From Mandriva

This document summarizes the discrepancies between the Mandriva Linux Cooker circa the Mandriva Linux 2005 release and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard version 2.3.

Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 The FHS 1.2 Caveats 1.3 References 2 FHS 2.3 discrepancies 2.1 Root filesystem 2.1.1 Section 3.2: Requirements 2.1.2 Section 3.7.2: /etc requirements 2.1.3 Section 3.11: Mount point for removable media 2.1.4 Section 3.12: Temporary mount point 2.1.5 Section 3.16: Data for provided services 2.1.6 Section 3.17: Temporary files 2.2 /usr hierarchy 2.2.1 Section 4.3: Optional directories 2.2.2 Section 4.4: X11R6 hierarchy 2.2.3 Section 4.5.2: /usr/bin specific options 2.2.4 Section 4.6.2: /usr/include specific options 2.2.5 Section 4.7.2: /usr/lib specific options 2.2.6 Section 4.8.2: /usr/local hierarchy 2.2.7 Section 4.11.6: files in /usr/share/misc 2.3 /var hierarchy 2.3.1 Section 5.7: Variable game data 2.3.2 Section 5.13.2: /var/run requirements 3 Miscelaneous problems 3.1 Misplaced configuration files 4 Summary

Introduction

The FHS

The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard is a set of filesystem layout requirements and recommendations for a minimal UNIX-like system, in order to "support interoperability of applications, system administration tools, development tools, and scripts as well as greater uniformity of documentation for these systems." The FHS is part of the Linux Standard Base specification, and its last release is version 2.3 (released January 29th, 2004).

This document compares the current state of Cooker (May 2005) with the FHS 2.3 requirements and guidelines, highlighting differences that should be addressed prior to the Mandriva Linux 2006 release. This survey is not exhaustive and was conducted in a minimally installed system, other problems may exist that are not mentioned in the document.

Caveats

This excercise was performed without the LSB compatibility package installed. Although FHS is part of LSB, it extends to systems other than Linux and should be regarded as an interoperability standard bridging different Operating Systems and is not subordinated to the LSB.

The X/Open FHS conformance test was performed on my desktop workstation, onto which I had already created /media -- hence the absence of the error report on this required directory. Several other discrepancies, however, were not reported by the FHS conformance test suite.

References

• The FHS 2.3.

FHS 2.3 discrepancies

Root filesystem

Section 3.2: Requirements

• /media missing
• /srv missing

Section 3.7.2: /etc requirements

• /etc/opt missing

Section 3.11: Mount point for removable media

• /media missing.

Section 3.12: Temporary mount point

• System use of /mnt.
• /mnt has predefined content.

Section 3.16: Data for provided services

• /srv missing.

Section 3.17: Temporary files

• RECOMMENDATION: "It is recommended that files and directories located in /tmp be deleted whenever the system is booted." Mandriva Linux cleans up /tmp selectively.

/usr hierarchy

Section 4.3: Optional directories

• /usr/etc is neither a required nor an optional directory

Section 4.4: X11R6 hierarchy

• Many foreign binaries under /usr/X11R6/bin should be in /usr/bin, including several X applications that are not part of X11R6 (e.g. window managers, xscreensaver)

Section 4.5.2: /usr/bin specific options

• /usr/bin/X11 must be a symlink to /usr/X11R6/bin (Mandriva Linux links to ../X11R6/bin)

Section 4.6.2: /usr/include specific options

• /usr/include/X11 must be a symlink to /usr/X11R6/include/X11 (Mandriva Linux links to ../X11R6/include/X11)

Section 4.7.2: /usr/lib specific options

• /usr/lib/sendmail should be a symlink to /usr/sbin/sendmail (see AlternativesPolicyReview for details)

Section 4.8.2: /usr/local hierarchy

• /usr/local/man missing (should be a symlink to /usr/local/share/man)
• /usr/local/doc shouldn't exist
• /usr/local/libexec shouldn't exist
• /usr/local/share/misc missing

Section 4.11.6: files in /usr/share/misc

• termcap should be here

/var hierarchy

Section 5.7: Variable game data

• Moved from /var/lib/games to /var/games, Mandriva Linux is using the old location.

Section 5.13.2: /var/run requirements

• vtun.pid in wrong format, missing ending newline
• xfs.pid in wrong format, starts with space

Miscelaneous problems

Misplaced configuration files

• Smart places configuration files under /var/lib instead of /etc (but binary configuration files are forbidden in /etc so it's OK if we consider it as its state and not a config file)
• OpenOffice.org places psprint.conf under /usr/lib Bug #10022
• OpenSSL places openssl.cnf under /usr/lib Bug #12912

Summary

In this document we compared a minimally installed Mandriva Linux Cooker, as it was in May 2005, to the FHS 2.3 standard released in January 2004. The comparison was made through manual inspection of the standard and a newly installed system, and a number of discrepancies have been found -- most notably a difference in the root filesystem layout regarding removable media and served content.

Interestingly, the X/OPEN Verification Suite for FHS 2.3 compliance didn't catch most of the discrepancies above, only complaining about the missing /srv and /etc/opt. It would be good, however, to fix other known issues such as the /mnt vs /media, remove extra directories such as /usr/etc and /usr/local/libexec and use a more straightforward policy for /tmp cleaning. The relevant parts of the test report are listed below.

/tset/LSB.fhs/root/etc-opt/etc-opt-tc 1 Failed

        Test Information:
Reference 3.7.2-1(A)
The /etc/opt directory exists and is searchable
/etc/opt: directory not found
exit code 1 returned, expected 0

/tset/LSB.fhs/root/srv/srv-tc 1 Failed

        Test Information:
Reference 3.16-1(A)
The /srv directory exists and is searchable
/srv: directory not found
exit code 1 returned, expected 0