MAC OS X file system Introduction

Knowing the hierarchical organisation of a file system of a determined operating system is very important for every person that works in security.

This is the normal structure of the Apple file system.
For this we consider that the system has the User1 created.

Hidden folders will be coloured in green.

Normal viewable folders will be coloured in Purple.

/ – the root path of the file system.
/ApplicationsThis directory is where you install apps intended for use by all users of a computer.
/Network This directory contains the list of computers in the local area network.
/SystemThis directory contains the system resources required by OS X to run.
/Users This directory contains one or more user home directories.
/Users/User1/Applications Contains user-specific apps
/Users/User1/Desktop Contains the items on the user’s desktop.
/Users/User1/DocumentsContains user documents and files.
/Users/User1/DownloadsContains files downloaded from the Internet.
/Users/User1/LibraryContains user-specific app files (hidden in OS X v10.7 and later)
/Users/User1/MoviesContains the user’s video files.
/Users/User1/Music Contains the user’s music files.
/Users/User1/PicturesContains the user’s photos.
/Users/User1/PublicContains content the user wants to share.
/Users/User1/SitesContains web pages used by the user’s personal site.

/binContains essential command-line binaries. Typically, you execute these binaries from command-line scripts.
/dev Contains essential device files, such as mount points for attached hardware.
/etc Contains host-specific configuration files.
/sbin Contains essential system binaries.
/tmp Contains temporary files created by apps and the system.
/usr Contains non-essential command-line binaries, libraries, header files, and other data.
/var Contains log files and other files whose content is variable. (Log files are typically viewed using the Console app.)

/Volumes It is the mount point of all drives connected to the system

/Private – destination of some symbolic links

/Net – shortcut access to network drives

/Home

/Cores – Directory for the Core Dumps

/Trashes – Everything that we have putted on trash

/Spotlight – Information related with spotlight

/Developer – Path to old Xcode information

There are two primary techniques for identifying the type of content in a file:

  • Uniform Type Identifiers (UTIs) – string that uniquely identifies a class of entities considered to have a “type.” UTIsprovide consistent identifiers for data that all apps and services can recognise and rely upon.
    • public.text—A public type that identifies text data.
    • public.jpeg—A public type that identifies JPEG image data.
    • com.apple.bundle—An Apple type that identifies a bundle directory.
    • com.apple.application-bundle—An Apple type that identifies a bundled app.
  • Filename extensions – A filename extension is a string of characters appended to the end of a file and separated from the main filename with a period.

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