Special File Locations

Red Hat extends the FHS structure slightly to accommodate special files used by Red Hat Linux.

Most files pertaining to the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) are kept in the /var/lib/rpm/ directory. For more information on RPM see the chapter titled Package Management with RPM in the Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide.

The /var/spool/up2date/ directory contains files used by Red Hat Update Agent, including RPM header information for the system. This location may also be used to temporarily store RPMs downloaded while updating your system. For more information on Red Hat Network, see the Red Hat Network website at https://rhn.redhat.com/.

Another location specific to Red Hat Linux is the /etc/sysconfig/ directory. This directory stores a variety of configuration information. Many scripts that run at boot time use the files in this directory. See the Section called The /etc/sysconfig/ Directory in Chapter 3 for more information on what is within this directory and the role these files play in the boot process.

Finally, one more directory worth noting is the /initrd/ directory. It is empty, but is used as a critical mount point during the boot process.

	Warning
	Do not remove the /initrd/ directory for any reason. Removing this directory will cause your system to fail to boot with a kernel panic error message.