Interpreting Linux Directory and File Listings – From the Output of the Linux ls Command

In this linux tutorial we will learn how to running the Linux ls command at the Linux command line prompt shows a listing of directories and files.

The following is an example of a listing at the shell prompt of a directory named bin:

• drwxr-x— 22 root root 4096 May 22 16:14 bin

The name of the directory (bin) appears at the far right.

At the left of this name is the time (16:14). If the directory were not created this year, the year would appear in place of the time. Next at the left is the date (May 22). At the left is the size of the directory, which is 4,096 bytes (4 K).

At the far left is a “d” and this indicates that the item is a directory.

The other items shown above, such as “rwxr-x— 22 root root”, are permissions.

The following is a Linux ls command output example of a file named grep.1.gz:

• -rw-r–r– 1 root root 5907 Jul 17 2007 grep.1.gzThe name of the file appears at the far right (grep.1.gz).

At the left of the name is the date that the file was created (July 17, 2007). At the left of that is the size of the file, which is 5,907 bytes (approximately 5.9 K).

At the far left is a “-“. This indicates that the item is a file.

The above file was created in 2,007. If the file was created this year, then the time that the file was created, in the form of hh:mm, would appear in place of the year.

When you run ls command and use the -l option, you see a series of characters at the left of each item in the directory listing. The table below shows the meaning of the far left character in a directory listing.

The Leftmost Characters in a Listing from the Output of the Linux ls Command

When using the -l option of the ls command, the - (dash) for file and the d for directory appear most often in the list that is output when the ls command is run.

Remember that directory names have a “d” at the far left of them and files have a “-“.

The Linux concepts shown above apply to Slackware, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian Linux – and also ALL Linux distributions.

By the way…do you want to learn exactly how to use Linux and run Linux commands for Linux System Administration and get real, practical Linux training experience by running hundreds of examples of Linux commands? Stay tuned as more linux commands training tips will coming. speak soon.

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Hello, are you looking for linux tutorial? whether you an expert or beginner every people who wants to learn linux will search for linux tutorial. Many source offering linux tutorial, you can get an e-book or printed material yes, you find it very useful.

As a beginner you may want to read your linux man page as the first source you need to operate your new operating system. Man page will provide you with basic linux commands and expert linux commands. This list of linux commands will help you to run and operate your new linux. No mater what kind of distribution you like you will always find it useful.

Another way to get linux tutorial is by attending linux training or linux seminar, you can also buy Linux books or video to watch and learn. Don't worry about your new operating system as this is more stable than the other operating system. You should join to mailing list or forum to broaden your network and gaining more information about linux.

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Technorati Tags: basic linux commands, Linux Commands, linux training, Linux tutorial, linux commands

Here are some basic commands to get you started in the wonderful world of Linux and other UNIX variants. All of these commands should work from your command prompt (regardless which shell you’re using).You MUST press enter to invoke the command.All UNIX and Linux commands are case sensitive. There are of course thousands of Linux related commands and procedures.

You can also execute multiple commands by separating each one with a ; for example cd newdir; mkdir thatdir ; ls -la will first change directories to the newdir directory, then create a directory called thatdir, then list all the files in long format. You can string together as many commands as you like but caution should be used not to inadvertently do anything harmful.

If you think some thing need to be added to this list let me know.

access determine whether a file can be accessed

Syntax

access -mode file

For more options and how to use check access man page

alias define or display aliases

Syntax

alias [alias-name[=string] ]

For more options and how to use check alias man page

bg run jobs in the background

Syntax

bg [job_id ...]

For more options and how to use check bg man page

cal displays a calendar

Syntax

cal [-smjy13 ] [[ month ] year ]

For more options and how to use check cal man page

cd change directories

Use cd to change directories. Type cd followed by the name of a directory to access that directory.Keep in mind that you are always in a directory and can navigate to directories hierarchically above or below.

Syntax

cd [-L | -P] [directory]

For more options and how to use check cd man page

chown change file owner and group

Syntax

chown [OPTION] OWNER[:[GROUP]] FILE

chown [OPTION] :GROUP FILE

chown [OPTION] reference=RFILE FILE

For more options and how to use check chown man page

chmod change file access permissions

Syntax

chmod [-r] permissions filenames

Options

r Change the permission on files that are in the subdirectories of the directory that you are currently in. permission Specifies the rights that are being granted. Below is the different rights that you can grant in an alpha numeric format.filenames File or directory that you are associating the rights with Permissions

u User who owns the file.

g Group that owns the file.

o Other.

a All.

r Read the file.

w Write or edit the file.

x Execute or run the file as a program.

Numeric Permissions:

CHMOD can also to attributed by using Numeric Permissions:

400 read by owner

040 read by group

004 read by anybody (other)

200 write by owner

020 write by group

002 write by anybody

100 execute by owner

010 execute by group

001 execute by anybody

For more options and how to use check chmod man page

cp Copy files and directories

Syntax

cp [OPTION] SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTION] SOURCE DIRECTORY
cp [OPTION] target-directory=DIRECTORY SOURCE

Options

cp myfile yourfile

Copy the files myfile to the file yourfile in the current working directory. This command will create the file yourfile if it doesn’t exist. It will normally overwrite it without warning if it exists.

cp -i myfile yourfile

With the -i option, if the file yourfile exists, you will be prompted before it is overwritten.

cp -i /data/myfile

Copy the file /data/myfile to the current working directory and name it myfile . Prompt before overwriting the file.

cp -dpr srcdir destdir

Copy all files from the directory srcdir to the directory destdir preserving links (-poption), file attributes (-p option), and copy recursively (-r option). With these options, a directory and all it contents can be copied to another dir

For more options and how to use check cp man page

clear Clears the terminal screen.

Syntax

clear

For more options and how to use check clear man page

cmp Compares two files, reporting all discrepancies. Similar to the diff command, though the output format differs.

Syntax

cmp [-clsv] [-i NUM] [--help] [--print-chars] [--ignore-initial=NUM] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--silent] [--version] -I FILE1 [FILE2 [RANGE1 [RANGE2]]]

For more options and how to use check cmp man page

cat – Sends file contents to standard output. This is a way to list the contents of short files to the screen. It works well with piping.

Syntax

cat [OPTION] [FILE]

For more options and how to use check cat man page

diff find differences between two files

Syntax

diff [options] from-file to-file

For more options and how to use check diff man page

dmesg Prints the messages resulting from the most recent system boot.

Syntax

dmesg [ -c ] [ -n level ] [ -s bufsize ]

For more options and how to use check dmesg man page

du estimate file space usage

Syntax

du [OPTION] [FILE]

For more options and how to use check du man page

df report filesystem disk space usage

Syntax

df [OPTION] [FILE]

For more options and how to use check df man page

exit – cause the shell to exit

syntax

exit [n]

For more options and how to use check exit man page

eject eject removable media

Syntax

eject -h
eject [-vnrsfqp] []
eject [-vn] -d
eject [-vn] -a on|off|1|0 []
eject [-vn] -c slot []
eject [-vn] -t []
eject [-vn] -x []
eject -V

For more options and how to use check eject man page

fuser identify processes using files or sockets

Syntax

fuser [-a|-s|-c] [-4|-6] [-n space] [-k [-i] [-signal] ] [-muvf] name
fuser -l
fuser -V

For more options and how to use check fuser man page

fsck check and repair a Linux file system

Syntax

fsck [ -sACVRTNP ] [ -t fstype ] filesys [ ... ] [--] [ fsck-options ]

For more options and how to use check fsck man page

fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux

Syntax

fdisk [-u] [-b sectorsize] [-C cyls] [-H heads] [-S sects] device
fdisk -l [-u] device
fdisk -s partition
fdisk -v

For more options and how to use check fdisk man page

fg run jobs in the foreground

Syntax

fg [job_id]

For more options and how to use check fg man page

file determine file type

Syntax

file [ -bciknsvzL ] [ -f namefile ] [ -m magicfiles ] file
file -C [ -m magicfile ]

For more options and how to use check file man page

find search for files in a directory hierarchy

Syntax

find [path...] [expression]

For more options and how to use check find man page

finger Prints descriptions of the specified users.

Syntax

finger [-lmsp ] [user ... ] [user@host ... ]

For more options and how to use check finger man page

free Displays the amount of used and free system memory.

Syntax

free [-b | -k | -m] [-o] [-s delay ] [-t] [-V]

For more options and how to use check free man page

ftp A File Transfer Protocol client

Syntax

ftp hostname or ipaddress

For more options and how to use check ftp man page

grep, egrep, fgrep print lines matching a pattern

Syntax

grep [options] PATTERN [FILE...]
grep [options] [-e PATTERN | -f FILE] [FILE...]

For more options and how to use check grep, egrep, fgrep man page

head output the first part of files

Syntax

head [OPTION] [FILE]

For more options and how to use check head man page

history Manipulate the history list

Syntax

history option arg arg

For more options and how to use check history man page

!!

use the ! option. To automatically re-display the last command you typed at the prompt, type: !! and press enter. Press again to invoke the command. You can also automatically re-display a command you typed earlier by using the ! and the first few letters of the command.  Find more Linux Commands here.

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Technorati Tags: basic linux commands, Linux Commands, unix and linux commands

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Technorati Tags: linux, linux administrators, Linux Commands, ubuntu, ubuntu commands