dt><dd><p>A hierarchy below
<code class="filename">/proc</code> that
exposes a number of kernel
tunables. The primary way to configure
the settings in this API file tree is
via
<a href="sysctl.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">sysctl.d</span>(5)</span></a>
files. In sandboxed/containerized
setups this directory is generally
mounted read-only.</p></dd><dt id="/sys"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/sys</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/sys"></a></dt><dd><p>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.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174697984"></a><h2 id="Compatibility Symlinks">Compatibility Symlinks<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Compatibility%20Symlinks"></a></h2><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="/bin"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/bin</code>, </span><span class="term"><code class="filename">/sbin</code>, </span><span class="term"><code class="filename">/usr/sbin</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/bin"></a></dt><dd><p>These compatibility
symlinks point to
<code class="filename">/usr/bin</code>,
ensuring that scripts and binaries
referencing these legacy paths
correctly find their binaries.</p></dd><dt id="/lib"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/lib</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/lib"></a></dt><dd><p>This compatibility
symlink points to
<code class="filename">/usr/lib</code>,
ensuring that programs referencing
this legacy path correctly find
their resources.</p></dd><dt id="/lib64"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/lib64</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/lib64"></a></dt><dd><p>On some architecture
ABIs this compatibility symlink points
to <code class="varname">$libdir</code>,
ensuring that binaries referencing
this legacy path correctly find their
dynamic loader. This symlink only
exists on architectures whose ABI
places the dynamic loader in this
path.</p></dd><dt id="/var/run"><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/run</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#/var/run"></a></dt><dd><p>This compatibility
symlink points to
<code class="filename">/run</code>, ensuring
that programs referencing this legacy
path correctly find their runtime
data.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174685008"></a><h2 id="Home Directory">Home Directory<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Home%20Directory"></a></h2><p>User applications may want to place files and
directories in the user's home directory. They should
follow the following basic structure. Note that some
of these directories are also standardized (though
more weakly) by the <a class="ulink" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html" target="_top">XDG
Base Directory Specification</a>. Additional
locations for high-level user resources are defined by
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/xdg-user-dirs/" target="_top">xdg-user-dirs</a>.</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="~/.cache"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.cache</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.cache"></a></dt><dd><p>Persistent user cache
data. User programs may place
non-essential data in this
directory. Flushing this directory
should have no effect on operation of
programs, except for increased
runtimes necessary to rebuild these
caches. If an application finds
<code class="varname">$XDG_CACHE_HOME</code> set
is should use the directory specified
in it instead of this
directory.</p></dd><dt id="~/.config"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.config</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.config"></a></dt><dd><p>Application
configuration and 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 configuration or
state in this directory be missing. If
an application finds
<code class="varname">$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</code> set
is should use the directory specified
in it instead of this
directory.</p></dd><dt id="~/.local/bin"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.local/bin</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.local/bin"></a></dt><dd><p>Executables that shall
appear in the user's
<code class="varname">$PATH</code> 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
<code class="filename">~/.local/lib</code>
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.</p></dd><dt id="~/.local/lib"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.local/lib</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.local/lib"></a></dt><dd><p>Static, private vendor
data that is compatible with all
architectures.</p></dd><dt id="~/.local/lib/arch-id"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.local/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em></code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.local/lib/arch-id"></a></dt><dd><p>Location for placing
public dynamic libraries. The architecture
identifier to use, is defined on <a class="ulink" href="https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch/Tuples" target="_top">Multiarch Architecture Specifiers (Tuples)</a>
list.</p></dd><dt id="~/.local/share"><span class="term"><code class="filename">~/.local/share</code></span><a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this term" href="#~/.local/share"></a></dt><dd><p>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
<code class="varname">$XDG_DATA_HOME</code> set
is should use the directory specified
in it instead of this
directory.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174656944"></a><h2 id="Unprivileged Write Access">Unprivileged Write Access<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Unprivileged%20Write%20Access"></a></h2><p>Unprivileged processes generally lack
write access to most of the hierarchy.</p><p>The exceptions for normal users are
<code class="filename">/tmp</code>,
<code class="filename">/var/tmp</code>,
<code class="filename">/dev/shm</code>, as well as the home
directory <code class="varname">$HOME</code> (usually found
below <code class="filename">/home</code>) and the runtime
directory <code class="varname">$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</code> (found
below <code class="filename">/run/user</code>) of the
user, which are all writable.</p><p>For unprivileged system processes only
<code class="filename">/tmp</code>,
<code class="filename">/var/tmp</code> and
<code class="filename">/dev/shm</code> are writable. If an
unprivileged system process needs a private, writable
directory in <code class="filename">/var</code> or
<code class="filename">/run</code>, it is recommended to either
create it before dropping privileges in the daemon
code, to create it via
<a href="tmpfiles.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">tmpfiles.d</span>(5)</span></a>
fragments during boot, or via the
<code class="varname">RuntimeDirectory=</code> directive of
service units (see
<a href="systemd.unit.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd.unit</span>(5)</span></a>
for details).</p></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174645504"></a><h2 id="Node Types">Node Types<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#Node%20Types"></a></h2><p>Unix file systems support different types of file
nodes, including regular files, directories, symlinks,
character and block device nodes, sockets and FIFOs.</p><p>It is strongly recommended that
<code class="filename">/dev</code> is the only location below
which device nodes shall be placed. Similar,
<code class="filename">/run</code> shall be the only location
to place sockets and FIFOs. Regular files,
directories and symlinks may be used in all
directories.</p></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174642192"></a><h2 id="System Packages">System Packages<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#System%20Packages"></a></h2><p>Developers of system packages should follow
strict rules when placing their own files in the file
system. The following table lists recommended
locations for specific types of files supplied by the
vendor.</p><div class="table"><a name="idm214174640880"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 1. System Package Vendor Files Locations</b></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="System Package Vendor Files Locations" border="1"><colgroup><col align="left" class="directory"><col align="left" class="purpose"></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left">Directory</th><th align="left">Purpose</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/usr/bin</code></td><td align="left">Package executables that shall appear in the <code class="varname">$PATH</code> 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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/usr/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/usr/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">Private, static vendor resources of the package, including private binaries and libraries, or any other kind of read-only vendor data.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/usr/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em>/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/usr/include/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">Public C/C++ APIs of public shared libraries of the package.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break"><p>Additional static vendor files may be installed
in the <code class="filename">/usr/share</code> hierarchy, to
the locations defined by the various relevant
specifications.</p><p>During runtime and for local configuration and
state additional directories are defined:</p><div class="table"><a name="idm214174623088"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 2. System Package Variable Files Locations</b></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="System Package Variable Files Locations" border="1"><colgroup><col align="left" class="directory"><col align="left" class="purpose"></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left">Directory</th><th align="left">Purpose</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/etc/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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 <a href="tmpfiles.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">tmpfiles.d</span>(5)</span></a> fragment may be used to copy or symlink the necessary files and directories from <code class="filename">/usr/share/factory</code> during boot, via the "<code class="literal">L</code>" or "<code class="literal">C</code>" directives.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/run/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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 <a href="tmpfiles.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">tmpfiles.d</span>(5)</span></a> fragment may be used to create the necessary directories during boot. Alternatively, the <code class="varname">RuntimeDirectory=</code> directive of service units may be used (see <a href="systemd.unit.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd.unit</span>(5)</span></a> for details.)</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/run/log/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/var/cache/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/var/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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. Alternatively, a <a href="tmpfiles.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">tmpfiles.d</span>(5)</span></a> fragment may be used to create the necessary directories during boot.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/var/log/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">Persistent log data of the package. As above, the package should make sure to create this directory if necessary, as it might be missing.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">/var/spool/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break"></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174598400"></a><h2 id="User Packages">User Packages<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#User%20Packages"></a></h2><p>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. (Note
however, that user applications installed system-wide
should follow the rules outlined above regarding
placing vendor files.)</p><div class="table"><a name="idm214174596800"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 3. User Package Vendor File Locations</b></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="User Package Vendor File Locations" border="1"><colgroup><col align="left" class="directory"><col align="left" class="purpose"></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left">Directory</th><th align="left">Purpose</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.local/bin</code></td><td align="left">Package executables that shall appear in the <code class="varname">$PATH</code> 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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.local/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.local/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">Private, static vendor resources of the package, compatible with any architecture, or any other kind of read-only vendor data.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.local/lib/<em class="replaceable"><code>arch-id</code></em>/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">Private other vendor resources of the package that are architecture-specific and cannot be shared between architectures.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break"><p>Additional static vendor files may be installed
in the <code class="filename">~/.local/share</code> hierarchy,
to the locations defined by the various relevant
specifications.</p><p>During runtime and for local configuration and
state additional directories are defined:</p><div class="table"><a name="idm214174581184"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 4. User Package Variable File Locations</b></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="User Package Variable File Locations" border="1"><colgroup><col align="left" class="directory"><col align="left" class="purpose"></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left">Directory</th><th align="left">Purpose</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.config/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">User-specific configuration and state for the package. It is required to default to safe fallbacks if this configuration is missing.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename"><code class="varname">$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</code>/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">User runtime data for the package.</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><code class="filename">~/.cache/<em class="replaceable"><code>package</code></em></code></td><td align="left">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.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break"></div><div class="refsect1"><a name="idm214174569984"></a><h2 id="See Also">See Also<a class="headerlink" title="Permalink to this headline" href="#See%20Also"></a></h2><p>
<a href="systemd.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd</span>(1)</span></a>,
<a href="http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/hier.7.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">hier</span>(7)</span></a>,
<a href="systemd-path.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd-path</span>(1)</span></a>,
<a href="systemd-efi-boot-generator.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd-efi-boot-generator</span>(8)</span></a>,
<a href="sysctl.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">sysctl.d</span>(5)</span></a>,
<a href="tmpfiles.d.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">tmpfiles.d</span>(5)</span></a>,
<a href="http://linux.die.net/man/1/pkg-config"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">pkg-config</span>(1)</span></a>,
<a href="systemd.unit.html"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd.unit</span>(5)</span></a>
</p></div></div></body></html>