Linux stat Guide

Linux stat Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to stat on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including file statistics, file information, and detailed file metadata.

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Table of Contents

1. stat Basics
2. File Information
3. Format Options
4. Multiple Files
5. Troubleshooting

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stat Basics

File Statistics

Basic usage:

# File statistics
stat file.txt

# Shows detailed file information

Directory Statistics

Directory info:

# Directory statistics
stat directory/

# Shows directory information

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File Information

Detailed Output

Complete info:

# Detailed information
stat file.txt

# Shows:
# - Size
# - Blocks
# - IO Block
# - Device
# - Inode
# - Links
# - Access
# - Modify
# - Change times

Follow Links

Follow symlinks:

# Follow symbolic links
stat -L symlink

# -L = follow (shows target file info)

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Format Options

Custom Format

Format string:

# Custom format
stat -c "%n %s" file.txt

# -c = format
# %n = filename
# %s = size

Format Specifiers

Common formats:

# %n = filename
# %s = size
# %U = user name
# %G = group name
# %a = access rights (octal)
# %A = access rights (human)

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Multiple Files

Multiple Files

Multiple stats:

# Multiple files
stat file1.txt file2.txt

# Shows stats for each file

From Input

Pipe input:

# From input
ls *.txt | xargs stat

# Stats for all .txt files

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Troubleshooting

stat Not Found

Check installation:

# stat is part of coreutils
# Usually pre-installed

# Check stat
which stat

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Summary

This guide covered stat usage, file statistics, and file information for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

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

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