Get a list of all files and their attributes on OS X

Question

What is the best and fastest way to get a list of every file on OS X including hidden and system files along with their attributes? I'm not afraid of the terminal or scripts, but if there is a wonderful audit-like application out there I'd be interested in comparing that to my options.

Answer 1

Depends on what attributes you need, but the standard unix way would be:

find / -type f -print0 | xargs -0 stat

You mention auditing, so something like tripwire may fit your needs better.

Answer 2

To list extended attributes and file flags for all files on all devices:

sudo find / -exec ls -ldO@ {} \;

(that's an upper case letter O in the "-ldO@").

To include access control lists (ACLs), the -e option of ls:

sudo find / -exec ls -ldeO@ {} \;

If a device is a Filesytem in Userspace with no allowance for root, then the commands above will not succeed for that device.

For the listing to exclude devices other than the startup volume, the -x option of find:

sudo find -x / -exec ls -ldeO@ {} \;

Answer 3

You can use mdfind.

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