Where is the EFI System Partition (ESP) usually located?

The EFI System Partition (ESP) is typically located at /boot/efi in a Linux system that utilizes UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) for booting. This partition is critical for system startup, as it stores the boot loaders and applications that are necessary for initializing the system.

In UEFI systems, the ESP is formatted with a FAT file system, allowing various boot loaders to reside therein, which enables the system firmware to locate and execute the appropriate boot loader at startup. The /boot/efi directory, therefore, serves as the mount point for this partition, making it accessible for the operating system to read the boot files.

The other directories mentioned do not conform to the standard locations used by UEFI systems. /boot/esp and /boot/efi/system are not standard mount points recognized for the ESP, while /etc/efi is typically used for configuration files and not as a location for booting purposes. Thus, /boot/efi is the correct choice for the usual location of the EFI System Partition.