Linux Survival Basics

Check Owner and Mode in One Line

A path exists but access fails, and you need owner, group, and mode quickly.

Command

stat -c '%A %U:%G %n' /var/www/example/index.html

What changed

Nothing changes. The command prints permissions, owner, group, and filename.

Danger

safe

When to use it

Use this before changing file permissions or ownership.

When not to use it

Do not stop at the file if parent directories may block access.

Undo or recovery

No state is changed.

Expected output

A compact permission and ownership line.

demo script

Disposable terminal steps

stat -c '%A %U:%G %n' /var/www/example/index.html
namei -l /var/www/example/index.html
ls -ld /var/www /var/www/example

Terminal transcript Demo JSON

simulated output

What it looks like

disposable vessel

::fixture-ready::
$ stat -c '%A %U:%G %n' /var/www/example/index.html
-rw-r----- root:root /var/www/example/index.html
::exit-code::0
$ namei -l /var/www/example/index.html
f: /var/www/example/index.html
drwxr-xr-x root root /
drwxr-xr-x root root var
drwxr-x--- root root www
drwxr-x--- root root example
-rw-r----- root root index.html
::exit-code::0
$ ls -ld /var/www /var/www/example
drwxr-x--- 3 root root 60 Jun 25 13:19 /var/www
drwxr-x--- 2 root root 60 Jun 25 13:19 /var/www/example
::exit-code::0

YouTube Short

Check owner and mode first.

Before changing permissions, print the owner, group, and mode in one compact line.

experiments

A/B tests to run

Metric: search_click_rate

A: Check owner and mode in one line.

B: The file existed, but the owner told the story.