Toolbox Aid

August 9th, 2024 1:26 PM Mr. Q Categories: Command

Command: du

The du (disk usage) command estimates and displays the disk space used by files and directories. It provides information on how much space is used by a specified directory and its subdirectories.

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Sample Commands and Outputs:

• du: Displays the disk usage of the current directory and its subdirectories. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du
  4       ./dir1
  12      ./dir2/subdir
  16      ./dir2
  20      .

Copy
001  $ du
002  4       ./dir1
003  12      ./dir2/subdir
004  16      ./dir2
005  20      .

Description:

• Displays the disk usage of each directory and subdirectory. The final line shows the total disk usage of the current directory.
• du -h: Displays disk usage in human-readable format (e.g., KB, MB, GB). Sample Command and Output:

  $ du -h
  4.0K    ./dir1
  12K     ./dir2/subdir
  16K     ./dir2
  20K     .

Copy
001  $ du -h
002  4.0K    ./dir1
003  12K     ./dir2/subdir
004  16K     ./dir2
005  20K     .

Description:

• -h: Human-readable format, showing sizes in KB, MB, GB, etc.
• du -s: Displays the total disk usage of the specified directory only. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du -s /path/to/dir
  1234    /path/to/dir

Copy
001  $ du -s /path/to/dir
002  1234    /path/to/dir

Description:

• -s: Summarizes the total disk usage of the specified directory, without listing individual subdirectories.
• du -a: Includes all files and directories in the output. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du -a
  4       ./file1
  12      ./dir2/subdir/file2
  16      ./dir2/subdir
  20      ./dir2
  24      .

Copy
001  $ du -a
002  4       ./file1
003  12      ./dir2/subdir/file2
004  16      ./dir2/subdir
005  20      ./dir2
006  24      .

Description:

• -a: Displays the disk usage for all files and directories.
• du -c: Displays a grand total at the end of the output. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du -c
  4       ./dir1
  12      ./dir2/subdir
  16      ./dir2
  32      total

Copy
001  $ du -c
002  4       ./dir1
003  12      ./dir2/subdir
004  16      ./dir2
005  32      total

Description:

• -c: Provides a grand total of the disk usage at the end of the output.
• du -x: Excludes directories on different file systems. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du -x
  4       ./dir1
  12      ./dir2/subdir
  16      ./dir2
  20      .

Copy
001  $ du -x
002  4       ./dir1
003  12      ./dir2/subdir
004  16      ./dir2
005  20      .

Description:

• -x: Limits the report to the current file system only, excluding other file systems.
• du --max-depth=N: Limits the output to directories up to N levels deep. Sample Command and Output:

  $ du --max-depth=1
  4       ./dir1
  16      ./dir2
  20      .

Copy
001  $ du --max-depth=1
002  4       ./dir1
003  16      ./dir2
004  20      .

Description:

• --max-depth=N: Limits the depth of directory traversal to N levels.

Note: The du command is useful for monitoring disk space usage and managing storage. Using the appropriate options allows you to customize the output based on your needs.