[SOLVED] Standard File Paths?

Greedyh4mster · 08-23-2010, 08:35 AM

Is there some sort of standards file path convention for installing softwares that I could follow through?

For example, I just learnt how to build Nginx from source. But the default binary path set by nginx is "/usr/local/nginx/sbin". I have seen a couple of tutorials which they specify the location of the installed binary and it is very different from those usual default paths. Thus, got me thinking whether is there some form of file path convention that I should follow?

A couple of samples (file paths) people usually used:

Log Files: /var/log
Binary: /usr/sbin or /usr/bin or /opt/

Is there some kind of list which states where do those packages on Debian.org Repository usually installed to?

sem007 · 08-23-2010, 08:48 AM

if you are compiling from source then you can use various options.
like
--prefix
--sbin-path
--conf-path

for more details you can refer installation/manual guide of Nginx.
for an example

Code:

./configure
    --sbin-path=/usr/local/nginx/nginx
    --conf-path=/usr/local/nginx/nginx.conf
    --pid-path=/usr/local/nginx/nginx.pid
    --with-http_ssl_module
    --with-pcre=../pcre-4.4
    --with-zlib=../zlib-1.1.3

HTH

Greedyh4mster · 08-23-2010, 08:54 AM

Yup. I understand about that.

However when I read several other tutorials; Most of them are using /opt/ as the installation folder. Is there some kind of reason for doing so?

Another example that I have found:

For config files, people usually put it at "/etc/$NAMEofPROGRAM"

Therefore, I am wondering is there some kind of installation path convention which determines where and what type of files to keep at?

catkin · 08-23-2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greedyh4mster

Therefore, I am wondering is there some kind of installation path convention which determines where and what type of files to keep at?

Yes, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), but it is far from universally used.

Greedyh4mster · 08-23-2010, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catkin

Yes, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), but it is far from universally used.

Thanks for the links!

Since it is far from being universally used, is there kind of list for commonly used file paths and their associated type of files?

djsmiley2k · 08-23-2010, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greedyh4mster

Thanks for the links!

Since it is far from being universally used, is there kind of list for commonly used file paths and their associated type of files?

From my limited experience ( 3 distrobutions ) it seems to depend on the distrobution itself, and what was done in the ones it was derived from.

Greedyh4mster · 08-23-2010, 09:51 AM

Thanks for all your inputs! Really appreciated them! Help me gain several insight to many stuffs.

I have found a similar topic to here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...or-opt-814374/

I think I will use /opt/ for compiled binaries. Much cleaner and lesser to configure.

While I will use the following for their associated types of files:

PID files: /var/run/
LOCK files: /var/lock/
LOG files: /var/log/