Linux Directory structure explained : A reference guide

When we install a Linux distribution, we see that a number of directories are created. These created directories may be the same or partially different on various Linux distributions. You might know about the directory structures & what purpose they serve.

For those of you who don’t know about the Linux directory structure or have partial knowledge or just want to relook on Linux directory structure & its usage, this article will act as a reference guide.

We will start out this article with the Linux directories/partitions that are a must for every Linux system & are required for the Linux system to work properly.

These partitions are ‘/’ (root), ‘/boot’, ‘/swap’. Though the ‘/’ (root), ‘/boot’ partitions are absolutely required but a system might work without a swap partition. However, it's recommended that we have one for our Linux system.

Now let’s start out with these Linux partitions & their purpose,

(Recommended Read: Linux Commands for Beginners (Part 1) )

(Also Read: Linux Commands for Beginners (Part 2) )

Linux Directory structure explained

• ‘/’ (root) - / or root partition is one of the most important partitions for a Linux machine. This is the partition where all other Linux partitions are. So this is the basis of Linux directory structure.
• ‘/boot’- Another important partition, boot partition contains all the startup files, kernel files & VMLinuz. In the recent, new Linux distribution, it also holds the Grub data as well.
• ‘/swap’- Swap partition acts as a virtual memory/RAM for the system & is used when your system runs out of the physical RAM. Though usually, it’s a separate partition, we can also use a file to act as swap space.

The above-mentioned are the bare minimum partitions that are required to run a Linux system. Below mentioned are other partitions in Linux directory structure,

• ‘/root’- This is the home directory/partition for the administrative user i.e. root.
• ‘/home’- This is the directory that contains the home directory for all users other than superuser root.
• ‘/etc’- These partitions hold all the important configuration files for the system. One can also compare this partition to the control panel on the Windows system.
• ‘/bin’- This directory contains the common programs that are shared among administrative users, common users & the system.
• ‘/sbin’- contains all the programs that are used by the system & system administrators.
• ‘/initrd’- This directory contains the system library files, files for the system that are needed by the system or other programs to run.
• ‘/mnt’- this directory acts as a default mount point for all external devices like USB storage devices, CD-DVD ROM, etc.
• ‘/opt’- It's used as an installation folder for extra software & 3^rd party software.
• ‘/var’- This folder is the default storage for all the variable files created by users, like log files, mail queue, etc. This folder also contains some temporary files.
• ‘/proc’- This virtual file system contains complete information regarding the system resources.
• ‘/tmp’- This partition acts as a temporary space for use by the system. Files are stored temporarily on this partition & are cleaned after every reboot.
• ‘lost+found’- Every partition has a lost+found directory in its upper directory. This serves as storage for those files that were saved during failures.
• ‘/usr’ – This partition mainly has all documentation of user-related programs. It also contains some user-related programs & libraries.
• ‘/misc’- This partition is used by the system for miscellaneous purposes.

This is our article that will act as a reference guide for Linux directory structure. Please feel free to send in any questions or queries you have using the comment box below. Suggestions are also welcome.