# Where to find things

## Location of WeeWX components

Here is a summary of the layout for the different install methods, along with
the symbolic names used for each component. These names are used throughout the
documentation.

=== "Debian"

    | Component               | Symbolic name    | Nominal value             |
    |-------------------------|------------------|---------------------------|
    | WeeWX root directory    | _`WEEWX_ROOT`_   | `/etc/weewx/`             |
    | Skins and templates     | _`SKIN_ROOT`_    | `skins/`                  |
    | User directory          | _`USER_ROOT`_    | `bin/user/`               |
    | Examples                | _`EXAMPLE_ROOT`_ | `examples/`               |
    | Executables             | _`BIN_ROOT`_     | `/usr/share/weewx/`       |
    | SQLite databases        | _`SQLITE_ROOT`_  | `/var/lib/weewx/`         |
    | Web pages and images    | _`HTML_ROOT`_    | `/var/www/html/weewx/`    |
    | Documentation           |                  | https://weewx.com/docs    |

=== "RedHat"

    | Component               | Symbolic name    | Nominal value             |
    |-------------------------|------------------|---------------------------|
    | WeeWX root directory    | _`WEEWX_ROOT`_   | `/etc/weewx/`             |
    | Skins and templates     | _`SKIN_ROOT`_    | `skins/`                  |
    | User directory          | _`USER_ROOT`_    | `bin/user/`               |
    | Examples                | _`EXAMPLE_ROOT`_ | `examples/`               |
    | Executables             | _`BIN_ROOT`_     | `/usr/share/weewx/`       |
    | SQLite databases        | _`SQLITE_ROOT`_  | `/var/lib/weewx/`         |
    | Web pages and images    | _`HTML_ROOT`_    | `/var/www/html/weewx/`    |
    | Documentation           |                  | https://weewx.com/docs    |

=== "openSUSE"

    | Component               | Symbolic name    | Nominal value             |
    |-------------------------|------------------|-------------------------- |
    | WeeWX root directory    | _`WEEWX_ROOT`_   | `/etc/weewx/`             |
    | Skins and templates     | _`SKIN_ROOT`_    | `skins/`                  |
    | User directory          | _`USER_ROOT`_    | `bin/user/`               |
    | Examples                | _`EXAMPLE_ROOT`_ | `examples/`               |
    | Executables             | _`BIN_ROOT`_     | `/usr/share/weewx/`       |
    | SQLite databases        | _`SQLITE_ROOT`_  | `/var/lib/weewx/`         |
    | Web pages and images    | _`HTML_ROOT`_    | `/var/www/html/weewx/`    |
    | Documentation           |                  | https://weewx.com/docs    |

=== "pip"

    | Component               | Symbolic name    | Nominal value             |
    |-------------------------|------------------|---------------------------|
    | WeeWX root directory    | _`WEEWX_ROOT`_   | `~/weewx-data/`           |
    | Skins and templates     | _`SKIN_ROOT`_    | `skins/`                  |
    | User directory          | _`USER_ROOT`_    | `bin/user/`               |
    | Examples                | _`EXAMPLE_ROOT`_ | `examples/`               |
    | Executables             | _`BIN_ROOT`_     | varies (see below)        |
    | SQLite databases        | _`SQLITE_ROOT`_  | `archive/`                |
    | Web pages and images    | _`HTML_ROOT`_    | `public_html/`            |
    | Documentation           |                  | https://weewx.com/docs    |

!!! Note
    In the locations above, relative paths are *relative to _`WEEWX_ROOT`_*.
    Absolute paths begin with a forward slash (`/`).  The tilde character
    (`~`) represents the `HOME` directory of the user.


## Location of log files

In the default configuration, WeeWX sends log messages to the system logging
facility.  On some systems, the log messages end up in files that you can
browse as you would any other file.  On other systems you will have to use
tools provided by the operating system to see the log messages.

See the section [_Monitoring WeeWX_](monitoring.md/#log-messages).


## Location of executables in a pip install

This is something you are not likely to need, but can occasionally be useful.
It's included here for completeness. If you use a pip install, the location of
the executables will depend on how the installation was done.

| Install method                                      | Commands                                                                     | Location of executables |
|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| Virtual environment<br/>(recommended)               | `python3 -m venv ~/ve`<br/>`source ~/ve/bin/activate`<br/>`pip3 install weewx` | `~/ve/bin/`             |
| pip<br/>no sudo<br/>with `--user`                   | `pip3 install weewx --user`                                                  | `~/.local/bin/`         |
| pip<br/>no sudo<br/>no `--user`                     | `pip3 install weewx`                                                         | `~/.local/bin/`         |
| pip<br/>with sudo<br/>(not recommended)             | `sudo pip3 install weewx`                                                    | `/usr/local/bin/` (1)   |
| Virtual environment<br/>with `--user`<br/>(not allowed) | `python3 -m venv ~/ve`<br/>`source ~/ve/bin/activate`<br/>`pip3 install weewx --user` | N/A                     |

(1) Checked on Ubuntu 22.02 and Rocky v9.1