# phpman > man > DIR_COLORS(5) [DIR_COLORS(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DIRCOLORS/5/markdown) Linux User Manual [DIR_COLORS(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DIRCOLORS/5/markdown) ## NAME dir_colors - configuration file for [dircolors(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown) ## DESCRIPTION The program [**ls**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ls/1/markdown) uses the environment variable **LS**___**COLORS** to determine the colors in which the filenames are to be displayed. This environment variable is usually set by a command like eval `dircolors some_path/dir_colors` found in a system default shell initialization file, like _/etc/profile_ or _/etc/csh.cshrc_. (See also [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown).) Usually, the file used here is _/etc/DIR_COLORS_ and can be overrid‐ den by a _.dir_colors_ file in one's home directory. This configuration file consists of several statements, one per line. Anything right of a hash mark (#) is treated as a comment, if the hash mark is at the beginning of a line or is preceded by at least one whitespace. Blank lines are ignored. The _global_ section of the file consists of any statement before the first **TERM** statement. Any statement in the global section of the file is considered valid for all terminal types. Following the global section is one or more _terminal-specific_ sections, preceded by one or more **TERM** statements which specify the terminal types (as given by the **TERM** environment vari‐ able) the following declarations apply to. It is always possible to override a global decla‐ ration by a subsequent terminal-specific one. The following statements are recognized; case is insignificant: **TERM** _terminal-type_ Starts a terminal-specific section and specifies which terminal it applies to. Multi‐ ple **TERM** statements can be used to create a section which applies for several terminal types. ### COLOR yes|all|no|none|tty (Slackware only; ignored by GNU [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown).) Specifies that colorization should al‐ ways be enabled (_yes_ or _all_), never enabled (_no_ or _none_), or enabled only if the out‐ put is a terminal (_tty_). The default is _no_. ### EIGHTBIT yes|no (Slackware only; ignored by GNU [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown).) Specifies that eight-bit ISO 8859 characters should be enabled by default. For compatibility reasons, this can also be specified as 1 for _yes_ or 0 for _no_. The default is _no_. **OPTIONS** _options_ (Slackware only; ignored by GNU [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown).) Adds command-line options to the de‐ fault **ls** command line. The options can be any valid **ls** command-line options, and should include the leading minus sign. Note that **dircolors** does not verify the valid‐ ity of these options. **NORMAL** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for normal (nonfilename) text. Synonym: **NORM**. **FILE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a regular file. **DIR** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for directories. **LINK** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a symbolic link. Synonyms: **LNK**, **SYMLINK**. **ORPHAN** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for an orphaned symbolic link (one which points to a nonexis‐ tent file). If this is unspecified, **ls** will use the **LINK** color instead. **MISSING** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a missing file (a nonexistent file which nevertheless has a symbolic link pointing to it). If this is unspecified, **ls** will use the **FILE** color instead. **FIFO** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a FIFO (named pipe). Synonym: **PIPE**. **SOCK** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a socket. **DOOR** _color-sequence_ (Supported since fileutils 4.1) Specifies the color used for a door (Solaris 2.5 and later). **BLK** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a block device special file. Synonym: **BLOCK**. **CHR** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a character device special file. Synonym: **CHAR**. **EXEC** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a file with the executable attribute set. **SUID** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a file with the set-user-ID attribute set. Synonym: **SETUID**. **SGID** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a file with the set-group-ID attribute set. Synonym: **SETGID**. **STICKY** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for a directory with the sticky attribute set. **STICKY**___**OTHER**___**WRITABLE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for an other-writable directory with the executable attribute set. Synonym: **OWT**. **OTHER**___**WRITABLE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for an other-writable directory without the executable attri‐ bute set. Synonym: **OWR**. **LEFTCODE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the _left_ _code_ for non-ISO 6429 terminals (see below). Synonym: **LEFT**. **RIGHTCODE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the _right_ _code_ for non-ISO 6429 terminals (see below). Synonym: **RIGHT**. **ENDCODE** _color-sequence_ Specifies the _end_ _code_ for non-ISO 6429 terminals (see below). Synonym: **END**. *****_extension_ _color-sequence_ Specifies the color used for any file that ends in _extension_. **.**_extension_ _color-sequence_ Same as *****._extension_. Specifies the color used for any file that ends in ._extension_. Note that the period is included in the extension, which makes it impossible to spec‐ ify an extension not starting with a period, such as **~** for **emacs** backup files. This form should be considered obsolete. ### ISO 6429 (ANSI) color sequences Most color-capable ASCII terminals today use ISO 6429 (ANSI) color sequences, and many common terminals without color capability, including **xterm** and the widely used and cloned DEC VT100, will recognize ISO 6429 color codes and harmlessly eliminate them from the output or emulate them. **ls** uses ISO 6429 codes by default, assuming colorization is enabled. ISO 6429 color sequences are composed of sequences of numbers separated by semicolons. The most common codes are: 0 to restore default color 1 for brighter colors 4 for underlined text 5 for flashing text 30 for black foreground 31 for red foreground 32 for green foreground 33 for yellow (or brown) foreground 34 for blue foreground 35 for purple foreground 36 for cyan foreground 37 for white (or gray) foreground 40 for black background 41 for red background 42 for green background 43 for yellow (or brown) background 44 for blue background 45 for purple background 46 for cyan background 47 for white (or gray) background Not all commands will work on all systems or display devices. **ls** uses the following defaults: **NORMAL** 0 Normal (nonfilename) text **FILE** 0 Regular file **DIR** 32 Directory **LINK** 36 Symbolic link **ORPHAN** undefined Orphaned symbolic link **MISSING** undefined Missing file **FIFO** 31 Named pipe (FIFO) **SOCK** 33 Socket **BLK** 44;37 Block device **CHR** 44;37 Character device **EXEC** 35 Executable file A few terminal programs do not recognize the default properly. If all text gets colorized after you do a directory listing, change the **NORMAL** and **FILE** codes to the numerical codes for your normal foreground and background colors. ### Other terminal types (advanced configuration) If you have a color-capable (or otherwise highlighting) terminal (or printer!) which uses a different set of codes, you can still generate a suitable setup. To do so, you will have to use the **LEFTCODE**, **RIGHTCODE**, and **ENDCODE** definitions. When writing out a filename, **ls** generates the following output sequence: **LEFTCODE** _typecode_ **RIGHTCODE** _filename_ **ENDCODE**, where the _typecode_ is the color sequence that depends on the type or name of file. If the **ENDCODE** is undefined, the sequence **LEFTCODE** **NORMAL** **RIGHTCODE** will be used instead. The purpose of the left- and rightcodes is merely to reduce the amount of typ‐ ing necessary (and to hide ugly escape codes away from the user). If they are not appropri‐ ate for your terminal, you can eliminate them by specifying the respective keyword on a line by itself. **NOTE:** If the **ENDCODE** is defined in the global section of the setup file, it _cannot_ be unde‐ fined in a terminal-specific section of the file. This means any **NORMAL** definition will have no effect. A different **ENDCODE** can, however, be specified, which would have the same effect. ### Escape sequences To specify control- or blank characters in the color sequences or filename extensions, either C-style \-escaped notation or **stty**-style ^-notation can be used. The C-style notation in‐ cludes the following characters: **\a** Bell (ASCII 7) **\b** Backspace (ASCII 8) **\e** Escape (ASCII 27) **\f** Form feed (ASCII 12) **\n** Newline (ASCII 10) **\r** Carriage Return (ASCII 13) **\t** Tab (ASCII 9) **\v** Vertical Tab (ASCII 11) **\?** Delete (ASCII 127) **\**_nnn_ Any character (octal notation) **\x**_nnn_ Any character (hexadecimal notation) **\**___ Space **\\** Backslash (\) **\^** Caret (^) **\#** Hash mark (#) Note that escapes are necessary to enter a space, backslash, caret, or any control character anywhere in the string, as well as a hash mark as the first character. ## FILES _/etc/DIR_COLORS_ (Slackware, SuSE and RedHat only; ignored by GNU [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown) and thus Debian.) Sys‐ tem-wide configuration file. _~/.dir_colors_ (Slackware, SuSE and RedHat only; ignored by GNU [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown) and thus Debian.) Per- user configuration file. This page describes the **dir**___**colors** file format as used in the fileutils-4.1 package; other versions may differ slightly. ## NOTES The default **LEFTCODE** and **RIGHTCODE** definitions, which are used by ISO 6429 terminals are: **LEFTCODE** \e[ **RIGHTCODE** m The default **ENDCODE** is undefined. ## SEE ALSO [**dircolors**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dircolors/1/markdown), [**ls**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ls/1/markdown), [**stty**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/stty/1/markdown), [**xterm**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/xterm/1/markdown) ## COLOPHON This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux _man-pages_ project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at . GNU 2020-08-13 [DIR_COLORS(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DIRCOLORS/5/markdown)