How to Display File Information

Display information about all the files in a directory by using the ls command.

1. Type the following command to display a long listing of all files in the current directory.

   % ls -la

   -l

   Displays the long format that includes user ownership, group ownership, and file permissions.

   -a

   Displays all files, including hidden files that begin with a dot (.).

Example 7–1 Displaying File Information

In the following example, a partial list of the files in the /sbin directory is displayed.

% cd /sbin
% ls -la
total 13456
drwxr-xr-x   2 root     sys          512 Sep  1 14:11 .
drwxr-xr-x  29 root     root        1024 Sep  1 15:40 ..
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       218188 Aug 18 15:17 autopush
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root     root          21 Sep  1 14:11 bpgetfile -> ...
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       505556 Aug 20 13:24 dhcpagent
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       456064 Aug 20 13:25 dhcpinfo
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       272360 Aug 18 15:19 fdisk
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       824728 Aug 20 13:29 hostconfig
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       603528 Aug 20 13:21 ifconfig
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     sys       556008 Aug 20 13:21 init
-r-xr-xr-x   2 root     root      274020 Aug 18 15:28 jsh
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     bin       238736 Aug 21 19:46 mount
-r-xr-xr-x   1 root     sys         7696 Aug 18 15:20 mountall
   .
   .
   .

Each line displays information about a file in the following order:

• Type of file – For example, d. For list of file types, see File and Directory Ownership.

• Permissions – For example, r-xr-xr-x. For description, see File and Directory Ownership.

• Number of hard links – For example, 2.

• Owner of the file – For example, root.

• Group of the file – For example, bin.

• Size of the file, in bytes – For example, 7696.

• Date the file was created or the last date that the file was changed – For example, Aug 18 15:20.

• Name of the file – For example, mountall.