Home directory
Encyclopedia
A Home directory is a file system directory
on a multi-user
operating system
containing files
for a given user
of the system. The specifics of the home directory (such as its name and location) is defined by the operating system involved; for example, Windows
systems between 2000
and 2003 keep home directories in a folder called Documents and Settings.
s of preferred settings for any software they have used there and might have tailored to their liking: web browser
bookmarks, favorite desktop
wallpaper
and themes
, password
s to any external services accessed via a given software, etc. The user can install executable software in this directory, but it will only be available to users with permission to this directory. The home directory can be organized further with the use of sub-directories.
The content of a user's home directory is protected by file system permissions
, and by default is only accessible to that user and administrators. Any other user that has been granted administrator privileges has authority to access any protected location on the filesystem including other users home directories.
s, virus
es and worm
s running under the user's name and with their privileges will in most cases only be able to alter the files in the user's home directory, and perhaps some files belonging to workgroups the user is a part of, but not actual system file
s.
. The ~user shorthand variable refers to a user's home directory (allowing the user to navigate to it from anywhere else in the filesystem, or use it in other Unix commands). The ~ (tilde character) shorthand command refers to that particular users home directory.
The Unix superuser has access to all directories on the filesystem, and hence can access home directories of all users. The superuser's home directory on older systems was /
, but on many newer systems it is located at /root (Linux, BSD), or /var/root (Mac OS X
).
operating system, a user's home directory is called the "root directory", and the equivalent of a Unix/DOS/Windows/AmigaOS "root directory" is referred to as the "Master File Directory".
for all users files, there is no individual directory setup per user (though users can still setup and maintain directories inside this main working directory manually).
Directory (file systems)
In computing, a folder, directory, catalog, or drawer, is a virtual container originally derived from an earlier Object-oriented programming concept by the same name within a digital file system, in which groups of computer files and other folders can be kept and organized.A typical file system may...
on a multi-user
Multi-user
Multi-user is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows concurrent access by multiple users of a computer. Time-sharing systems are multi-user systems. Most batch processing systems for mainframe computers may also be considered "multi-user", to avoid leaving the...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
containing files
Computer file
A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished...
for a given user
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
of the system. The specifics of the home directory (such as its name and location) is defined by the operating system involved; for example, Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
systems between 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
and 2003 keep home directories in a folder called Documents and Settings.
Description
A user's home directory is intended to contain that user's files; including text documents, music, pictures or videos, etc. It may also include their configuration fileConfiguration file
In computing, configuration files, or config files configure the initial settings for some computer programs. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system settings. The files are often written in ASCII and line-oriented, with lines terminated by a newline or carriage...
s of preferred settings for any software they have used there and might have tailored to their liking: web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
bookmarks, favorite desktop
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
wallpaper
Computer wallpaper
Wallpaper is an image used as a background of a graphical user interface on a computer screen or mobile communications device. On a computer it is usually for the desktop, while for a mobile phone it is usually the background for the 'home' or 'idle' screen...
and themes
Theme (computing)
In computing, a theme is a preset package containing graphical appearance details, used to customize the look and feel of an operating system, widget set or window manager....
, password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
s to any external services accessed via a given software, etc. The user can install executable software in this directory, but it will only be available to users with permission to this directory. The home directory can be organized further with the use of sub-directories.
The content of a user's home directory is protected by file system permissions
File system permissions
Most current file systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users. These systems control the ability of the users to view or make changes to the contents of the filesystem....
, and by default is only accessible to that user and administrators. Any other user that has been granted administrator privileges has authority to access any protected location on the filesystem including other users home directories.
Benefits of Home Directories
Separating user data from system-wide data avoids redundancy and makes backups of important files relatively simple. Furthermore, Trojan horseTrojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
s, virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
es and worm
Computer worm
A computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach...
s running under the user's name and with their privileges will in most cases only be able to alter the files in the user's home directory, and perhaps some files belonging to workgroups the user is a part of, but not actual system file
System file
A system file is a computer file important to the operating system. More specifically, it may refer to:* .sys — a Microsoft Windows file extension for system-related files* The System suitcase on Mac OS* Any file marked with a "system" attribute...
s.
Default Home Directory per Operating System
| System | Path | Variable |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows NT | %UserProfile% | |
| Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and 2003 | ||
| Microsoft Windows Vista and 7 | ||
| Unix-Based | $HOME and ~/ | |
| Unix-Derived | /var/users/ /u01/ /usr/ /user/ /users/ |
|
| SunOS SunOS SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS... / Solaris ( & Linux (FHS Filesystem Hierarchy Standard The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. For the most part, it is a formalization and extension of the traditional BSD filesystem hierarchy.... )) |
/home/ |
|
| AT&T Unix (original version) | $HOME | |
| Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
/Users/ |
$HOME and ~/, and path to home folder (in AppleScript) |
Unix
In Unix, a user will be automatically placed into their home directory upon loginLogging (computer security)
In computer security, a login or logon is the process by which individual access to a computer system is controlled by identifying and authentifying the user referring to credentials presented by the user.A user can log in to a system to obtain access and can then log out or log off In computer...
. The ~user shorthand variable refers to a user's home directory (allowing the user to navigate to it from anywhere else in the filesystem, or use it in other Unix commands). The ~ (tilde character) shorthand command refers to that particular users home directory.
The Unix superuser has access to all directories on the filesystem, and hence can access home directories of all users. The superuser's home directory on older systems was /
Root directory
In computer file systems, the root directory is the first or top-most directory in a hierarchy. It can be likened to the root of a tree — the starting point where all branches originate.-Metaphor:...
, but on many newer systems it is located at /root (Linux, BSD), or /var/root (Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
).
VMS
In the VMSVMS
- Communication and transportation :* Voice Mail System, automated telephone messaging* Video Messaging Service , video messaging for 3G handsets* VMS MobiFone, one of the largest mobile phone operators in Vietnam...
operating system, a user's home directory is called the "root directory", and the equivalent of a Unix/DOS/Windows/AmigaOS "root directory" is referred to as the "Master File Directory".
Contrast with Single-user Operating Systems
Single-user operating systems simply have a single directory or partitionsDisk partitioning
Disk partitioning is the act of dividing a hard disk drive into multiple logical storage units referred to as partitions, to treat one physical disk drive as if it were multiple disks. Partitions are also termed "slices" for operating systems based on BSD, Solaris or GNU Hurd...
for all users files, there is no individual directory setup per user (though users can still setup and maintain directories inside this main working directory manually).
- AmigaOSAmigaOSAmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
versions 2 and up have "System" and "Work" partitions on hard disks by default. - BeOSBeOSBeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
(and its successors) have a /home directory which contain the files belonging to the single user of the system. - Versions of Windows prior Windows 95Windows 95Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
OEM Service Release 2 did not have a user folder, but since that release, \My DocumentsMy DocumentsOn Microsoft Windows computer operating systems , My Documents is the name of a special folder on the computer's hard drive that the system commonly uses to store a user's documents, music, pictures, downloads, and other files.- Overview :Microsoft first introduced the "My Documents" folder in...
became in effect the single user's home directory. - NeXTSTEPNEXTSTEPNeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
and OPENSTEPOpenStepOpenStep was an object-oriented application programming interface specification for an object-oriented operating system that used a non-NeXTSTEP operating system as its core, principally developed by NeXT with Sun Microsystems. OPENSTEP was a specific implementation of the OpenStep API developed...
in a single user, non-networked setup, /me is used, as well as /root when logged in as superuser.
See also
- Filesystem hierarchy standardFilesystem Hierarchy StandardThe Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. For the most part, it is a formalization and extension of the traditional BSD filesystem hierarchy....
- My DocumentsMy DocumentsOn Microsoft Windows computer operating systems , My Documents is the name of a special folder on the computer's hard drive that the system commonly uses to store a user's documents, music, pictures, downloads, and other files.- Overview :Microsoft first introduced the "My Documents" folder in...
- Parent directoryParent directoryIn computing, the parent directory of a given directory A is the directory B in which A is located. In As absolute path, B is the predecessor of A....
- Root directoryRoot directoryIn computer file systems, the root directory is the first or top-most directory in a hierarchy. It can be likened to the root of a tree — the starting point where all branches originate.-Metaphor:...
- Working directoryWorking directoryIn computing, the working directory of a process is a directory of a hierarchical file system, if any, dynamically associated with each process. When the process refers to a file using a simple file name or relative path , the reference is interpreted relative to the current working directory of...