ls Command in Linux/Unix

ls Command in Linux/Unix


                                            ls command list the content of the directory.

Syntax


                         ls  [options]  dir-name


Example

$ ls
abc.lst  def.lst           examples.desktop     jscript           pqr.lst           sandeep.lst  
css       Desktop        html                          Music          Public           shell
css1     Documents   java                           newfile        sandeep        Templates
cut1     Downloads   js                               Pictures       sandeep2.lst  Videos
 xyz.lst
$

* if no directory name is specified then  ls list the content of current directory , it does not shows the hidden files.


ls option


1. -l : This option used for long listing of the directory content.

Syntax


                  ls  -l   dir-name


Example

$ ls -l
total 96
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 31 2012-01-01 20:10 abc.lst
drwxr-xr-x 2 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-12-27 13:44 css
drwxr-xr-x 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-03 19:50 css1
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 48 2012-01-08 10:59 cut1
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 31 2012-01-08 10:53 def.lst
drwxr-xr-x 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-07 10:56 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x 4 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-10-05 18:38 Documents
drwx------ 5 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-07 11:33 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 357 2011-10-02 14:14 examples.desktop
drwxr-xr-x 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-01 11:42 html
drwxr-xr-x 2 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-12-13 20:42 java

* 1st column is permission on the file or directory .
* 2nd column is number of links for that file.
* 3rd  and 4th column is owner name and group name to which file or directory belongs.
* 5th column contain size of the file or directory.
* 6th and 7th column is last modified date and time.
* 8th column is file or directory name.
  
               

2. -a : This option used for display all files and directory(hidden also) of the current directory .

Syntax


                  ls  -a   dir-name


Example

$ ls -a
.                        examples.desktop                       .macromedia shell
..                      .fontconfig .mission-control        .sh_history
abc.lst              .gconf                                          .mozilla .ssh
.adobe               .gconfd                                     Music      
.appletviewer    .gegl-0.0                                  .nautilus .swp
 .sudo_as_admin_successful
$

* .(dot) represent current directory and ..(dot dot) represent parent directory.
* All files starting with .(dot) are a hidden files.



3. -d : This option used for display only dir-name if dir-name is a directory , it will not going to show content of directory.

Syntax


                  ls  -d   dir-name


Example

$ ls -d
.
$ ls -d /
/
$ ls -ld /etc
drwxr-xr-x 150 root root 140 2012-01-08 11:42 /etc
$

4. -x : This option used for display multi-columnar output. .

Syntax


                  ls  -x   dir-name


Example

$ ls
abc.lst  def.lst           examples.desktop   jscript         pqr.lst         sandeep.lst   xyz.lst
css       Desktop        html                        Music        Public          shell
css1     Documents   java                         newfile      sandeep        Templates
cut1     Downloads   js                             Pictures     sandeep2.lst  Videos

$ ls -x
abc.lst           css                 css1                        cut1   def.lst      Desktop
Documents   Downloads   examples.desktop    html   java          js
jscript            Music           newfile                   Pictures pqr.lst     Public
sandeep        sandeep2.lst   sandeep.lst             shell     Templates Videos
xyz.lst
$

5. -R : This option used for display Recursive output .

Syntax


                  ls  -R   dir-name


Example

$ ls
abc.lst  def.lst           examples.desktop     jscript           pqr.lst           sandeep.lst
css       Desktop        html                          Music          Public           shell
css1     Documents   java                           newfile        sandeep        Templates
cut1     Downloads   js                               Pictures       sandeep2.lst  Videos
 xyz.lst


$ ls -R css1
css1:
css index.html

css1/css:
index.html
$

6. -F : Mark executable with *  , directories with / and  , symbolic link with @.

Syntax


                  ls  -F   dir-name


Example

$ cd /

$ ls -F
bin/     dev/      initrd.img@     lost+found/

$ cd

$ ls -F
abc.lst       def.lst      examples.desktop     jscript/

$ ls -F shell
abc.lst    customer_report      fact.sh*    shell1.sh*    shell3.sh*

7. -i : Display inode number.

Syntax


                  ls  -i   dir-name


Example

$ls -i
4764 abc.lst   4732 Downloads            4770 newfile     4749 shell
4766 css       4736 examples.desktop   4638 Pictures     3982 Templates

* Every number before file or directory is inode number of that file or directory.

you can combine different options of ls to produce more useful results like

a.   ls  -al 

$ ls -al
total 572
drwxr-xr-x 66 sandeep sandeep 480 2012-01-08 11:29 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 60 2011-12-18 10:46 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 31 2012-01-01 20:10 abc.lst
drwx------ 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-10-05 18:34 .adobe
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 140 2011-11-25 21:23 .appletviewer
-rw------- 1 sandeep sandeep 5945 2012-01-08 11:32 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 220 2011-10-02 14:14 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 3115 2011-10-02 14:14 .bashrc
drwxr-xr-x 2 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-12-31 10:14 .bluefish
drwx------ 21 sandeep sandeep 140 2012-01-08 10:21 .cache

b.   ls  -il

$ ls -li
total 96
4764 -rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 31 2012-01-01 20:10 abc.lst
4766 drwxr-xr-x 2 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-12-27 13:44 css
4747 drwxr-xr-x 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-03 19:50 css1
4760 -rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 48 2012-01-08 10:59 cut1
4737 -rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 31 2012-01-08 10:53 def.lst
180 drwxr-xr-x 3 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-07 10:56 Desktop
4636 drwxr-xr-x 4 sandeep sandeep 4096 2011-10-05 18:38 Documents
4732 drwx------ 5 sandeep sandeep 4096 2012-01-07 11:33 Downloads
4736 -rw-r--r-- 1 sandeep sandeep 357 2011-10-02 14:14 examples.desktop

*first column is inode number.

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