2. Pre requisite
A prior knowledge on
Versions of Linux file systems and their features
Linux, user related commands to have hands on with
Linux file system structure
Will help you understand better about Linux file system
structure
3. WIFM
Up on completion of this session you will learn:-
The structure of Linux file system
The importance of each directory in the Linux file
system
The way how our OS make use of the file system
4. Objectives
The main objective of this session is to:-
Explain the Linux file system structure
Explain the importance of directories in Linux file
system
Explain the functionalities of an OS with the help of a
file system
6. >> Linux File system structure
/bin - Used to store user commands. The files here are all binary
executables accessible to all users on the system
/boot - Contains the kernel and other files used during system startup
/dev - Stores device files. They are either character or block device
files
/etc - Contains many configuration files and directories
Introduction to Linux 6
7. >> Linux File system structure
Introduction to Linux 7
/home – it is the default home directory for the normal user
/lib- conatins the library files which will be useful for the entire
operating system
/mnt- a temporary place where a user or a root can virtually view the
contents of other file systems
/media – A temporary place for removable or hot swapable devices
8. >> Linux File system structure
/opt – contains the applications which are developed by different
vendors
/proc – contains the information related to different process of the
system
/root – Is a directory which is a default place for the administrator
/sbin – contains the commands which are used by the root or the
administrator
/tmp – contains the temporary file which can be accessed by all users
Introduction to Linux 8
9. >>Linux File system structure
/usr – contains user related information
/var – contains the files which are expected to grow can be found in
this directory
Introduction to Linux 9
10. Summary
The structure of the various Linux file systems are same with few
differences based on the requirements of vendors
The Linux file system structure starts with root (which is designated
by a forward slash)
The entire file system is united under the root.
Users are classified as Normal, Admin and System
Screen No:1 Audio Script: Hi welcome to the session, Today we will focus on the topic “Linux file system Structure” Much like Windows uses NTFS and FAT, Linux has its own file system structure. For older versions of Linux, data is stored on an ext2 format partition. Newer versions use ext3 or ext4, which is functionally identical to ext2 with the addition of journaling. As a practical matter, an ext file system also exists, but it’s so old that it was deprecated about the time that Minix became Linux and is rare to find in use today. So now in the industry all the server which has Linux installed will have either ext3 or ext4 or Reiser Fs to store and manage the data that users create.
Screen No:- 2 Audio script:- Before we start to learn core concepts of Linux file structure. A prior knowledge on Versions of Linux file systems and their features will help you to understand the file system structure. And also knowledge on Linux user related commands will help you to explore the Linux file system. If you don’t have the knowledge on the said topics I recommend you to gain knowledge and then go through the Linux file system structure.
Screen No:- 3 Audio script:- This session will help you to view the structure of Linux file system, gives you the importance of every directory in the Linux file system and let you know how your operating system make use of file systems.
Screen No:- 4 Audio script:- The main objective of this session is to explain the Linux file system structure and the importance of each and every directory in the Linux file system structure. Which will help you to understand how your operating system is working with the help of Linux file system structure. So lets get in to the Linux file system structure.
Screen No:5 Audio Script: Any file system of Linux family will have the same structure which is shown in the slide with few differences with respect to vendor specifications. If you look at the file system structure, It starts from a single hierarchy which is called as root and designated by ‘/’ (Forward slash). Every thing and any thing in Linux is united under root. Now let’s explore the Linux file system in detail.
Screen No:6 Audio Script: /bin -- /bin stands for Binary. It is the directory which holds the commands and shells which can be used by the normal user as well as administrator. (In Linux we call administrator as ROOT user). The commands here are binary executables . Some eg of shell can be bash and csh. Some eg of commands can be “ ls , grep , tar , kill , echo , ps , cp , mv , rm , cat , gzip , ping , su and the vi text editor” etc. /boot -- /boot contains the boot loader related files to start the system. A boot loader is a program that loads the main operating system for the computer after completion of the self-tests. The highly used Linux boot loader is “GRUB” which stands for “Grand Unified Boot Loader” The grub will be present inside the /boot folder. /dev -- /dev which stands for devices. In Linux Operating systems every thing is identified as a file. So even the devices (which are hardware) will be recognized as a file. The hardware can be a keyboard, mouse, usb devices, external or internal hard disk. /etc -- This folder contains the configuration file required by all programs. This directory also contains startup and shutdown shell script used to start individual programs. It contains several configuration files where each configuration file represents a service or an application similar to windows application. Say for Eg:- If you want connect to a network a fixed identity can be given to your system by editing a configuration file by name “interfaces” which is there in etc folder or directory.
Screen No:7 Audio Script: /home – /home is the directory which is a default place for the normal user to do his/her activities. Much like windows OS every user is given an work envirinment to work with ie; every user will have documents, downloads, pictures, desktop etc. The same kind of interface is given for the normal user in Linux in a directory called /home. /lib – /lib stands for library. When ever a normal user or a root performs any task or action with the help of an OS, The OS will make use of the libraries to do the application in a smoother way. For eg if you want to surf through Internet and you will open Mozilla firefox or any web browser to do this task. When ever you make use of the web browser the OS will intern allocates the necessary libraries for the proper function of web browser. With out libraries the applications will not work properly in the Operating system. The /lib folder contains the libraires which are used by /bin and /sbin where we will be focusing about /sbin later. /mnt – /mnt stands for mount. It is a temporary place for the user or a root to virtually view the contents of other file systems. Like we already know the Linux supports foreign file systems. Say for instance if your hard disk has got 2 or more different file systems which belongs to window. You can boot through Linux and view the contents of windows file systems. When you do so logically the windows contents will be shown to you in a directory called ‘mnt’ /media – Meida is a directory in which you can view the contents of hot swappable devices like usb drives, floppy disks, cd or dvd contents etc.
Screen No:8 Audio Script: /opt – Opt stands for optional which contains third party software’s developed by different vendors. Third party software’s are the software’s which are not supported by the currently installed software(say Linux) but still want to use you can install those software’s under this directory in linux. For example we all are aware of a popular game NFS (Need for speed Most wanted). This game cannot be installed on Linux OS by default so if you want to play this game in Linux under opt directory. This is how opt directory is used. /proc – Proc stands for process. This directory contains information about all the process that are currently running in the systems. The CPU information, The RAM information etc. This directory contains the information about the resource information about the system. For eg system up time etc. /root – Root is a directory which is a default location for the administrator to perform his/her tasks. In Linux the users are divided in to three they are NORMAL USERS, ROOT or ADMINISTRATOR and SYSTEM users. However we cannot login with system users and these are dedicated only for the Operating system. When you login with root account we will be by default send to the root directory whereas when you login with normal user you will be sent to the home directory to do your tasks. /sbin – Sbin stands for super user bin. This directory contains the commands which can be executed only by the root user. A normal user cannot make use of the commands that are present in the sbin directory. Few commands that are there in sbin is “f disk, add user” etc. /tmp – Tmp stands for temporary. Is a directory which will have the temporary files and also this folder gives a room for a normal user to store his/her data. But the files that are there in this directory will be deleted when the system is rebooted.
Screen No:9 Audio Script: /usr – Usr stands for user. Which contains user related information. Like name, mobile no, email id etc if provided during the time of user creation. This directory even contains binaries, documents and source code for some of the applications. Few binaries that are there in this dorectory is at, awk, less etc. /var – Var stands for variable. (the name itself conveys that some thing which keeps changing). The files in this directory will change according to the usage of the system. For eg the Linux system is supposed to record all the activities done by the user and the system this is recorded in the form of a file called “log” which stands for system logs etc.
Screen No:-10 Audio script:- Read the slide
Screen No:11 Screen Name: Summary and recap Audio Script: Thank You