/sbin : System binaries

Utilities used for system administration (and other root-only commands) are stored in /sbin, /usr/sbin, and /usr/local/sbin. /sbin contains binaries essential for booting, restoring, recovering, and/or repairing the system in addition to the binaries in /bin. Programs executed after /usr is known to be mounted (when there are no problems) are generally placed into /usr/sbin. Locally-installed system administration programs should be placed into /usr/local/sbin.

The following commands, or symbolic links to commands, are required in /sbin.

Command Description
shutdown Command to bring the system down.

The following files, or symbolic links to files, must be in /sbin if the corresponding subsystem is installed:

Command Description
fastboot Reboot the system without checking the disks (optional)
fasthalt Stop the system without checking the disks (optional)
fdisk Partition table manipulator (optional)
fsck File system check and repair utility (optional)
fsck.* File system check and repair utility for a specific filesystem (optional)
getty The getty program (optional)
halt Command to stop the system (optional)
ifconfig Configure a network interface (optional)
init Initial process (optional)
mkfs Command to build a filesystem (optional)
mkfs.* Command to build a specific filesystem (optional)
mkswap Command to set up a swap area (optional)
reboot Command to reboot the system (optional)
route IP routing table utility (optional)
swapon Enable paging and swapping (optional)
swapoff Disable paging and swapping (optional)
update Daemon to periodically flush filesystem buffers (optional)