Linux terminal file types and colors

When using the ls command, you can find different types of files with different colors, what specific types of files does each color represent? Let’s learn together today.

By default, specific configuration information is available at the command line by typing dircolors.

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[root@localhost ~]# dircolors
LS_COLORS='rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arc=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lha=01;31:*.lz4=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.tzo=01;31:*.t7z=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lrz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.lzo=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.alz=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.cab=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.axv=01;35:*.anx=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.axa=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:';
export LS_COLORS

The configuration information (rs, di, ln, etc.) corresponds to different different types of files with the following common contents.

di Directory
fi File
ln Symbolic Link
pi Fifo file
so Socket file
bd Block (buffered) special file
cd Character (unbuffered) special file
or Symbolic Link pointing to a non-existent file (orphan)
mi Non-existent file pointed to by a symbolic link (visible when you type ls -l)
ex File which is executable (ie. has ‘x’ set in permissions).

The latter number, which represents the presentation style.

0 = Default Colour
1 = Bold
4 = Underlined
5 = Flashing Text
7 = Reverse Field
31 = Red
32 = Green
33 = Orange
34 = Blue
35 = Purple
36 = Cyan
37 = Grey
40 = Black Background
41 = Red Background
42 = Green Background
43 = Orange Background
44 = Blue Background
45 = Purple Background
46 = Cyan Background
47 = Grey Background
90 = Dark Grey
91 = Light Red
92 = Light Green
93 = Yellow
94 = Light Blue
95 = Light Purple
96 = Turquoise
100 = Dark Grey Background
101 = Light Red Background
102 = Light Green Background
103 = Yellow Background
104 = Light Blue Background
105 = Light Purple Background
106 = Turquoise Background

One type of file can be set with many different presentation styles, e.g. di=5;31;42, separated by a semicolon; between different presentation styles and a colon: between different file types.

More complete information can be found in the /etc/DIR_COLORS file.

# Configuration file for the color ls utility
# Synchronized with coreutils 8.5 dircolors
# This file goes in the /etc directory, and must be world readable.
# You can copy this file to .dir_colors in your $HOME directory to override
# the system defaults.

# COLOR needs one of these arguments: 'tty' colorizes output to ttys, but not
# pipes. 'all' adds color characters to all output. 'none' shuts colorization
# off.
COLOR tty

# Extra command line options for ls go here.
# Basically these ones are:
#  -F = show '/' for dirs, '*' for executables, etc.
#  -T 0 = don't trust tab spacing when formatting ls output.
OPTIONS -F -T 0

# Below, there should be one TERM entry for each termtype that is colorizable
TERM Eterm
TERM ansi
TERM color-xterm
TERM con132x25
TERM con132x30
TERM con132x43
TERM con132x60
TERM con80x25
TERM con80x28
TERM con80x30
TERM con80x43
TERM con80x50
TERM con80x60
TERM cons25
TERM console
TERM cygwin
TERM dtterm
TERM eterm-color
TERM gnome
TERM gnome-256color
TERM jfbterm
TERM konsole
TERM kterm
TERM linux
TERM linux-c
TERM mach-color
TERM mlterm
TERM putty
TERM putty-256color
TERM rxvt
TERM rxvt-256color
TERM rxvt-cygwin
TERM rxvt-cygwin-native
TERM rxvt-unicode
TERM rxvt-unicode-256color
TERM rxvt-unicode256
TERM screen
TERM screen-256color
TERM screen-256color-bce
TERM screen-bce
TERM screen-w
TERM screen.Eterm
TERM screen.rxvt
TERM screen.linux
TERM st
TERM st-256color
TERM terminator
TERM vt100
TERM xterm
TERM xterm-16color
TERM xterm-256color
TERM xterm-88color
TERM xterm-color
TERM xterm-debian

# EIGHTBIT, followed by '1' for on, '0' for off. (8-bit output)
EIGHTBIT 1

# Below are the color init strings for the basic file types. A color init
# string consists of one or more of the following numeric codes:
# Attribute codes:
# 00=none 01=bold 04=underscore 05=blink 07=reverse 08=concealed
# Text color codes:
# 30=black 31=red 32=green 33=yellow 34=blue 35=magenta 36=cyan 37=white
# Background color codes:
# 40=black 41=red 42=green 43=yellow 44=blue 45=magenta 46=cyan 47=white
#NORMAL 00    # no color code at all
#FILE 00    # normal file, use no color at all
RESET 0 # reset to "normal" color
DIR 01;34    # directory
LINK 01;36    # symbolic link (If you set this to 'target' instead of a
        # numerical value, the color is as for the file pointed to.)
MULTIHARDLINK 00    # regular file with more than one link
FIFO 40;33    # pipe
SOCK 01;35    # socket
DOOR 01;35    # door
BLK 40;33;01    # block device driver
CHR 40;33;01    # character device driver
ORPHAN 40;31;01  # symlink to nonexistent file, or non-stat'able file
MISSING 01;05;37;41 # ... and the files they point to
SETUID 37;41    # file that is setuid (u+s)
SETGID 30;43    # file that is setgid (g+s)
CAPABILITY 30;41    # file with capability
STICKY_OTHER_WRITABLE 30;42 # dir that is sticky and other-writable (+t,o+w)
OTHER_WRITABLE 34;42 # dir that is other-writable (o+w) and not sticky
STICKY 37;44    # dir with the sticky bit set (+t) and not other-writable

# This is for files with execute permission:
EXEC 01;32

# List any file extensions like '.gz' or '.tar' that you would like ls
# to colorize below. Put the extension, a space, and the color init string.
# (and any comments you want to add after a '#')
# executables (bright green)
#.cmd 01;32
#.exe 01;32
#.com 01;32
#.btm 01;32
#.bat 01;32
#.sh  01;32
#.csh 01;32

# archives or compressed (bright red)
.tar 01;31
.tgz 01;31
.arc 01;31
.arj 01;31
.taz 01;31
.lha 01;31
.lz4 01;31
.lzh 01;31
.lzma 01;31
.tlz 01;31
.txz 01;31
.tzo 01;31
.t7z 01;31
.zip 01;31
.z   01;31
.Z   01;31
.dz  01;31
.gz  01;31
.lrz 01;31
.lz  01;31
.lzo 01;31
.xz  01;31
.bz2 01;31
.bz  01;31
.tbz 01;31
.tbz2 01;31
.tz  01;31
.deb 01;31
.rpm 01;31
.jar 01;31
.war 01;31
.ear 01;31
.sar 01;31
.rar 01;31
.alz 01;31
.ace 01;31
.zoo 01;31
.cpio 01;31
.7z  01;31
.rz  01;31
.cab 01;31

# image formats (magenta)
.jpg 01;35
.jpeg 01;35
.gif 01;35
.bmp 01;35
.pbm 01;35
.pgm 01;35
.ppm 01;35
.tga 01;35
.xbm 01;35
.xpm 01;35
.tif 01;35
.tiff 01;35
.png 01;35
.svg 01;35
.svgz 01;35
.mng 01;35
.pcx 01;35
.mov 01;35
.mpg 01;35
.mpeg 01;35
.m2v 01;35
.mkv 01;35
.webm 01;35
.ogm 01;35
.mp4 01;35
.m4v 01;35
.mp4v 01;35
.vob 01;35
.qt  01;35
.nuv 01;35
.wmv 01;35
.asf 01;35
.rm  01;35
.rmvb 01;35
.flc 01;35
.avi 01;35
.fli 01;35
.flv 01;35
.gl 01;35
.dl 01;35
.xcf 01;35
.xwd 01;35
.yuv 01;35
.cgm 01;35
.emf 01;35

# http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/MIME_Types_and_File_Extensions
.axv 01;35
.anx 01;35
.ogv 01;35
.ogx 01;35

# audio formats (cyan)
.aac 01;36
.au 01;36
.flac 01;36
.mid 01;36
.midi 01;36
.mka 01;36
.mp3 01;36
.mpc 01;36
.ogg 01;36
.ra 01;36
.wav 01;36

# http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/MIME_Types_and_File_Extensions
.axa 01;36
.oga 01;36
.spx 01;36
.xspf 01;36

# colorize binary documents (brown)
#.pdf 00;33
#.ps 00;33
#.ps.gz 00;33
#.tex 00;33
#.xls 00;33
#.xlsx 00;33
#.ppt 00;33
#.pptx 00;33
#.rtf 00;33
#.doc 00;33
#.docx 00;33
#.odt 00;33
#.ods 00;33
#.odp 00;33
#.epub 00;33
#.abw 00;33
#.wpd 00;33
#
# colorize text documents (brown)
#.txt 00;33
#.patch 00;33
#.diff 00;33
#.log 00;33
#.htm 00;33
#.html 00;33
#.shtml 00;33
#.xml 00;33

Reference address.