To display the access permissions of a file or directory use the the command: ls -l filename ( directory ) . ... For example: -rwxr-xr-x 1 erpl08 staff 3649 Feb 22 15:51 my.html . This first item -rwxr-xr-x represents the access permissions on this file. The following items represent the number of links to it; the username of the person owning it; the name of the group which owns it; its size; the time and date it was last changed, and finally, its name. ...