Pangea system disk directories
Last revision January 21, 2005
/
Top of the filesystem, also known as the "root". Only the privileged
"root" or "superuser" account can add or modify files at the
root level and its subdirectories.
/dev
Special files to access hardware devices, e.g., tape drives.
/etc
System configuration files.
/sbin
Programs to install and start the system.
/tmp
Temporary space; a link to /var/tmp.
/vmunix
The actual Unix kernel program (not a directory).
/usr
More system components, separated from "root" so they can be on a separate
disk area. Only the privileged "root" or "superuser" account
can add or modify files in /usr and its
subdirectories.
/usr/bin
User programs.
/usr/lbin
Programs called by other programs, not directly by users.
/usr/sbin
System management programs.
/usr/pubsw
A symbolic link to the portion of the /afs file tree that contains
pre-compiled programs for this computer architecture installed by the Leland Systems
group here on campus. Gives us access over the network to many more public-domain
programs that are not directly installed on pangea.
/usr/include
System include files that provide definitions for programmers.
/usr/lib
System subroutine libraries and programming language compilers; also auxiliary
files for programs.
/usr/shlib
Shared libraries loaded at program execution time.
/usr/man
On-line manual entries.
/usr/sys
Files needed to configure and build the Unix kernel.
/var
Variable or changing parts of the system are concentrated here so root and /usr
can be shared by client systems over the network. Most subdirectories
here are also linked into /usr with the
same name. Ordinary users do not add or modify files directly in /var,
but programs that they run often do so.
/var/adm
System logging and accounting files.
/var/msgs
System "bulletin board" messages files.
/var/preserve
The vi editor preserves your file here if the system crashes
or you are unexpectedly disconnected.
/var/spool
Electronic mail "inboxes" and queued files awaiting printing.
/var/tmp
Temporary space for programs (not user files), such as editor buffers, sorting
buffers, etc. Cleaned out every night automatically.
/local
All locally installed software meant for general use is isolated into this directory
tree, so upgrades to the base Tru64 Unix operating system will not disturb them.
Subdirectories in /local are meant to parallel
those in /usr. On pangea, /local
is symbolically linked to /usr/local, which
is the name often used on other systems.
/local/adm
Local administrative programs and files.
/local/bin
Local general user programs.
/local/etc
Local system management programs.
/local/include
Local include files of definitions for programmers.
/local/lib
Local subroutine libraries and auxiliary files for local programs.
/local/doc
Local documentation in "tutorial" form.
/local/examples
Example files for local programs.
/local/man
On-line manual entries for local programs.
/src
Source code for locally installed software.
/macos
Stores system-wide Macintosh volumes available under the pangea Aufs
AppleShare server, for example, the ESMAC_Applications
volume that stores application software for ESMAC computers.
