Common Directories

These are default directories.

\/etc

• The /etc directory (short for etcetera) is a commonplace location to store system files that are used by the operating system.

• For example, the sudoers file contains a list of the users & groups that have permission to run sudo or a set of commands as the root user.

• passwd and shadow files. shows the users and the passwords for each user in encrypted formatting called sha512.

\/var

• The /var directory, with "var" being short for variable data, stores data that is frequently accessed or written by services or applications running on the system.

• For example, log files from running services and applications are written here, or other data that is not necessarily associated with a specific user (i.e., databases, backups, and the like).

\/root

• Unlike the /home directory, the /root folder is actually the home for the root system user.

• For example, log files from running services and applications are written here, or other data that is not necessarily associated with a specific user (i.e., databases, backups, and the like).

• It can be presented by ~

\/tmp

• Short for "temporary", the /tmp directory is volatile and is used to store data that is only needed to be accessed once or twice.

• Similar to the memory on a computer, once the computer is restarted, the contents of this folder are cleared out.

• Any user can write to this folder by default.