Module 2 - The File
System
Linux File Types
• Directories
• Files (text files & scripts)
• Binaries
• Links (soft/symbolic links)
The Linux Directory Tree
Directories and Functions
The Linux PATH
• What is PATH ?
PATH is an environmental variable in Linux and other
Unix-like operating systems that tells the shell which
directories to search for executable files.
/etc/sysconfig/network
/home/hagay/Desktop
Absolute and Relative Path
• An absolute path starts from the top of the tree
# cd /home/hagay/Desktop
• A relative path NEVER starts with /
# cd hagay/Desktop
* assuming /home is where we are
Navigating in space
• The cd command (Change Directory)
# cd
- Take me to my home directory
# cd /etc/sysconfig - take me to directory
# cd -
- take me to the former directory
# cd ..
- take me one directory UP
# cd
~avi
- take me to Avi’s home directory
The Linux File System
• The current default file system is ext4
• Previous versions where ext2 and ext3
• ext4 can support partition size of up to 1 exbibyte
(1 exbibyte = 1,152921.5046068 terabytes)
• ext4 can support a single file size of approximately
1 terabyte
The Linux File System and Directory
Tree Integration
• In Linux we often integrate the file system (partitions)
with the Linux directory tree.
• Remember our installation ?
We created partitions for some of the Top-Level
directories:
/boot
- 500MB partition
/
- 10GB partition
/var
- 2GB partition
The Linux Logical Volume Manager
• LVM is a logical volume manager for the Linux kernel.
it manages disk drives and similar mass-storage
devices.
• The term "volume" refers to a disk drive or partition
thereof.
• It was originally written in 1998 by Heinz
Mauelshagen, who based its design on that of the
LVM in HP-UX.
The Linux LVM Diagram
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