System and configuration files [1]
System
Path |
Description |
|---|---|
/etc/crontab
/var/spool/cron/crontabs/[user]
|
global configuration file
user specific files for crone (also for root)
|
/etc/fstab |
file system table: devices to be auto-loaded on system start (Entry format: UUID, mount point, file system, options) |
/etc/group |
list of all user groups |
/etc/hdparm.conf |
optional settings for devices (for example ‘spindown’ commands upon inactivity) |
/etc/hostname |
Hostname of the Linux system |
/etc/load.d |
Defines which kernel modules are loaded on system start |
/etc/mime.types |
Assignment of file type and file extensions |
/etc/motd |
Custom message upon logging in via SSH |
/etc/passwd |
List of all internal, explicitly created user accounts |
/etc/rc.local |
global autostart during system start (before user login). Only terminal commands possible. |
/etc/shadow |
password file for all user accounts. Plain text file but passwords are encrypted |
/etc/sudoers |
list of all user accounts eligible for sudo commands |
/etc/sysctl.conf |
settings for Linux kernel, like swapping behavior, magic-key rescue combinations, network parameters. Only for experts |
/etc/systemd/system.conf |
Basic configuration for the initialization services initd |
/etc/apt/sources.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
|
Main package sources for package manager apt (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint)
PPAs and external package sources (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint)
|
/etc/default/grub |
default settings for the boot manager Grub2 |
/etc/network/interface |
classical network settings for example ‘auto eth0’ or ‘iface eth0 inet dhcp’. On UI systems the network manager manages these, hence those settings are ignored. |
/etc/xgd/autostart/*.desktop |
contains all files which are launched during user login |
/usr/share/applications/*.desktop
/home/[user]/.local/share/applications
|
system-wide application shortcuts for desktop and launch menu
user specific application shortcuts (have priority)
|
Network and Web Services
Path |
Description |
|---|---|
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf |
main configuration file for Apache webserver |
/etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf |
configuration for active Apache services |
/etc/host.allow |
allow certain computers access to hosted services |
/etc/host.deny |
deny certain computers access to hosted services |
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf |
main configuration of nginx webserver |
/etc/nginx/sites-available/default |
configuration of active nginx services |
/etc/openvpn/server.conf |
main configuration of Open-VPN server |
/etc/php/[x.x]/apache2/php.ini |
PHP configuration under Apache2 |
/etc/samba/smb.conf |
samba configuration including access definitions |
/etc/ssh/ssh_config |
configuration of OpenSSH client, commonly no changes needed |
/etc/ssh/sshd_config |
configuration of OpenSSH server |
/home/[user]/.ssh/rc |
user specific commands script, which are executed by SSH session when logging in as [user] |
Bash-Shell
Path |
Description |
|---|---|
/etc/inputrc |
global input standard for the terminal (key-bindings) |
/etc/bash.bashrc |
global bash shell launch script for system-wide aliases, functions, variables |
/etc/profile* |
global launch script for log-in bash shell. Only executed for new log-in (SSH or virtual console) |
/etc/skel/.bashrc |
the file among others in the same directory define the basic configuration when adding a new user account |
/home/[user]/.bash_history |
user specific command history (commonly last 500 - defined via $HISTFILESIZE variable) |
/home/[user]/.bash_login |
optional user specific start script |
/home/[user]/.bash_logout |
optional user specific closing script |
/home/[user]/.bash_profile |
optional user specific start script |
/home/[user]/.bashrc |
optional user specific start script for aliases, functions, variables |
/home/[user]/.inputrc |
user specific input standards for bash shell (dominates over |
/home/[user]/.profile |
user specific start script for log-in shells. Only executed during new log-in like SSH or virtual console |
Diverse Software
Path |
Description |
|---|---|
/etc/[Software]/[File(s)] |
global configuration for [Software] under /etc |
/home/[user]/.[File] |
user specific configuration |
/home/[user]/.[Software] |
user specific configuration for application |
/home/[user]/.config/[Software] |
collective directory for user specific configurations |
Logs
Path |
Description |
|---|---|
/var/log/ |
collective directory for various log and protocol data (system log, samba, apt, Apache, FTP). Partial summary available via UI tolls like gnome-logs |
/var/log/apache2/access.log |
logs of all accesses to web server services including access IP, access target, browser |
/var/log/auth.log |
chronological log of all login attempts via graphical shell or via SSH or the web server configuration UI |
/var/log/dmesg |
chronological log of the kernel containing all recent hardware events. Older logs are kept in |
/var/log/dpkg.log |
chronological log of updates and installations |
/var/log/faillog |
protocol about failed login attempts. This binary file must be opened via faillog -a. The column ‘Failures’ shows the amount of failed attempts for each user account |
/var/log/nginx/access.log |
chronological logs of all accesses to web server services including access IP, access target, browser |
/var/log/samba |
all accessing network devices including their IP address and hostname (at least ‘log level=1’ in |
/var/log/syslog |
chronological log of all system events: network, services, cronjobs, hard drive |