How to check permissions of a specific directory?

Question

I know that using ls -l "directory/directory/filename" tells me the permissions of a file. How do I do the same on a directory?

I could obviously use ls -l on the directory higher in the hierarchy and then just scroll till I find it but it's such a pain. If I use ls -l on the actual directory, it gives the permissions/information of the files inside of it, and not of the actual directory.

I tried this in the terminal of both Mac OS X 10.5 and Linux (Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon), and it's the same result. Is there some sort of flag I should be using?

score 520 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 31 '17 at 14:21

520

Here is the short answer:

$ ls -ld directory

Here's what it does:

-d, --directory
    list directory entries instead of contents, and do not dereference symbolic links

You might be interested in manpages. That's where all people in here get their nice answers from.

refer to online man pages

edited Dec 31 '17 at 14:21

TheoKanning

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answered Dec 03 '08 at 17:40

Johannes Schaub - litb

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I think the man page is poorly worded. I scoured it five times before I started googling. I don't want directory 'entries' (thing 'entered' into directories? Like their files and sub-directories?) nor their 'contents' (they sound like the same concept to me), I want the directories *themselves*. – user151841 Jul 27 '12 at 13:23
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it's completely standard terminology, the directories _themselves_ are the directory entries, i.e. entries in the filesystem – alldayremix Apr 13 '13 at 17:12
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It may be standard terminology, but to someone who would likely be asking such a question, it is probably confusing jargon. – CatShoes Jun 20 '13 at 11:57

score 73 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 03 '08 at 17:46

73

You can also use the stat command if you want detailed information on a file/directory. (I precise this as you say you are learning ^^)

answered Dec 03 '08 at 17:46

Piotr Lesnicki

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stat will show you amongst a lot of things permissions : (0755/drwxr-xr-x) – zzapper Apr 01 '15 at 16:11
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this is handy so you can see the numerical permissions format as well - ty – landed Jun 08 '17 at 16:49
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"stat -c %a directory" this will show in numerical way – Nerius Jok Apr 30 '18 at 12:21
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The corresponding on macOS is `stat -f %A dir_or_filename`. – iled Aug 23 '19 at 21:49

Mehul Jariwala · Answer 3 · 2020-12-31T03:15:16.180

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$ ls -ld directory

ls is the list command.

- indicates the beginning of the command options.

l asks for a long list which includes the permissions.

d indicates that the list should concern the named directory itself; not its contents. If no directory name is given, the list output will pertain to the current directory.

edited Dec 31 '20 at 03:15

answered Mar 07 '17 at 15:39

Mehul Jariwala

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score 22 · Answer 4 · 2016-11-09T05:40:27.617

In GNU/Linux, try to use ls, namei, getfacl, stat.

For Dir

[flying@lempstacker ~]$ ls -ldh /tmp
drwxrwxrwt. 23 root root 4.0K Nov  8 15:41 /tmp
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ namei -l /tmp
f: /tmp
dr-xr-xr-x root root /
drwxrwxrwt root root tmp
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ getfacl /tmp
getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
# file: tmp
# owner: root
# group: root
# flags: --t
user::rwx
group::rwx
other::rwx

[flying@lempstacker ~]$

or

[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%a" /tmp
1777
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%n %a" /tmp
/tmp 1777
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%A" /tmp
drwxrwxrwt
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%n %A" /tmp
/tmp drwxrwxrwt
[flying@lempstacker ~]$

For file

[flying@lempstacker ~]$ ls -lh /tmp/anaconda.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Nov  8 08:31 /tmp/anaconda.log
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ namei -l /tmp/anaconda.log
f: /tmp/anaconda.log
dr-xr-xr-x root root /
drwxrwxrwt root root tmp
-rw-r--r-- root root anaconda.log
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ getfacl /tmp/anaconda.log
getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
# file: tmp/anaconda.log
# owner: root
# group: root
user::rw-
group::r--
other::r--

[flying@lempstacker ~]$

or

[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%a" /tmp/anaconda.log
644
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%n %a" /tmp/anaconda.log
/tmp/anaconda.log 644
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%A" /tmp/anaconda.log
-rw-r--r--
[flying@lempstacker ~]$ stat -c "%n %A" /tmp/anaconda.log
/tmp/anaconda.log -rw-r--r--
[flying@lempstacker ~]$

score 15 · Answer 5 · answered May 06 '15 at 14:30

15

There is also

getfacl /directory/directory/

which includes ACL

A good introduction on Linux ACL here

answered May 06 '15 at 14:30

Taylan

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score 10 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 19 '18 at 21:49

10

This displays files with its permisions

stat -c '%a - %n' directory/*

answered Sep 19 '18 at 21:49

Brandon Aguilar

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`stat` is a gnu coreutil that [isn't available on all unix-like systems](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/287008/stat-command-not-found) \(such as Solaris < 11\). – Mavaddat Javid Aug 02 '23 at 23:54

Tony Topper · Answer 7 · 2013-10-23T17:18:42.163

5

On OS X you can use:

ls -lead

The e option shows ACLs. And ACLs are very important to knowing what the exact permissions on your system are.

edited Oct 23 '13 at 17:18

answered Jul 01 '13 at 16:36

Tony Topper

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score 5 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 03 '08 at 18:01

5

In addition to the above posts, i'd like to point out that "man ls" will give you a nice manual about the "ls" ( List " command.

Also, using ls -la myFile will list & show all the facts about that file.

answered Dec 03 '08 at 18:01

Filip Ekberg

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score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 13 '17 at 05:31

2

ls -lstr

This shows the normal ls view with permissions and user:group as well

answered Dec 13 '17 at 05:31

user2201302

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 08 '20 at 13:41

0

To check the permission configuration of a file, use the command:

ls –l [file_name]

To check the permission configuration of a directory, use the command:

ls –l [Directory-name]

answered Oct 08 '20 at 13:41

Aslam Khan

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this is not the right answer, it should be -ld, as indicated in below anwser – fanny Nov 02 '20 at 00:20
It's work fine for me . i have set (assets) folders permission using these command, – Aslam Khan Nov 02 '20 at 07:12
hmmm... but as the OP has stated: "If I use ls -l on the actual directory, it gives the permissions/information of the files inside of it, and not of the actual directory". I think OP wanted to know the permissions of a FOLDER not the FILES in it. – fanny Nov 02 '20 at 10:55

How to check permissions of a specific directory?

10 Answers10

For Dir

For file

Linked