The main configuration files in Linux and their meaning

SOURCES:
THE ONE PAGE LINUX MANUAL


/etc/profile System wide environment variables for
all users.
/etc/fstab List of devices and their associated mount
points. Edit this file to add cdroms, DOS
partitions and floppy drives at startup.
/etc/motd Message of the day broadcast to all users
at login.
etc/rc.d/rc.local Bash script that is executed at the end of
login process. Similar to autoexec.bat in
DOS.
/etc/HOSTNAME Conatins full hostname including domain.
/etc/cron.* There are 4 directories that automatically
execute all scripts within the directory at
intervals of hour, day, week or month.
/etc/hosts A list of all know host names and IP
addresses on the machine.
/etc/httpd/conf Paramters for the Apache web server
/etc/inittab Specifies the run level that the machine
should boot into.
/etc/resolv.conf Defines IP addresses of DNS servers.
/etc/smb.conf Config file for the SAMBA server. Allows
file and print sharing with Microsoft
clients.
/etc/X11/XF86Confi
g
Config file for X-Windows.
~/.xinitrc Defines the windows manager loaded by
X. ~ refers to user’s home directory.