NAME
ls —
list directory contents
SYNOPSIS
ls |
[-1AaBbCcdFfghikLlMmnOoPpqRrSsTtuWwXx]
[file ...] |
DESCRIPTION
For each
file operand that names a file of a type other
than directory,
ls displays its name as well as any
requested, associated information. For each
file operand
that names a file of type directory,
ls displays the names
of files contained within that directory, as well as any requested, associated
information.
If no operands are given, the contents of the current directory are displayed.
If more than one operand is given, non-directory operands are displayed first;
directory and non-directory operands are sorted separately and in
lexicographical order.
The following options are available:
-
-
- -1
- (The numeric digit “one”). Force output to be
one entry per line. This is the default when output is not to a
terminal.
-
-
- -A
- List all entries except for
‘
.
’ and
‘..
’. Always set for the
super-user.
-
-
- -a
- Include directory entries whose names begin with a dot
(‘.’).
-
-
- -B
- Force printing of non-graphic characters in file names as
\xxx, where xxx is the numeric value of the character in octal.
-
-
- -b
- As -B, but use C escape codes whenever
possible.
-
-
- -C
- Force multi-column output; this is the default when output
is to a terminal.
-
-
- -c
- Use time when file status was last changed, instead of time
of last modification of the file for printing (-l) or
sorting (-t). Overrides -u.
-
-
- -d
- Directories are listed as plain files (not searched
recursively) and symbolic links in the argument list are not followed.
Turns off -R if also given.
-
-
- -F
- Display a slash (‘/’) immediately after each
pathname that is a directory, an asterisk (‘*’) after each
that is executable, an at sign (‘@’) after each symbolic link,
a percent sign (‘%’) after each whiteout, an equal sign
(‘=’) after each socket, and a vertical bar (‘|’)
after each that is a FIFO.
-
-
- -f
- Output is not sorted. This option implies
-a.
-
-
- -g
- The same as -l, except that the owner is
not printed.
-
-
- -h
- Modifies the -l and -s
options, causing the sizes to be reported in bytes displayed in a human
readable format. Overrides -k and
-M.
-
-
- -i
- For each file, print the file's file serial number (inode
number).
-
-
- -k
- Modifies the -s option, causing the sizes
to be reported in kilobytes. Overrides -h.
-
-
- -L
- For each file, if it's a link, evaluate file information
and file type of the referenced file and not the link itself; however
still print the link name, unless used with -l, for
example.
-
-
- -l
- (The lowercase letter “ell”). List in long
format. (See below.)
-
-
- -M
- Modifies the -l and -s
options, causing the sizes or block counts reported to be separated with
commas (or a locale appropriate separator) resulting in a more readable
output. Overrides -h; does not override
-k.
-
-
- -m
- Stream output format; list files across the page, separated
by commas.
-
-
- -n
- The same as -l, except that the owner and
group IDs are displayed numerically rather than converting to a owner or
group name.
-
-
- -O
- Output only leaf files (not directories), eliding other
ls output.
-
-
- -o
- Include the file flags in a long (-l)
output. If no file flags are set, “-” is displayed. (See
chflags(1) for a list of
possible flags and their meanings.)
-
-
- -P
- Print the full pathname for each file.
-
-
- -p
- Display a slash (‘/’) immediately after each
pathname that is a directory.
-
-
- -q
- Force printing of non-printable characters in file names as
the character ‘?’; this is the default when output is to a
terminal.
-
-
- -R
- Recursively list subdirectories encountered. See also
-d.
-
-
- -r
- Reverse the order of the sort to get reverse
lexicographical order or the smallest or oldest entries first.
-
-
- -S
- Sort by size, largest file first.
-
-
- -s
- Display the number of file system blocks actually used by
each file, in units of 512 bytes or
BLOCKSIZE
(see
ENVIRONMENT) where partial units are
rounded up to the next integer value. If the output is to a terminal, a
total sum for all the file sizes is output on a line before the
listing.
-
-
- -T
- When used with the -l (the lowercase
letter “ell”) option, display complete time information for
the file, including month, day, hour, minute, second, and year.
-
-
- -t
- Sort by time modified (most recently modified first) before
sorting the operands by lexicographical order.
-
-
- -u
- Use time of last access, instead of last modification of
the file for printing (-l) or sorting
(-t). Overrides -c.
-
-
- -W
- Display whiteouts when scanning directories.
-
-
- -w
- Force raw printing of non-printable characters. This is the
default when output is not to a terminal.
-
-
- -x
- Multi-column output sorted across the page rather than down
the page.
-
-
- -X
- Don't cross mount points when recursing.
The
-B,
-b,
-q, and
-w options all override each other; the last one specified
determines the format used for non-printable characters.
The
-1,
-C,
-g,
-l,
-m, and
-x options
all override each other; the last one specified determines the format used
with the exception that if both
-l and
-g
are specified,
-l will always override
-g,
even if
-g was specified last.
By default,
ls lists one entry per line to standard output;
the exceptions are to terminals or when the
-C or
-m options are specified.
File information is displayed with one or more ⟨blank⟩ characters
separating the information associated with the
-i,
-l, and
-s options.
If the
-l option is given, the following information is
displayed for each file:
- file mode
- number of links
- owner name
- group name
- file flags (if
-o given)
- number of bytes in the
file
- abbreviated month file was
last modified
- day-of-month file was last
modified
- hour and minute file was last
modified
- pathname
In addition, for each directory whose contents are displayed, the total number
of file system blocks in units of 512 bytes or
BLOCKSIZE
(see
ENVIRONMENT) used by the files in the
directory is displayed on a line by itself immediately before the information
for the files in the directory.
If the owner or group names are not a known owner or group name, or the
-n option is given, the numeric ID's are displayed.
If the file is a character special or block special file, the major and minor
device numbers for the file are displayed in the size field. If the file is a
symbolic link the pathname of the linked-to file is preceded by
“->”.
The file mode printed under the
-l option consists of the
entry type, owner permissions, group permissions, and other permissions. The
entry type character describes the type of file, as follows:
- -
- Regular file.
- a
- Archive state 1.
- A
- Archive state 2.
- b
- Block special file.
- c
- Character special file.
- d
- Directory.
- l
- Symbolic link.
- p
- FIFO.
- s
- Socket link.
- w
- Whiteout.
The next three fields are three characters each: owner permissions, group
permissions, and other permissions. Each field has three character positions:
- If r, the file is readable; if
-, it is not readable.
- If w, the file is writable; if
-, it is not writable.
- The first of the following that applies:
-
-
- S
- If in the owner permissions, the file is not executable
and set-user-ID mode is set. If in the group permissions, the file is
not executable and set-group-ID mode is set.
-
-
- s
- If in the owner permissions, the file is executable and
set-user-ID mode is set. If in the group permissions, the file is
executable and setgroup-ID mode is set.
-
-
- x
- The file is executable or the directory is
searchable.
-
-
- -
- The file is neither readable, writable, executable, nor
set-user-ID nor set-group-ID mode, nor sticky. (See below.)
These next two apply only to the third character in the last group (other
permissions).
-
-
- T
- The sticky bit is set (mode
1000
), but not execute or search permission.
(See chmod(1) or
sticky(7).)
-
-
- t
- The sticky bit is set (mode
1000
), and is searchable or executable. (See
chmod(1) or
sticky(7).)
The number of bytes displayed for a directory is a function of the number of
dirent(3) structures in the
directory, not all of which may be allocated to any existing file.
ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables affect the execution of
ls:
-
-
BLOCKSIZE
- If the environment variable
BLOCKSIZE
is set, and the -k
option is not specified, the block counts (see -l and
-s) will be displayed in units of that size block.
-
-
COLUMNS
- If this variable contains a string representing a decimal
integer, it is used as the column position width for displaying
multiple-text-column output. The ls utility calculates
how many pathname text columns to display based on the width provided.
(See -C.)
-
-
TZ
- The timezone to use when displaying dates. See
environ(7) for more
information.
EXIT STATUS
The
ls utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an
error occurs.
COMPATIBILITY
The group field is now automatically included in the long listing for files in
order to be compatible with the
IEEE Std 1003.2
(“POSIX.2”) specification.
SEE ALSO
chflags(1),
chmod(1),
stat(2),
dirent(3),
getbsize(3),
sticky(7),
symlink(7)
STANDARDS
The
ls utility is expected to be a superset of the
IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) specification.
HISTORY
An
ls utility appeared in
Version 1
AT&T UNIX.