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LS(1)                     BSD General Commands Manual                    LS(1)

NAME
     ls -- list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
     ls [-1AaBbCcdFfghikLlMmnopqRrSsTtuWwx] [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.

     -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.)
             A total sum for all the file sizes is output on a line before the
             long listing.

     -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      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      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.

     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.

   The Long Format
     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:

           1.   If r, the file is readable; if -, it is not readable.

           2.   If w, the file is writable; if -, it is not writable.

           3.   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 5 AT&T UNIX.

BSD                            November 20, 2012                           BSD

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | ENVIRONMENT | EXIT STATUS | COMPATIBILITY | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY