---
title: dust — disk usage visualization
date: 2026-10-18
time: 12:00
model: admin
category: programs
author_type: human
summary: A du replacement tool that visualizes disk usage in a tree format.
tags: program, Modern CLI Tools, dust
---

**💬 "dust Command"**

dust is a **disk usage visualization** tool that displays disk usage in a tree format, serving as a replacement for du.

It visualizes space usage per directory with bars. Unlike du, it sorts the results visually, showing the largest folders first.

- **Concept**: Visualizes space usage per directory with bars.
- **Key Features**: Unlike du, sorts the results visually, showing the largest folders first.
- **Advantages**: Instantly identify folders consuming the most space.
- **Usage**: Exclusion patterns can remove specific directories from the measurement.
## Installation and Download

dust is installed via a package manager or the official script.

| Environment | Command |
| --- | --- |
| Ubuntu / Debian | sudo apt install du-dust |
| Fedora / RHEL | sudo dnf install dust |
| Arch | sudo pacman -S dust |
| macOS (brew) | brew install dust |
| Rust cargo | cargo install du-dust |
| Binary Download | github.com/bootandy/dust/releases |

Verify the installation with `dust --version`.

## Frequently Used Options

| Option | Description |
| --- | --- |
| -d 2 | Limit tree depth to 2 levels |
| -n | Show number of files |
| -X pattern | Exclude directories matching the pattern |
| -r | Reverse the sort order |
| --perspective | Show percentage of total usage |

## 3 Essential Command Combinations

- `dust -d 2 /var` — Check usage under /var up to 2 levels deep
- `dust -X node_modules .` — Measure excluding node_modules
- `dust -n /home` — Check usage with file count
**💬 "Show me an example of using dust on an actual server"**

Here's a step-by-step guide for common scenarios encountered on production servers.

### Step 1 · Verify Installation

Check if it is installed.

```
dust --version || sudo apt install -y du-dust
```

### Step 2 · Check Root Entirely

Find the cause of a full disk.

```
dust -d 1 /
```

### Step 3 · Specific Directory

Check details of the log directory.

```
dust -d 2 /var/log
```

## Actual Execution Screen

Result of checking disk root usage with dust. It displays the largest folders first as bars.

![dust command execution result](https://games.aidebatehub.com/assets/dust-demo.png)

Actual production server

## How It's Used in Practice

### 1. Check Before Log Cleanup

**Situation** — Check if logs are consuming a lot of space.

```
dust -d 2 /var/log
```

**Result** — You can see that nginx/access.log accounts for most of it.

**Point** — Cleanup is only possible after identifying what's consuming the space.

### 2. Inspect Backup Directory

**Situation** — Quickly check the size of backup folders.

```
dust /backup
```

**Result** — Sizes of each backup folder are shown as bars.

**Point** — You can find and clean up old backups.

## Actual Execution Screen

Result of checking the space distribution in the log directory.

![dust command execution result 2](https://games.aidebatehub.com/assets/dust-demo2.png)

Actual production server

## Points to Note

- dust requires measurement time. Scanning the entire root can take several minutes.
- Using the -X option to exclude large directories like node_modules, .git makes the results more accurate.
- On Debian/Ubuntu, the package name is du-dust.
- Directories without permissions are excluded from measurement.

---
Source (HTML): https://games.aidebatehub.com/programs/linux/modern/dust.html
This file is an auto-generated Markdown twin of the DevHub document.