Stellarium: Files and Directories

General Information

Stellarium is a program that requires many data files. Files for Stellarium can be located in two different places, either the user directory or the installation directory. The user directory is for the user account that is running the program and this is where the program looks first. If a file is not found there, then the installation directory is checked. Having two different locations for files makes it possible for Stellarium to be installed as an administrative user, but have a set of writable configurations for non-administrative users. This method is helpful on multi-user computers because different users can set their own configurations and files within their personal accounts. Stellarium also will save some files such as screenshots in additional locations.

The locations of the user directory, installation directory, screenshot save directory, and script save directory depend greatly on the type of operating system the computer has and the installation method used. 
 

File Locations for three operating systems:

Windows

Installation Directory - Changes based on where the program is installed. Typically will be C:\Program Files\Stellarium\.

User Directory -Subfolder in the Application Data folder. Changes with the Windows version and configuration. The following are possible options:
                           

• Windows 2000/XP  This is the Stellarium sub-directory of your user's application data directory (usually something like C:\Documents and Settings\YOURUSERNAME\Application Data\Stellarium
• Windows Vista/7/8This is the Stellarium sub-directory of your user's application data directory (usually something like C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Stellarium

    Screenshot Save Directory - Screenshots are saved to the desktop, but can be changed with a command line option.

Mac OS X

Installation Directory - Found inside the application bundle.

User Directory - $HOME/Library/Preferences/Stellarium where $HOME is your home directory. You may have to change the explorer's settings to view hidden files.

Screenshot Save Directory - Screenshots are saved to the desktop.

Linux/BSD/Other POSIX

Installation Directory - Changes based on installation prefix used when building Stellarium. If built from source, and with no specified install prefix, the prefix will be /usr/local. Typically, pre-built packages for distros will use the /usr prefix. Installation Data Directory is $PREFIX/share/stellarium

User Directory - $HOME/.stellarium where $HOME is your home directory.

Screenshot Save Directory - Screenshots are saved to the user's home directory.

Referenced from: Stellarium.org