pkgconfig/ pc(5) (ports/devel/pkgconf) files; collections of compiler flags, linker flags, and other information relevant to library use
libexec/ system daemons and system utilities that are executed by other programs
aout/ utilities to manipulate a.out executables
elf/ utilities to manipulate ELF executables
lpr/ utilities and filters for LP print system; see lpr(1)
sendmail/ the sendmail(8) binary; see mailwrapper(8)
sm.bin/ restricted shell for sendmail(8); see smrsh(8)
local/ local executables, libraries, etc. Also used as the default destination for the ports(7) framework. Within local/, the general layout sketched out by hier for /usr should be used. Exceptions are the ports documentation (in share/doc/<port>/), and /usr/local/etc (mimics /etc).
obj/ architecture-specific target tree produced by building FreeBSD from source; see build(7)
ports/ FreeBSD ports collection; see ports(7)
sbin/ system daemons and system utilities that are executed by users
share/ architecture-independent files
calendar/ system-wide calendar files; see calendar(1)
dict/ word lists; see look(1)
freebsd FreeBSD-specific terms, proper names, and jargon
web2 words from Webster's Second International
doc/ miscellaneous documentation
examples/ various examples for users and programmers
firmware/ firmware images loaded by userland programs
games/ used by various games
keys/ known trusted and revoked keys
pkg/ fingerprints for pkg(7) and pkg(8)
locale/ localization files; see setlocale(3)
man/ manual pages
misc/ miscellaneous system-wide files
termcap terminal characteristics database; see termcap(5)
mk/ templates for make; see make(1)
nls/ national language support files
security/ data files for security policies such as mac_lomac(4)
sendmail/ sendmail(8) configuration files
skel/ example . (dot) files for new accounts
snmp/ MIBs, example files and tree definitions for the SNMP daemon
defs/ tree definition files for use with gensnmptree(1)
mibs/ MIB files
syscons/ syscons(4) files
fonts/ console fonts; see vidcontrol(1) and vidfont(1)
keymaps/ console keyboard maps; see kbdcontrol(1) and kbdmap(1)
scrnmaps/ console screen maps
sysroot/ files necessary for the -sysroot compiler/linker argument to build non-native binaries
VERSION/ files for FreeBSD release VERSION. By convention, “VERSION” matches uname(1) -r.
MACHINE.MACHINE_ARCH/
represent the binary ABI for these files. “MACHINE” matches uname(1) -m. “MACHINE_ARCH” matches uname(1) -p.
tabset/ tab description files for a variety of terminals; used in the termcap file; see termcap(5)
vi/ localization support and utilities for vi(1)
vt/ vt(4) files
fonts/ console fonts; see vidcontrol(1) and vidfont(1)
keymaps/ console keyboard maps; see kbdcontrol(1) and kbdmap(1)
zoneinfo/ timezone configuration information; see tzfile(5)
src/ FreeBSD source code; see development(7). The layout of the source tree is described by the top-level README.md file.
tests/ the FreeBSD test suite; see tests(7)
/var/ log, temporary, transient, and spool files
account/ system accounting files
acct execution accounting file; see acct(5)
at/ timed command scheduling files; see at(1)
jobs/ job files
spool/ output spool files
backups/ miscellaneous backup files
cache/ miscellaneous cache files
pkg/ cached packages for pkg(8)
crash/ default directory for kernel crash dumps; see crash(8) and savecore(8)
ppp/ writable by the “network” group for command connection sockets; see ppp(8)
utx.active database of current users; see getutxent(3)
rwho/ rwho data files; see rwhod(8), rwho(1), and ruptime(1)
spool/ miscellaneous printer and mail system spooling directories
clientmqueue/ undelivered submission mail queue; see sendmail(8)
ftp/ ftp root directory; see ftpd(8)
mqueue/ undelivered mail queue; see sendmail(8)
output/ line printer spooling directories
tmp/ temporary files that are not removed by rc(8)
vi.recover/ vi(1) recovery files
yp/ the NIS maps; see yp(8)
NOTES
This manual page documents the default FreeBSD file system layout. The actual hierarchy on a given system is defined at the system administrator's discretion. A well-maintained installation will include a customized version of this document.