Hi, this is Sandra Henry-Stocker, author of the “Unix as a Second Language” blog on NetworkWorld.
In this Linux tip, we’re going to look at the du command that reports on disk usage – whether individual files or directories.
$ du verylargefile.tgz
349304 verylargedile.tgz more than 340 megabytes
The du command will generally default to reporting sizes in kilobytes (1024 bytes).
The -h (human-friendly) option adjusts the reported measurements to the file sizes, giving most of us a better feel for how large these files are.
$ du -h verylargefile.tgz
342M verylargefile.tgz reported in megabytes
$ du -h smallerfile.bz2
268K smallerfile.bz2 reported in kilobytes
You can list the size of individual home directories along with a total for all directories by adding the -c option. We’re running as root so that we have the proper access to /home.
# du -s -c /home/*
28 /home/dorothy
64 /home/dory
28 /home/eel
28 /home/jadep
180 /home/nemo
732 /home/shark
39996840 /home/shs
44 /home/tadpole
39997944 total grand total included
You can also show directory sizes along with the last update times by adding the –time option:
# du -s -c –time /home/*
28 2019-07-09 14:10 /home/dorothy
64 2019-06-17 08:40 /home/dory
28 2019-03-12 18:10 /home/eel
28 2019-07-16 14:21 /home/jadep
180 2019-11-25 09:28 /home/nemo
732 2019-05-07 12:02 /home/shark
39996840 2019-12-09 16:33 /home/shs
44 2019-10-16 04:06 /home/tadpole
39997944 2019-12-09 16:33 total
Closing: That’s your Linux tip for the du command. If you have questions or would like to suggest a topic, please add a comment below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the IDG Tech(talk) channel on YouTube.
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