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File Hierarchy Standard (FHS): Difference between revisions


Latest revision as of 15:54, 4 November 2024


This article lists and describes the OpenSTLinux file-system hierarchy (Weston and core).

1. Introduction[edit | edit source]

Linux® is a file-oriented operating system. This means that any application, library, or other information related, for example, to configurations and running applications is stored in files only.

The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) defines the directory structure and directory contents in Linux distributions.
It is maintained by the Linux Foundation. The latest version is 3.0, released on June 3rd 2015[1]

The main parts described by the FHS are:

  • the physical filesystem: any mass storage devices (NAND/eMMC/... partitions, USB key partitions, and so on)
  • pseudo filesystem: created dynamically at boot-up (and/or at runtime) to store various information and configurations related to the software being run
  • remote filesystem: rootfs can contain links to a network filesystem

OpenSTLinux images respect the latest FHS definition: 3.0

2. Root filesystem content[edit | edit source]

  • The filesystem root of any Linux Distribution (OpenSTLinux included) is named '/' or 'root' (do not confuse with the 'root' super user name).

There are no files in the root path, only directories that shape the Linux FHS, as listed below:

  • As a standard Linux distribution, the OpenSTLinux distribution includes the optional user directories:

Details of the directory purpose, content or sub-hierarchy can be found in the official documentation: FHS-3.0

  • OpenSTLinux also integrates a vendorfs filesystem, mounted on a dedicated Flash-memory partition (that is, /dev/mmcblk0p5):

This directory allows the storage of specific vendor libraries.

3. References[edit | edit source]