Technical guide

Tree command in Linux with examples

Master the Linux tree command: display recursive directory structures, filter by depth (tree -L 2), exclude directories (-I node_modules), and output JSON.

By lynxbeedev · March 26, 2022 · Updated August 12, 2026 · 1 min read

Linux Software Development Linux Commands Command Line Tools

The Linux tree utility produces depth-indented directory listings representing filesystem directory structures and files.

tree Command Examples

Terminal Commandsbash

# 1. Limit recursion depth to 2 directory levels
tree -L 2
 
# 2. Exclude build/cache directories from tree listing
tree -I "node_modules|.git|dist"
 
# 3. Output directory hierarchy in JSON format
tree -J -L 2

Comments and corrections

Essential Open-Source Linux Tools for Systems Debugging & Performance Profiling

Master essential open-source Linux performance and debugging tools: strace, ltrace, perf, Valgrind, iostat, ss, and iperf3 with command workflows.

How to Set Up TFTP Server on Ubuntu (tftpd-hpa Guide)

Set up a TFTP server on Ubuntu using tftpd-hpa: learn configuration, permission fixes, ufw firewall setup, and U-Boot embedded kernel image transfers.

How to Capture USB Packets in Wireshark on Linux (usbmon)

Sniff USB traffic on Linux using Wireshark and the usbmon kernel module: step-by-step setup, non-root udev permissions, and USB URB display filters.

Building Kernel Modules In-Tree During Kernel Compilation

Kernel modules are usually built out-of-tree, but for modules tightly coupled with kernel internals it's better to build them in-tree, as part of the kernel compilation itself, for header and config compatibility and automatic compilation during make . The example below uses linux-5.10/ as the so

tree Command Examples

Comments and corrections

Useful technical knowledge, not inbox noise.