The /opt directory is a special folder in Linux used for optional software packages. It’s commonly utilized for third-party and proprietary software installations.
Storing software in /opt helps keep the system organized, separating these programs from core system files. It’s ideal for applications not available in the official repositories.
You can access /opt by navigating to it in your terminal with: cd /opt
Many third-party applications can be installed directly into /opt. For example, you can extract a software package like this: sudo tar -xvzf package.tar.gz -C /opt/
Create subdirectories within /opt for each program to keep things tidy. For example, install Apache in /opt/apache/. This way, you can easily update or remove specific software.
By default, /opt requires root access for modifications. Use sudo to add or remove software, and restrict permissions to ensure security, such as: sudo chmod -R 755 /opt/myapp
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