Linux tree command - list the contents of a directory in a hierarchical tree diagram

The Linux tree command is used to list the contents of a directory in a hierarchical tree diagram.

Linux tree command Function Description

Use the tree command to list the contents of a directory in a hierarchical tree diagram.

Linux tree command Syntax

tree [option] [directory]

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

Option	Description
-a	All the files will be listed
-d	Displays the directory name instead of the contents
-l	If you encounter a directory that is a symbolic link, the source directory to which the link points is listed directly
-f	Show the full path name before each file or directory
-i	Do not list file or directory names in a ladder
-q	Use ? symbol replaces the control character and lists file and directory names
-r	Sort files in reverse alphanumeric order
-p	Displays the permission identifier for each file
-u	Lists the user owner or UID of a file or directory
-g	Lists the group owner or GID of a file or directory
-s	Displays the size of each file in bytes
-t	Sort by file and directory modification time (mtime)
-C	Color file and directory listings to help distinguish between types
-D	Display the modification time of a file or directory (mtime)
-F	Show the file type, append /, =, * or
-I <Style>	File or directory names that match the style are not displayed
-P <Style>	Only file or directory names that match the style are displayed
-N	Lists file and directory names directly, including control characters
-A	Display dendrograms using ASNI drawing characters instead of ASCII character combinations
-n	Do not color file and directory listings
-x	Leave only the current file system
--inodes	Displays the inode of each file
--device	The device ID of each file is displayed
-v	Sort files alphanumeric by version

Linux tree command Examples

List the contents of the /home/deepinout/apidemos.com directory in a hierarchical tree diagram

tree /home/deepinout/apidemos.com

Output:

List the contents of the /boot directory in a tree diagram, step by step, and display permission information

[root@rhel ～]# tree -p /boot
/boot
├──[-rw-r--r--] config-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64
├──[drwxr-xr-x] efi
| └──[drwxr-xr-x] EFI
|   └──[drwxr-xr-x] redhat
|     └──[-rwxr-xr-x] grub.efi
├──[drwxr-xr-x] grub
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] device.map
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] e2fs_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] fat_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] ffs_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-------] grub.conf
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] iso9660_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] jfs_stage1_5
| ├──[lrwxrwxrwx] menu.lst->./grub.conf
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] minix_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] reiserfs_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] splash.xpm.gz
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] stage1
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] stage2
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] ufs2_stage1_5
| ├──[-rw-r--r--] vstafs_stage1_5
| └──[-rw-r--r--] xfs_stage1_5
├──[-rw-r--r--] initramfs-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64.img
├──[drwx------] lost+found
├──[-rw-r--r--] symvers-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64.gz
├──[-rw-r--r--] System.map-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64
└──[-rwxr-xr-x] vmlinuz-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64
5 directories, 22 files
// The permissions of a file or directory are enclosed in brackets before the file name

List the directory /private/ First level file names

tree  /private/ -L 1
/private/
├── etc
├── tftpboot
├── tmp
└── var

Ignore Folders

tree -I node_modules # Ignore the current directory folder node_modules
tree -P node_modules # List the directory structure of the current directory folder node_modules
tree -P node_modules -L 2 # Show the directory tree structure of the directory node_modules at two levels
tree -L 2 > /home/www/tree.txt # Save the results of the current directory to the tree.txt file

Ignore multiple folders

tree -I 'node_modules|icon|font' -L 2

Non-tree structure listing all files under the directory /private/

tree -if /private/
/private
/private/a1
/private/a2
/private/etc
/private/etc/b1
/private/etc/b2
/private/tftpboot