4.2. Creating a Limited Directory Layout in the LFS Filesystem

In this section, we begin populating the LFS filesystem with the pieces that will constitute the final Linux system. The first step is to create a limited directory hierarchy, so that the programs compiled in Chapter 6 (as well as glibc and libstdc++ in Chapter 5) can be installed in their final location. We do this so those temporary programs will be overwritten when the final versions are built in Chapter 8.

Create the required directory layout by issuing the following commands as root:

mkdir -pv $LFS/{boot,etc,var} $LFS/usr/{bin,lib,sbin}

for i in bin lib sbin; do
  ln -sv usr/$i $LFS/$i
done

Some targets (for example, x86_64) needs /lib64 directory. If you are building for one of those targets, create it as root:

mkdir -pv $LFS/lib64

Programs in Chapter 6 will be compiled with a cross-compiler (more details can be found in section Toolchain Technical Notes). This cross-compiler will be installed in a special directory, to separate it from the other programs. Still acting as root, create that directory with this command:

mkdir -pv $LFS/tools