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Finding the date a file was created

 
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# 1  
Old 04-02-2009
Finding the date a file was created
how do i find the date a file was created?
# 2  
Old 04-03-2009
The "c" switch to "ls".

ls -lac filename

Beware: I have seen backup software change this timestamp.
# 3  
Old 04-03-2009
From man ls (emphasis added):
Code:
       -c     with -lt: sort by, and show, ctime (time of last modification of
              file status information) with -l: show ctime and  sort  by  name
              otherwise: sort by ctime

UNIX systems do not store the creation time of any file, you can choose between the time of the last access (atime), modification (mtime), or change time (ctime), but that's about it.
# 4  
Old 04-04-2009
I stand corrected. "ls -alc" only reflects the last change of status of the inode (e.g. touch, chmod, chown, mv, etc. etc..). After a "mv" for example it is possible for the "ctime" to be after the "mtime".
So, if absolutely nothing changes the status of the file after the file was created, the "ctime" is the time the file was created.
 
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