Introduction

In this article we are going to learn how to use Linux du command. du command is a powerful command in Linux and Unix Operating System used to check disk usage of files or directories.

Download Free Linux eBook HERE! "Learn Linux in 5 Days" - A Free Linux eBooks for Beginners

Refer the below Linux du command with examples :

To check the installed Linux du command package version we can use du command with option – -version.

[root@localhost ~]# du --version # To check Installed du Package Version du (GNU coreutils) 5.97 Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Written by Torbjorn Granlund, David MacKenzie, Paul Eggert, and Jim Meyering.

To check disk usage of a particular file use the below command.

[root@localhost data]# du data.zip # Check disk usage or size of a Particular file 1350084 data.zip

To check disk usage of contents of a directory you can use below command.

[root@localhost ~]# du data/* # Checking Disk Usage of contents of a Directory 1350084 data/data.zip 2727652 data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 668740 data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

OR you can use du command with argument -a to check disk usage of all contents of a directory. Refer the below sample output.

[root@localhost ~]# du -a data/ # Checking Disk Usage of all Contents of a Directory 1350084 data/data.zip 2727652 data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 668740 data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso 4746480 data/

Normally du command print the size of the files and directories in Disk Blocks which is cannot be understand easily. so to check the disk usage of files and directories in Human Readable format (KB, MB, GB..etc..) use du command with argument -h.

[root@localhost data]# du -h kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso # Checking Size of the File in Human Readable Format 2.7G kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso

From here I am going to explain all du related argument with Human Readable Format.

To check size of all content of a directory in Human Readable format we can use du command with argument -ah.

[root@localhost ~]# du -ah data/ # Checking all content of a Directory in Human Readable Format 1.3G data/data.zip 2.7G data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654M data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso 4.6G data/

To check total size of a directory in Human Readable Format refer the below Linux du command.

[root@localhost ~]# du -h data/ # Checking Full Size of a Directory in Human Readable Format 4.6G data/

If you trying to check disk usage of a directory which contains so many contents and contains maximum number of files and directories which is not view-able on a single page of terminal then you can use less command by using filter with du command. Refer the command below.

[root@localhost ~]# du -h /etc/ | less # Using less command with du command 8.0K /etc/pcmcia 8.0K /etc/portreserve 172K /etc/pki/java 32K /etc/pki/rpm-gpg 4.0K /etc/pki/rsyslog 4.0K /etc/pki/CA/private 4.0K /etc/pki/CA/certs 4.0K /etc/pki/CA/crl 4.0K /etc/pki/CA/newcerts 20K /etc/pki/CA 180K /etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/java

Also Read :

du command with argument -c will print the grand total size of complete content of directory or files.

[root@localhost data]# du -ch * # Checking Grand Total Size of a Directory with It's Content 1.3G data.zip 2.7G kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654M ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso 4.6G total

Let’s check the grand total disk usage of all content of a directory in Human Readable format using du command with argument -ach.

[root@localhost ~]# du -ach data/ # Checking Grand Total Size of All content of a Directory 1.3G data/data.zip 2.7G data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654M data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso 4.6G data/ 4.6G total

To check the disk usage in bytes we can use du command with argument -b. Refer the sample output below.

[root@localhost ~]# du -b data/* # Checking Size in Bytes 1382479012 data/data.zip 2794307584 data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 686817280 data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

du command with argument -k will print the size of files and directories in Kilobyte (KB).

[root@localhost ~]# du -k data/* # Checking Size in KB 1350084 data/data.zip 2727652 data/kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 668740 data/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

OR you can use du command with argument -BK to check the disk usage in KB.

[root@localhost data]# du -BK * # Checking Size in KB 1350084K data.zip 2727652K kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 668740K ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

To check disk usage of files and directories in MB you can use du command with argument -m.

[root@localhost data]# du -m * # Checking Size in MB 1319 data.zip 2664 kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654 ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

OR you can use du command with argument -BM to check size of files and directories in MB.

[root@localhost data]# du -BM * # Checking Size in MB 1319M data.zip 2664M kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654M ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso

Like that to check disk usage in GigaByte you can use the argument -BG.

du command with argument – -time will print the Last modification Date & Time of files and directories.

[root@localhost ~]# du --time data/* # Checking Last Modified date and time using du Command 4 2017-05-09 01:26 data/file1.txt 4 2017-05-09 01:26 data/file2.txt 4 2017-05-09 01:26 data/file3.txt 4 2017-05-09 01:26 data/file4.txt 4 2017-05-09 01:26 data/file5.txt

Suppose you have so many files or directories and you want to check disk usage by exclude some files which you don’t want to check then you can do the same by du command with argument – -exclude. For example Here I have a directory with some .iso and .zip files. Now I want to check size of only .zip files and want to exclude .iso files then to do so we can use the below command.

[root@localhost data]# ls data.zip kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso mydoc.zip ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso [root@localhost data]# du -ah --exclude="*.iso" # Checking Disk Usage by excluding .iso Files 1.3G ./mydoc.zip 1.3G ./data.zip 2.6G .

OR if you want to check size of .iso file and want to exclude .zip file then refer the below command.

[root@localhost data]# du -ah --exclude="*.zip" # Checking Disk Usage by excluding .zip Files 2.7G ./kali-linux-2017.1-amd64.iso 654M ./ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso 3.3G .

For du command related options you can use the below command.

[root@localhost ~]# du --help # For more du command related options Usage: du [OPTION]... [FILE]... or: du [OPTION]... --files0-from=F Summarize disk usage of each FILE, recursively for directories. Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. -a, --all write counts for all files, not just directories --apparent-size print apparent sizes, rather than disk usage; although the apparent size is usually smaller, it may be larger due to holes in (`sparse') files, internal fragmentation, indirect blocks, and the like -B, --block-size=SIZE use SIZE-byte blocks -b, --bytes equivalent to `--apparent-size --block-size=1' -c, --total produce a grand total -D, --dereference-args dereference FILEs that are symbolic links --files0-from=F summarize disk usage of the NUL-terminated file names specified in file F -H like --si, but also evokes a warning; will soon change to be equivalent to --dereference-args (-D) -h, --human-readable print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 234M 2G) --si like -h, but use powers of 1000 not 1024 -k like --block-size=1K -l, --count-links count sizes many times if hard linked -m like --block-size=1M -L, --dereference dereference all symbolic links -P, --no-dereference don't follow any symbolic links (this is the default) -0, --null end each output line with 0 byte rather than newline -S, --separate-dirs do not include size of subdirectories -s, --summarize display only a total for each argument -x, --one-file-system skip directories on different file systems -X FILE, --exclude-from=FILE Exclude files that match any pattern in FILE. --exclude=PATTERN Exclude files that match PATTERN. --max-depth=N print the total for a directory (or file, with --all) only if it is N or fewer levels below the command line argument; --max-depth=0 is the same as --summarize --time show time of the last modification of any file in the directory, or any of its subdirectories --time=WORD show time as WORD instead of modification time: atime, access, use, ctime or status --time-style=STYLE show times using style STYLE: full-iso, long-iso, iso, +FORMAT FORMAT is interpreted like `date' --help display this help and exit --version output version information and exit SIZE may be (or may be an integer optionally followed by) one of following: kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000, M 1024*1024, and so on for G, T, P, E, Z, Y. Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

OR refer below command for more deep information related du command.

[root@localhost ~]# man du # For more du command Related Informations

We tried to include as much Linux du command with Examples. If something missed out then please comment on comment box below so that we can include in the article.

If you found this article useful then Like Us, Share Us, Subscribe our Newsletter OR if you have something to say then feel free to comment on the comment box below.