The stat
command in Linux provides detailed information about a file or filesystem, including file size, permissions, ownership, and timestamps. It is useful for quickly checking metadata of files and directories.
Contents
- Display File Information
- Display Filesystem Information
- Show Only File Size
- Show File Permissions in Octal Format
- Show File Owner and Group
- Display File Inode Number
- Show File Access Time
- Show File Modification Time
- Show File Change Time
- Display Multiple Custom Attributes
- Show Filesystem Block Size
- Display Filesystem Free Space
- Show Filesystem Total Space
- Compare File Timestamps
- Display Information for Multiple Files
- Show Symbolic Link Information
Display File Information
stat file.txt
Shows details like size, blocks, inode, permissions, and timestamps for file.txt
.
Display Filesystem Information
stat -f /
-f
: Displays filesystem information for the root (/
) directory.
Show Only File Size
stat -c %s file.txt
-c %s
: Outputs only the file size in bytes.
Show File Permissions in Octal Format
stat -c %A file.txt
-c %A
: Displays file permissions in human-readable format (e.g.,-rw-r--r--
).
Show File Owner and Group
stat -c %U:%G file.txt
-c %U:%G
: Displays the owner and group of the file (e.g.,user:group
).
Display File Inode Number
stat -c %i file.txt
-c %i
: Outputs the inode number of the file.
Show File Access Time
stat -c %x file.txt
-c %x
: Displays the last access time of the file.
Show File Modification Time
stat -c %y file.txt
-c %y
: Displays the last modification time of the file.
Show File Change Time
stat -c %z file.txt
-c %z
: Displays the last status change time (e.g., permissions or ownership changes).
Display Multiple Custom Attributes
stat -c "Size: %s bytes, Owner: %U, Permissions: %A" file.txt
Outputs custom-formatted information about the file.
Show Filesystem Block Size
stat -f -c %S /
-f -c %S
: Displays the block size of the root (/
) filesystem.
Display Filesystem Free Space
stat -f -c %a /
-f -c %a
: Shows the number of free blocks on the root (/
) filesystem.
Show Filesystem Total Space
stat -f -c %b /
-f -c %b
: Displays the total number of blocks on the root (/
) filesystem.
Compare File Timestamps
stat -c "Access: %x, Modify: %y, Change: %z" file.txt
Outputs all three timestamps (access, modify, change) for comparison.
Display Information for Multiple Files
stat file1.txt file2.txt
Shows details for both file1.txt
and file2.txt
.
Show Symbolic Link Information
stat -L symlink
-L
: Follows the symbolic link and displays information about the target file.
Key Notes:
- Custom Formatting: Use
-c
to specify custom output formats. - Filesystem Info: Use
-f
to query filesystem details. - Timestamps: Access (
%x
), Modify (%y
), and Change (%z
) times are useful for debugging.