Linux file Guide

Linux file Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to file on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including file type detection, MIME type identification, and file classification.

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Table of Contents

1. file Basics
2. File Type Detection
3. MIME Types
4. Multiple Files
5. Troubleshooting

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file Basics

Detect File Type

Basic usage:

# Detect file type
file file.txt

# Output: file.txt: ASCII text

Unknown File

Identify unknown:

# Identify unknown file
file unknown.bin

# Attempts to identify file type

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File Type Detection

Text Files

Text detection:

# Text file
file document.txt

# Output: ASCII text

Binary Files

Binary detection:

# Binary file
file program.bin

# Output: ELF 64-bit LSB executable

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MIME Types

MIME Output

MIME type:

# MIME type
file --mime-type file.txt

# Output: text/plain

MIME Encoding

MIME encoding:

# MIME encoding
file --mime-encoding file.txt

# Output: us-ascii

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Multiple Files

Multiple Files

Multiple detection:

# Multiple files
file file1.txt file2.bin

# Shows type for each file

Recursive

Directory scan:

# Recursive scan
file -r directory/

# -r = recursive (scans directory)

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Troubleshooting

file Not Found

Check installation:

# file is usually pre-installed
# Install if missing
sudo pacman -S file

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Summary

This guide covered file usage, file type detection, and MIME type identification for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

• stat Guide - File statistics
• ls Guide - List files
• File Operations - File management
• file Documentation: man file

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.