Linux dir command - lists directory or file information

Linux dir command: lists directory or file information.

Linux dir command Function Description

Use the dir command to list information about a directory or file.

Linux dir command Syntax

dir [Option] [File]

The meaning of each option in the command is shown in the table.

Option	Description
-a	Do not hide anything that starts with a . The beginning of the item.
-A	List all the characters except . and . .
-l	List information in a longer format.
-i	Displays the inode number of each file.
-m	All items are separated by commas and fill the entire line width.
-R	Recursive display of subdirectories
-r	Preserve order when sorting.
-L	When displaying information about a symbolic link file, the information about the object indicated by the symbolic link is displayed instead of the symbolic link itself.
-s	Displays the size of each file allocation as a number of blocks.
-d	List the directory itself instead of the files in the directory when you encounter it.
-S	Sort by file size.
-h	Use with the -1 option to output file sizes in an easy-to-read format, such as 1K, 234M, 2G.
-n	Similar to the -1 option, but with UID and GID numbers listed.
-U	List items in catalog order without sorting.
-t	Sort by modification time.
-v	A natural ordering of numbers (versions) in text.
-Q	Enclose the entry name in double quotation marks.
-t	Sort by modification time.
-N	Output the unprocessed project name (if control characters are not specifically processed).
-o	Similar to the -1 option, but no information about the group is listed.
-C	List items from top to bottom in each column.
-q	With ? Characters to replace unprintable characters
-f	If no sorting is performed, the -au option takes effect and the -ist option is invalid.
-k	means –block-size=IK
-B	Do not list any items that end with the ~ character
-c	with -lt: sort by ctime and display ctime (when the file status was last changed); with -l: display ctime but sort by name; other cases: sort by ctime
-u	Use with -lt to sort and display the ctime time; use with -1 to sort by file name and display the ctime time; in other cases, sort by ctime time
--author	List the author of each file when used in conjunction with the -1 option
-g	Similar to the -1 option, but without listing the owner
-H	Follow the symbolic links listed in the command line
--block-size=<Size>	Blocks are in bytes of the specified size
-F	Add the file type indicator (*, /, =, @, 1, one of them)
-G	In the form of a long list, no group names are printed
-1 <Mode>	Does not display any items that match the specified Shell mode
--hide=<Mode>	Hide items that match the pattern
--indicator-style=<Style>	Specify how to add the indicator to each item name: none (default), classify (-F), file-type (-p)
--show-control-chars	Display unprintable characters directly (this is the default, unless the name of the calling program is ls and the result is output in the terminal)
--lcontext	Display Security context
-Z	Displays only most security context information (schema, user, group, security context, and file name)
-w	Assume the screen width, not the current value
-x	List entries by row rather than column
-l	List one file per line
-X	Sort alphabetically by entry extension
--si	Similar to -h, but using 1000 as the base instead of 1024
--scontext	Only the security context and file name are displayed

Linux dir command Example

List information about the /root directory

[root@rhel ～]# dir /root
anaconda-ks.cfg install.log install.log.syslogPublic Templates Videos Images Documents Downloads Music Desktop

Lists information about the /root directory, even hidden files

[root@rhel ～]# dir -a /root
.             .dbus           .ICEauthority       .ssh
..            .esd_auth         .imsettings.log      .targetcli
.abrt          .gconf           install.log          .tcshrc
anaconda-ks.cfg .gconfd          install.log.syslog     Public
.bash_history   .gnome2         .local             Templates
.bash_logout   .gnome2_private   .nautilus           Videos
.bash_profile   .gnote           .pulse             Images
.bashrc       .gnupg          .pulse-cookie        Documents
.cache        .gstreamer-0.10    .recently-used.xbel    Downloads
.config       .gtk-bookmarks    .redhat            Music
.cshrc        .gvfs            .rnd              Desktop

List the information in the /root directory in a longer format

total 208
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  1 08:34 aaa-apidemos
drwxrwxrwx 2 root root   4096 Jul 30 10:11 apidemos
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:31 apidemos.a2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a2.txt.orig
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  2 07:27 apidemos-aaa
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 102400 Aug  2 08:14 apidemos.com.split.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:58 apidemos.com.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:59 apidemos.com.unexpand.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    143 Aug  5 08:30 apidemos.diff.txt
-r-x--x--T 1 root root      0 Jul 31 15:55 apidemos_mknod
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    225 Aug 10 22:11 apidemos.py
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    282 Aug  2 08:22 apidemos.server.log
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     17 Aug  1 12:48 apidemos(symlink).py -> /root/apidemos.py
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Apr 12  2020 deepinout.com.test
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Dec 19  2020 demo
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    135 Aug  2 08:43 fff
lrwxrwxrwx 1  600  700     22 Jul 30 11:30 file(symlink).txt -> /root/apidemos.com.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  35072 Aug  5 08:07 man_patch.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Aug  1 07:18 nwdir
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root   4096 Oct  3  2020 oneinstack
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    430 Feb 13  2020 ReadMe
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Dec  7  2020 tools

Display the inode number of the /root/install.log file

[root@rhel ～]# dir -i /root/install.log
3670018 /root/install.log

List the information in the /root directory in a longer format, sorted by modification time

total 208
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    225 Aug 10 22:11 apidemos.py
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:31 apidemos.a2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    143 Aug  5 08:30 apidemos.diff.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a2.txt.orig
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  35072 Aug  5 08:07 man_patch.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:59 apidemos.com.unexpand.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:58 apidemos.com.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    135 Aug  2 08:43 fff
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    282 Aug  2 08:22 apidemos.server.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 102400 Aug  2 08:14 apidemos.com.split.txt
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  2 07:27 apidemos-aaa
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     17 Aug  1 12:48 apidemos(symlink).py -> /root/apidemos.py
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  1 08:34 aaa-apidemos
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Aug  1 07:18 nwdir
-r-x--x--T 1 root root      0 Jul 31 15:55 apidemos_mknod
lrwxrwxrwx 1  600  700     22 Jul 30 11:30 file(symlink).txt -> /root/apidemos.com.txt
drwxrwxrwx 2 root root   4096 Jul 30 10:11 apidemos
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Dec 19  2020 demo
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Dec  7  2020 tools
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root   4096 Oct  3  2020 oneinstack
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Apr 12  2020 deepinout.com.test
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    430 Feb 13  2020 ReadMe

List information about the /root directory in a longer format, sorted by file size

total 208
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 102400 Aug  2 08:14 apidemos.com.split.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  35072 Aug  5 08:07 man_patch.txt
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  1 08:34 aaa-apidemos
drwxrwxrwx 2 root root   4096 Jul 30 10:11 apidemos
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Aug  2 07:27 apidemos-aaa
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Apr 12  2020 deepinout.com.test
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Dec 19  2020 demo
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Aug  1 07:18 nwdir
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root   4096 Oct  3  2020 oneinstack
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Dec  7  2020 tools
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    430 Feb 13  2020 ReadMe
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    282 Aug  2 08:22 apidemos.server.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    225 Aug 10 22:11 apidemos.py
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    143 Aug  5 08:30 apidemos.diff.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    135 Aug  2 08:43 fff
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:58 apidemos.com.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     56 Aug  4 07:59 apidemos.com.unexpand.txt
lrwxrwxrwx 1  600  700     22 Jul 30 11:30 file(symlink).txt -> /root/apidemos.com.txt
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     17 Aug  1 12:48 apidemos(symlink).py -> /root/apidemos.py
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:31 apidemos.a2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8 Aug  5 08:29 apidemos.a2.txt.orig
-r-x--x--T 1 root root      0 Jul 31 15:55 apidemos_mknod

Show the size of each file allocation in the /root directory as a block number

total 208
  4 aaa-apidemos            4 apidemos-aaa                 0 apidemos_mknod          4 demo                 4 oneinstack
  4 apidemos              100 apidemos.com.split.txt       4 apidemos.py             4 fff                  4 ReadMe
  4 apidemos.a1.txt         4 apidemos.com.txt             4 apidemos.server.log     0 file(symlink).txt    4 tools
  4 apidemos.a2.txt         4 apidemos.com.unexpand.txt    0 apidemos(symlink).py   36 man_patch.txt
  4 apidemos.a2.txt.orig    4 apidemos.diff.txt            4 deepinout.com.test      4 nwdir

Sort by modification time, preserving the order when sorting, and listing the information in the /root directory in a longer format

dir -ltr /root

Output: