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which command shows extended acl file information

The command used to show extended ACL (Access Control List) information for files on Unix/Linux systems is: getfacl On a typical Linux system:

bash

getfacl filename

This displays:

  • File name
  • Owner and group
  • Standard permissions
  • Any extended ACL entries (extra user/group permissions, masks, defaults).

Quick Scoop: Extended ACL Info

If you just want to see whether a file or directory has ACLs at all , you can:

  • Use ls -l and look for a + after the permission bits, which indicates ACLs exist.
  • Then run getfacl on that path to see the full extended ACL details.

Example:

bash

ls -l
# -rw-rw-r--+ 1 user group  0 Feb 20 12:00 example.txt

getfacl example.txt

This will print all extended ACL entries such as per-user and per-group rights beyond the usual rwx bits.

Mini FAQ

  • Q: Isls -l enough to see extended ACL details?
    A: No. ls -l only hints that ACLs exist (with a +), but you need getfacl to see the full extended ACL information.
  • Q: Do I need extra packages?
    A: On many Linux distributions, getfacl is provided by the ACL utilities package, which may need to be installed if it is not already present.

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