The du Command

Summary

The du command allows a user to quickly find disk usage information.

Basic command structure

For all descriptions below, the dollar sign indicates that BASH command prompt.

$ du [options] [directory/file]

e.g. $ du /home/ltallen/test

Possible Flags

-h

The -h flag prints size outputs in a human-readable format

-s

The -s flag is added to the -h flag on occasion. Combined, they allow us to get a summary of the directory’s usage in a human-readable format.

-a

This option lists the sizes of all files and directories in the given file path. The -a option is often combined with the -h flag for ease of use. Notice the individual file sizes are listed with the directories.

Output

• Standard output with no flags:

• Output with -h flag, which prints size outputs in a human-readable format:

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