open-nomad/website/source/docs/commands/fs.html.md.erb

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands: fs"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands-fs"
description: >
  Introspect an allocation directory on a Nomad client
---

# Command: fs

The `fs` family of commands allows a user to navigate an allocation directory on a Nomad
client. The following subcommands are available - `cat`, `ls` and `stat`

`cat`: Reads contents of files and writes them to the standard output.
`ls`: Displays the name of a file and directories and their associated information.
`stat`: Displays information about a file.

## Usage 

```
nomad fs ls <alloc-id> <path>
nomad fs stat <alloc-id> <path>
nomad fs cat <alloc-id> <path>
```

A valid allocation id is necessary unless `-job` is specified and the path is relative to the root of the allocation directory.
The path is optional and it defaults to `/` of the allocation directory

## Examples

$ nomad fs ls eb17e557
Mode        Size  Modfied Time         Name
drwxrwxr-x  4096  28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  alloc/
drwxrwxr-x  4096  28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  redis/
-rw-rw-r--  0     28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  redis_exit_status


$ nomad fs ls redis/local
Mode        Size  Modfied Time         Name
-rw-rw-rw-  0     28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  redis.stderr
-rw-rw-rw-  17    28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  redis.stdout


$ nomad fs stat redis/local/redis.stdout
Mode        Size  Modified Time        Name
-rw-rw-rw-  17    28 Jan 16 05:39 UTC  redis.stdout


$ nomad fs cat redis/local/redis.stdout 
6710:C 27 Jan 22:04:03.794 # Warning: no config file specified, using the default config. In order to specify a config file use redis-server /path/to/redis.conf
6710:M 27 Jan 22:04:03.795 * Increased maximum number of open files to 10032 (it was originally set to 256).

## Using Job-ID instead of Alloc-ID

Passing `-job` into one of the `fs` commands will allow the `fs` command to randomly select an allocation ID from the specified job.

```
nomad fs ls -job <job-id> <path>
```

Nomad will prefer to select a running allocation ID for the job, but if no running allocations for the job are found, Nomad will use a dead allocation.

This can be useful for debugging a job that has multiple allocations, and it's not really required to use a specific allocation ID.