Lists the contents of a directory.
Syntax
ls [-a] [-A] [-b] [-c] [-C] [-d] [-f] [-F] [-g] [-i] [-l] [-L] [-m] [-o]
[-p] [-q] [-r] [-R] [-s] [-t] [-u] [-x] [pathnames]
| -a | Shows you all files, including hidden files (Note :
hidden files begin with a dot.) |
| -A | List all files including the hidden files. but not
displays the working directory (.) and parent directory (..). |
| -b | Force printing of non-printable characters to be in
octal notation. |
| -c | Use time of last modification of the i-node (file
created, mode changed, e.t.c) |
| -C | Multi-column output with entries sorted down the
columns. Generally the default one. |
| -d | If an argument is a directory it only lists its name
not its contents. |
| -f | Force each argument to be interpreted as a directory
and list the name found in each slot. This option turns off -l, -t, -s,
and -r, and turns on -a; the order is the order in which entries appear
in the directory. |
| -F | Mark directories with a trailing slash (/), doors with
a trailing greater-than sign (>), executable files with a trailing
asterisk (*), FIFOs with a trailing vertical bar (|), symbolic links
with a trailing at-sign (@), and AF_Unix address family sockets with a
trailing equals sign (=). |
| -g | Same as -l except the owner is not printed. |
| -i | For each file, print the i-node number in the first
column of the report. |
| -l | Shows you informations such as permissions, owners,
size, and when last modified e.t.c. |
| -L | If an argument is a symbolic link, list the file or
directory the link references rather than the link itself. |
| -m | Stream output format; files are listed across the page,
separated by commas. |
| -n | The same as -l, except that the owner's UID and group's
GID numbers are printed, rather than the associated character strings. |
| -o | The same as -l, except that the group is not printed. |
| -p | Displays a slash ( / ) in front of all directories. |
| -q | Force printing of non-printable characters in file
names as the character question mark (?). |
| -r | Reverses the order of how the files are displayed. |
| -R | Includes the contents of subdirectories. |
| -s | Give size in blocks, including indirect blocks, for
each entry. |
| -t | Shows you the files in modification time. |
| -u | Use time of last access instead of last modification
for sorting (with the -t option) or printing (with the -l option). |
| -x | Displays files in columns. |
| -1 | Print one entry per line of output. |
| pathnames | File or directory to list. |
Examples
ls -l
In the above example this command would list each of the files in the current
directory and the files permissions, the size of the file, date of the last
modification, and the file name or directory. Below is additional information
about each of the fields this command lists.
| Permissions | Dir | Group | Size | Date | Directory/file |
| drwx------ | 3 | www | 4096 | Nov 1 19:50 | usr/ |
| drwxr-s--- | 32 | system | 32768 | Jan 20 20:30 | etc/ |
| -rw------- | 1 | user | 3 | Nov 25 07:58 | first.c |
Below is brief description of each of the above categories shown
when using the ls -l command.
Permissions - The permissions of the directory or file.
Directories - The amount of links or directories within the directory.
The default amount of directories is going to always be 2 because of the . and
.. directories.
Group - The group assigned to the file or directory
Size - Size of the file or directory.
Date - Date of last modification.
Directory of file - The name of the file or file.
ls ~
List the contents of your home directory by adding a tilde after the ls
command.
ls /
List the contents of your root directory.
ls ../
List the contents of the parent directory.
ls */
List the contents of all sub directories.
ls -d */Only list the directories in the current directory.
