ls Command in Linux

Contents of The Article hide

1 What is Linux?

2 ls Command – List Directory Contents

3 Using the ls Command

3.1 Simple Listing

3.2 Listing Hidden Files

3.3 Listing With Detailed Information

3.4 Denoting File Types

3.5 Listing by File Date and Time

3.6 Listing Recursively All Files in a Directory

3.7 Listing Metadata for a Directory

In this article, we explain one of the basic Linux commands for beginners, i.e. the ls command, with its most frequently used command options.

What is Linux?

Linux is a family of open-source operating systems based on the Linux kernel. The first Linux system kernel was released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds.

Popular Linux distributions include Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu, and the commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

There are also quite a number of customized Linux distributions, such as Kali Linux, REMnux etc. Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution developed, funded and maintained by Offensive Security for ethical hackers for the purposes of Penetration Testing, Security Research & Assessment, and Computer Computer Forensics & Reverse Engineering. REMnux, on the other hand, is a Linux distro curated for reverse-engineering and malware analysis purposes.

I think Linux is a great thing, in the big picture. It’s a great hacker’s tool, and it has a lot of potential to become something more.
Jamie Zawinski

Read more educational and inspirational cyber quotes at our page 100+ Best Cyber Security & Hacker Quotes.

`ls` Command – List Directory Contents

In Linux, ls command is used to display a list of the files and directories within the file system or to view detailed information (metadata) on specified files and directories.

List information about the FILE(s) (the current directory by default). Basic usage: ls [OPTION] ... [FILE] ... Use -a to list all entries (including the hidden ones that start with .) and -l to list with more details, such as file permissions, file size etc.

Using the `ls` Command

Simple Listing

To list just the files in a directory without any additional information, use ls.

$ ls

Figure 1: Listing Directory Contents with the ls Command — Figure 1: Listing Directory Contents with the `ls` Command

Listing Hidden Files

To list all the files in a directory, including the hidden files, without any additional information, use ls -a. Hidden files begin with a period and not displayed by default.

$ ls -a

Figure 2: Listing All the Directory Contents with the ls -a Command — Figure 2: Listing All the Directory Contents with the `ls -a` Command

Listing With Detailed Information

To list all the files in a directory, including the hidden files, with additional information (long listing), use ls -la. Note that command options can be combined, thus ls -l -a is the same with ls -la.

$ ls -la

Figure 3: Listing Directory Contents with the ls -la Command — Figure 3: Listing Directory Contents with the `ls -la` Command

The additional information (file permissions, file ownership etc.) displayed for the my-script.sh file is described in more detail in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Description of the ls -la Command Output — Figure 4: Description of the `ls -la` Command Output

Denoting File Types

To denote files types with special characters, use ls -F. The / symbol denotes a directory, the @ symbol denotes a linked file, and the * symbol represents an executable file.