084-the-du-command.md

The du command

The du command, which is short for disk usage lets you retrieve information about disk space usage information in a specified directory. In order to customize the output according to the information you need, this command can be paired with the appropriate options or flags.

Examples:

1. To show the estimated size of sub-directories in the current directory:

du

2. To show the estimated size of sub-directories inside a specified directory:

du {PATH_TO_DIRECTORY}

Syntax:

du [OPTION]... [FILE]...
du [OPTION]... --files0-from=F

Additional Flags and their Functionalities:

Note: This does not include an exhaustive list of options.

Short Flag	Long Flag	Description
-a	--all	Includes information for both files and directories
-c	--total	Provides a grand total at the end of the list of files/directories
-d	--max-depth=N	Provides information up to N levels from the directory where the command was executed
-h	--human-readable	Displays file size in human-readable units, not in bytes
-s	--summarize	Display only the total filesize instead of a list of files/directories