Ls -l and rm Post: 303038520

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Top Forums UNIX for Beginners Questions & Answers Ls -l and rm Post 303038520 by Neo on Thursday 5th of September 2019 05:58:22 AM

09-05-2019

Administrator

You can use find with the -exec flag for this.

For example in Linux:

Code:

find /path/to/files* -mtime +30 -exec rm {} \;

Note that there must be spaces between rm, {} and \;

More Explanation:

The first argument is the path to the files you want to delete. This can be a path, a directory, or a wildcard as in the example above. I would recommend using the full path, and make sure that you run the command without the exec rm to make sure you are getting the right results.

The second argument, -mtime, and this switch is used to specify the number of days old that the file is. If you enter +30, it will find files older than 30 days.

The third argument, -exec, allows you to pass in a command such as rm. The {} \; at the end is required at the end the of the command.

NOTE:

Do not run this without testing it first... for example. always run first and look at the output, for example:

Code:

find /path/to/files* -mtime +30  > /tmp/testing_123.txt

After you are happy it is working as you wish, then you can run it.. but honestly, here is what I do:

Code:

mkdir /tmp/files_to_delete
find /path/to/files* -mtime +30 -exec mv {} /tmp/files_to_delete \;

Better to move first and delete later!!! ALWAYS

Get in the very good habit of moving files before you delete them, especially using scripts where one fat finger mistake can ruin your day!

Last edited by rbatte1; 09-05-2019 at 12:36 PM..

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LEARN ABOUT MINIX

find

FIND(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   FIND(1)

NAME

       find - find files meeting a given condition

SYNOPSIS

       find directory expression

EXAMPLES

       find /  -name a.out -print
			   # Print all a.out paths

       find /usr/ast ! -newer f -ok rm {} ;
			   # Ask before removing

       find /usr -size +20 -exec mv {} /big ;
			   # move files > 20 blks

       find / -name a.out -o -name '*.o'  -exec rm {};
			   # 2 conds

DESCRIPTION

       Find  descends  the  file tree starting at the given directory checking each file in that directory and its subdirectories against a predi-
       cate.  If the predicate is true, an action is taken.  The predicates may be connected by -a (Boolean and), -o (Boolean or) and !   (Boolean
       negation).  Each predicate is true under the conditions specified below.  The integer n may also be +n to mean any value greater than n, -n
       to mean any value less than n, or just n for exactly n.

	 -name s true if current filename is s (include shell wild cards)
	 -size n true if file size is n blocks
	 -inum n true if the current file's i-node number is n
	 -mtime ntrue if modification time relative to today (in days) is n
	 -links ntrue if the number of links to the file is n
	 -newer ftrue if the file is newer than f
	 -perm n true if the file's permission bits = n (n is in octal)
	 -user u true if the uid = u (a numerical value, not a login name)
	 -group gtrue if the gid = g (a numerical value, not a group name)
	 -type x where x is bcdfug (block, char, dir, regular file, setuid, setgid)
	 -xdev	 do not cross devices to search mounted file systems

       Following the expression can be one of the following, telling what to do when a file is found:

	 -print  print the file name on standard output
	 -exec	 execute a MINIX command, {} stands for the file name
	 -ok	 prompts before executing the command

SEE ALSO

       test(1), xargs(1).

																	   FIND(1)