Every single file and directory starts from the

root directory.

Only root user has write privilege under this

Directory that contains temporary files created
by system and users.
Files under this directory are deleted when
system is rebooted.
Contains binaries, libraries, documentation,
and source-code for second level programs.
/usr/bin contains binary files for user
programs. If you cant find a user binary
under /bin, look under /usr/bin. For example:
at, awk, cc, less, scp
/usr/sbin contains binary files for system
administrators. If you cant find a system
binary under /sbin, look under /usr/sbin. For
example: atd, cron, sshd, useradd, userdel
/usr/lib contains libraries for /usr/bin and /usr/
sbin
/usr/local contains users programs that you
install from source. For example, when you
install apache from source, it goes under /usr/
local/apache2
Home directories for all users to store their
personal files.
For example: /home/john, /home/nikita
Contains boot loader related files.
Kernel initrd, vmlinux, grub files are located
under /boot
For example: initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic,
vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic
Contains library files that supports the
binaries located under /bin and /sbin
Library filenames are either ld* or lib*.so.*
For example: ld-2.11.1.so, libncurses.so.5.7
opt stands for optional.
Contains add-on applications from individual
vendors. 13. /opt Optional add-on Applications
add-on applications should be installed under
either /opt/ or /opt/ sub-directory.
1. / Root
8. /tmp Temporary Files
2. /bin User Binaries
9. /usr User Programs
3. /sbin System Binaries
10. /home Home Directories
4. /etc Configuration Files
11. /boot Boot Loader Files
5. /dev Device Files
Common
Directories
12. /lib System Libraries
6. /proc Process Information
directory.
Please note that /root is root users home
directory, which is not same as /.
Contains binary executables.
Common linux commands you need to use in
single-user modes are located under this
directory.
Commands used by all the users of the
system are located here.
For example: ps, ls, ping, grep, cp.
Just like /bin, /sbin also contains binary
executables.
But, the linux commands located under this
directory are used typically by system
administrator, for system maintenance
purpose.
For example: iptables, reboot, fdisk, ifconfig,
swapon
Contains configuration files required by all
programs.
This also contains startup and shutdown shell
scripts used to start/stop individual programs.
For example: /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/
logrotate.conf
Contains device files.
These include terminal devices, usb, or any
device attached to the system.
For example: /dev/tty1, /dev/usbmon0
Contains information about system process.
This is a pseudo filesystem contains
information about running process. For
example: /proc/{pid} directory contains
information about the process with that
particular pid.
This is a virtual filesystem with text
information about system resources. For
example: /proc/uptime

Temporary mount directory where sysadmins Is an interface to the kernel. Specifically, it

can mount filesystems.
Temporary mount directory for removable
devices.
For examples, /media/cdrom for CD-ROM; /
media/floppy for floppy drives; /media/
cdrecorder for CD writer
14. /mnt Mount Directory provides a filesystem-like view of information
and configuration settings that the kernel
provides, much like /proc.
6.5. /sys - Kernel Subsystems Info
Writing to these files may or may not write to
15. /media Removable Media Devices the actual device, depending on the setting
you're changing. It isn't only for managing
devices, though that's a common use case.

srv stands for service. var stands for variable files.

Contains server specific services related data. Content of the files that are expected to grow
16. /srv Service Data
can be found under this directory.
For example, /srv/cvs contains CVS related
data. 7. /var Variable Files This includes system log files (/var/log);
packages and database files (/var/lib); emails
(/var/mail); print queues (/var/spool); lock files
(/var/lock); temp files needed across reboots
(/var/tmp);
 CentOS
RedHat
Fedora
Ubuntu
Debian
Mint
SuSE
Gentoo
Slackware
many others
Boot Loader
Kernel
Daemons
The Shell
Graphical Server
Desktop Environment
Applications
Is an inter-process communication (IPC) and remote procedure call (RPC)
mechanism that allows communication between multiple computer
programs (that is, processes) concurrently running on the same machine.
Secure and Reliable
Provides High-Level API
Replaced ext
Allows Journaling, a technique in computer
Default in most linux systems
file systems to prevent corruption.
Allows huge files and filesystems
Reziseable journaling filesystem
btree filesystem. Supports checksums,
pooling, snapshots, defragmentation, resizing,
filesystem checks.
hd refers to an IDE-type drive
sd refers to a SCSI drive in general, but is
mostly popular for SATA drives and CD/DVD
fd is floppy disk
/dev/xxyN
This is the name of the directory in which all device files reside. Since
partitions reside on hard disks, and hard disks are devices, the files /dev/
representing all possible partitions reside in /dev/.
The first two letters of the partition name indicate the type of device on which
xx
the partition resides, usually either hd (for IDE disks) or sd (for SCSI disks).
This letter indicates which device the partition is on. For example, /
y Hard disk size depends on OS limits
dev/hda (the first IDE hard disk) or /dev/sdb (the second SCSI disk).
The final number denotes the partition. The first four (primary or extended)
partitions are numbered 1 through 4. Logical partitions start at 5. So, for
N
example, /dev/hda3 is the third primary or extended partition on the first IDE hard
disk, and /dev/sdb6 is the second logical partition on the second SCSI hard disk.
Creating single logical volumes of multiple physical volumes or
entire hard disks (somewhat similar to RAID 0, but more similar to
JBOD), allowing for dynamic volume resizing.
Is a device mapper target that provides
Managing large hard disk farms by allowing disks to be added and
logical volume management for the
replaced without downtime or service disruption, in combination with Linux kernel. Most modern Linux
hot swapping.
distributions are LVM-aware to the point
On small systems (like a desktop), instead of having to estimate at of being able to have their root file
installation time how big a partition might need to be, LVM allows systems on a logical volume.
filesystems to be easily resized as needed.
Performing consistent backups by taking snapshots of the logical volumes.
Is a device manager for the Linux kernel. It handles all user
space events raised when hardware devices are added into
the system or removed from it, including firmware loading
as required by certain devices.
On some Linux distributions (e.g. Debian,
Mounted to /tmp
Ubuntu), /tmp is a normal directory Provided by temporary filesystem tmpfs
/dev/shm uses tmpfs.
Mounted to /dev on startup
qmail
postfix An MTA is an application that routes and
transmits email from one node on a network
sendmail to another.
exim
It uses a protocol known as SMTP (Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol) to perform its task.
File Permissions
Sticky bit. Prevents
Setuid / Setgid : Run the
folder deletion even if a Chmod a+x filename
program as the owner with
user has write (everyone gets
the owners permission
permissions execute)
Is non-volatile firmware used to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup).
Loads a boot loader of an operating system from a mass memory device
A master boot record (MBR) is a special type of boot sector at the
very beginning of partitioned computer mass storage devices like
fixed disks or removable drives.
Popular
The MBR holds the information on how the logical partitions,
containing file systems, are organized on that medium.
Distribution
The MBR also contains executable code to function as a loader for
the installed operating systemusually by passing control over to
the loader's second stage, or in conjunction with each partition's
volume boot record (VBR). This MBR code is usually referred to as a
boot loader.
Components
BIOS
Allows only for 4 primary partitions
Master Boot Record (MBR)
Maximum disk size of 4GB
Boots a Linux system (BIOS comes first)
Runs before the Operating System, but can
Booting be configured from the operating system.
dbus Software Bus
Presents a choice of operating systems (including,
perhaps, multiple Linux kernels), and loads the
selected OS kernel into memory. They let you
Startup pass arguments on to a Linux kernel along the
ext2 Boot Loader way, and can be configured to boot non-Linux
operating systems on the same machine.
ext3
LILO
ext4 Replacement
File Systems Common Bootloaders GRUB Legacy
Replacement
reiserfs GRUB2
Stored in the first 446 Bytes.
btrfs
Is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and
platform firmware. UEFI replaces the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware
Unlike BIOS, UEFI does not rely on a boot sector, defining instead a boot manager
as part of the UEFI specification. When a computer is powered on, the boot
manager checks the boot configuration and based on its settings, loads into
memory and then executes the specified OS loader or operating system kernel.
GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a standard for the layout of the partition
table on a physical storage device used in a desktop or server PC,
such as a hard disk drive or solid-state drive, using globally unique
UEFI EFI System partition, often abbreviated to identifiers (GUID). Although it forms a part of the Unified Extensible
ESP, is a data storage device partition that is Firmware Interface (UEFI) standard (Unified EFI Forum proposed
Device Naming System
used in computers adhering to the UEFI replacement for the PC BIOS), it is also used on some BIOS systems
specification. Accessed by the UEFI firmware because of the limitations of master boot record (MBR) partition tables,
which use 32 bits for storing logical block addresses (LBA) and size
EFI Loader when a computer is powered up, it stores GPT
UEFI applications and the files these information on a traditionally 512-byte disk sector.
applications need to run, including operating
system kernels. Supported partition table
schemes include MBR and GPT No limit on the number of partitions that can
Booting
be created
Common Bootloaders GRUB2
In Unix-based computer operating systems, init (short for initialization) is the first process started
during booting of the computer system. Init is a daemon process that continues running until the
system is shut down. It is the direct or indirect ancestor of all other processes and automatically
adopts all orphaned processes. Init is started by the kernel using a hard-coded filename; a kernel
panic will occur if the kernel is unable to start it. Init is typically assigned process identifier 1.
Logical Volume Manager (LVM) At boot time, the boot loader loads the kernel and the initramfs image into memory and starts the
kernel. The kernel checks for the presence of the initramfs and, if found, mounts it as / and runs /init.
The init program is typically a shell script. Note that the boot process takes longer, possibly
Linux significantly longer, if an initramfs is used.
The /sbin/init program (also called init) coordinates the rest of the boot process and configures the
environment for the user. When the init command starts, it becomes the parent or grandparent of all
of the processes that start up automatically on the system.
Is a suite of basic building blocks for a Linux system. It provides a system
and service manager that runs as PID 1 and starts the rest of the system.
systemd provides aggressive parallelization capabilities, uses socket and
D-Bus activation for starting services, oers on-demand starting of
udev daemons, keeps track of processes using Linux control groups, maintains
mount and automount points, and implements an elaborate transactional
Device Managers dependency-based service control logic. systemd supports SysV and LSB
init scripts and works as a replacement for sysvinit.
Is an init system used in Linux distributions to bootstrap the user space.
Subsequently to booting, it is used to manage system processes.
devfsd
It is a replacement for the UNIX System V and Berkeley Software
hotplug
Distribution (BSD) init systems
consoled
journald
MTA - Mail Transfer Agents logind
Init
networkd
Components
systemd timedated
udevd
libudev
Systems
systemd-boot
Run Targets
File System System /etc/systemd/system
Package /usr/lib/systemd/system
Scripts
/etc/systemd/system takes precedence over /
usr/lib/systemd/system
System V - style runlevels
BSD
Is a pseudo file system provided by the Linux kernel that exports
information about various kernel subsystems, hardware devices,
and associated device drivers from the kernel's device model to
user space through virtual files.
sysfs
In addition to providing information about various devices
and kernel subsystems, exported virtual files are also used
for their configuring.
Networking Monitoring Mounted to /sys
Is a special filesystem in Unix-like operating systems that
presents information about processes and other system
information in a hierarchical file-like structure, providing a more
procfs convenient and standardized method for dynamically
accessing process data held in the kernel than traditional
tracing methods or direct access to kernel memory.
Mounted to /proc

Delete character to the right of cursor
Delete character to the left of cursor
Delete to the end of the line
Delete current line
Delete current line
Yank the current line
Yank the current line
"/home/rbrunson/file1" 57L, 1756C 18,1 Top
The numbers 18,1 on the right side of the message line are the current
line and column numbers, and the Top text is the current position of the
cursor. This changes to be Bot if you entered the last half of the file. The
other value possible is All, which simply means that all the contents of
the file are currently on the screen.
Exit, saving changes
Exit as long as there have been no changes
Exit and save changes if any have been made
Exit and ignore any changes
Move left
Move down
Move up
Move right
Move to next word
Move to next blank delimited word
Move to the beginning of the word
Move to the beginning of blank delimted word
Move to the end of the word
Move to the end of Blank delimited word
Move a sentence back
Move a sentence forward
Move a paragraph back
Move a paragraph forward
Move to the begining of the line
Move to the end of the line
Move to the first line of the file
Move to the last line of the file
Move to nth line of the file
Move to nth line of the file
Move forward to c
Move back to c
Move to top of screen
Move to middle of screen
Move to botton of screen
Move to associated ( ), { }, [ ]
You have seen that while you are editing, your last deletion (d
or x) or yank (y) is saved in a buer (a place in stored
memory). You can access the contents of that buer and put
the saved text back in your file with the put command (p or
P).
Buers The vi editor has a total of 27 buers: 26
named buers (az) and 1 unnamed buer
that is overwritten by each new operation.
x
Named buers
X
The Unnamed buer
D Deleting
Just about any keystroke or action can be
dd done X number of times by prefixing it with a
number.
:d Force Multipliers
For example, to move the cursor to line 5, you
yy would press 5G. Moving 12 words to the right
Yanking is accomplished with 12W.
:y
vi filename
vi +/string filename open a file with a search string
Opening
Message line edit a file and have the cursor jump to a
vi +18 /etc/inittab
particular line
Vi has two modes insertion mode and command mode. The editor
begins in command mode, where the cursor movement and text
:x deletion and pasting occur. Insertion mode begins upon entering
Modes an insertion or change command. [ESC] returns the editor to
:q command mode (where you can quit, for example by typing :q!).
Quitting
ZZ Most commands execute as soon as you type them except for
"colon" commands which execute when you press the ruturn key.
:q!
You can only get to last line mode from
h command mode, and you get into last line
mode by pressing the colon key
j
You can do simple things, like quitting your vi
k LastLine mode
session
l You can also perform some amazing vi search
commands or vim search and replace
w commands
W vi
i Insert before cursor
b I Insert before line
B a Append after cursor
e A Append after line
Inserting Text
E o Open a new line after current line
( O Open a new line before current line
) r Replace one character
{ R Replace many characters
Motion
} You press U in Command mode to undo a
single operation or the latest in a series of
0
changes. If you opened a file, made 30
Undo Operations
$ changes, and then pressed the U key 30
times, you'd end up with the exact same file
1G you had opened.
G /string Search forward for string
nG ?string Search back for string
Search
:n n Search for next instance of string
fc N Search for previous instance of string
Fc :s/pattern/string/flags Replace pattern with string according to flags.
H g Flag - Replace all occurences of pattern
Replace
M c Flag - Confirm replaces.
L & Repeat last :s command
% :w file Write to file
:r file Read file in after line
:n Go to next file
Files
:p Go to previos file
:e file Edit file
!!program Replace line with output from program
 . (dot) Any single character except newline
Matches if the line contains the value Hello /Hello/
* zero or more occurances of any character
Matches if the line contains TEST by itself /^TEST$/
[...] Any single character specified in the set
Matches if the line starts with any letter /^[a-zA-Z]/
[^...] Any single character not specified in the set
Matches if the first character of the line is a-z
and there is at least one more of any /^[a-z].*/ ^ Anchor - beginning of the line
character following it $ Anchor - end of line
Matches if line ends with 2134 /2134$/ \< Anchor - beginning of word
Examples Regex(7) Rules
Matches is the line contains 21 or 35 \> Anchor - end of word
Note the use of ( ) with the pipe symbol to /\(21|35\)/
\(...\) Grouping - usually used to group conditions
specify the 'or' condition
\n Contents of nth grouping
Matches if there are zero or more numbers in
/[0-9]*/
the line One or more occurrences of the preceding
+
element
Matches if the first character is not a # in the
/^[^#]/
line Can mean the start and end of a regular
/
expression