Quick Tip

Quick File Permissions & Ownership Inspection with `stat`

Challenge: You need to quickly view the permissions, ownership, and other metadata of a file or directory without listing the entire directory contents.

The Solution: Utilize the `stat` command.

stat [filename_or_directory]

Why it works: The `stat` command displays detailed information about a file or filesystem, including its inode number, size, blocks, I/O block size, access rights, number of hard links, access, modification, and change times, along with owner and group information.

Pro-Tip: Use `stat -c “%A %U:%G” [filename]` to get a concise output of just permissions, owner, and group.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 5/15/2026