Differences between atime ctime mtime in Linux

 

The Access time of the file. atime is changed when the file is read or executed.

The Modified time and mtime of the file are changed as the file content changes when the file is written.

File Create time, ctime is changed when the file is written, the owner, permission, or link settings are changed with the Inode content.

Therefore, changing the file content changes the mtime and ctime, but the ctime of the file may be changed when the mtime is not changed-when the permission is changed, but the file content remains unchanged.

The ls (1) command can be used to list the atime, ctime, and mtime of a file.

Ls-lc filename: list the ctime of a file

Ls-lu filename: list the atime of a file

Ls-l filename: list the mtime of a file