HDFS dfs -ls path/filename

Question

I have copied few files to the path. but when I tried to run the command hdfs dfs -ls path/filename then it returns no file found.

hdfs dfs -ls till directory works but when i use the file name it returns no files found. For one of the file, I copied and pasted the file name using ambari. Then file started getting returned on using hdfs dfs -ls path/filename.

What is causing this issue?

Answer 1

Because when you are executing HDFS dfs -ls path/filename what you are saying to hdfs is show me all the files that are in the directory and if end path is a file, of course, you are not listing anything. You must point to a directory not a file.

Answer 2

@saravanan it seems like a permission issue if the file shows up only after using ambari. Make sure the files are owned correctly to confirm the commands. The ls command will list files and folders per documentation.

Here is full documentation for ls command:

[root@hdp ~]# hdfs dfs -help ls
-ls [-C] [-d] [-h] [-q] [-R] [-t] [-S] [-r] [-u] [-e] [<path> ...] :
  List the contents that match the specified file pattern. If path is not
  specified, the contents of /user/<currentUser> will be listed. For a directory a
  list of its direct children is returned (unless -d option is specified).

  Directory entries are of the form:
    permissions - userId groupId sizeOfDirectory(in bytes)
  modificationDate(yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm) directoryName

  and file entries are of the form:
    permissions numberOfReplicas userId groupId sizeOfFile(in bytes)
  modificationDate(yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm) fileName

    -C  Display the paths of files and directories only.
    -d  Directories are listed as plain files.
    -h  Formats the sizes of files in a human-readable fashion
        rather than a number of bytes.
    -q  Print ? instead of non-printable characters.
    -R  Recursively list the contents of directories.
    -t  Sort files by modification time (most recent first).
    -S  Sort files by size.
    -r  Reverse the order of the sort.
    -u  Use time of last access instead of modification for
        display and sorting.
    -e  Display the erasure coding policy of files and directories.