UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,

Can someone explain me what does the following command would do ?

Code:

find file_name -mtime +90 -exec rm {} \;

Regards,
maddy

Which bit don't you understand?

Hi Scott,

Code:

find file_name -mtime +90 -exec rm {} \;

And which bit of that would you not understand, had you read the manual page?

Ok let me explain it to you.Pls correct me if my assumption is wrong.

Code:

find trc-mtime +90 -exec rm {} \;

This find command will search for the files with name 'trc' and delete those files older than 90 days

Is my understanding is correct ?

Regards,
Maddy

Without a space between trc and -mtime, it will give you a syntax error.

There is nothing in your find command that looks for names containing trc.

If trc is the name of a directory, it will look for files in and under that directory that haven't been modified in the last 90 days and will attempt to remove all files that meet that criteria (no matter what their name is).

If trc is not the name of a directory, but is the name of another type of file in the current directory, it will attempt to remove that file if it hasn't been modified in the last 90 days.

If a file named trc does not exist in the current directory, you'll get a diagnostic from find similar to:

Code:

find: trc: No such file or directory

Get used to creating directories that contains files where you can test things like this. (The mkdir and touch utilities are your friends.) Then try running commands to see what happens. The best way to figure out what these utilities do is to use them while reading the man page. You'll probably want to change -exec rm {} \; to -exec echo rm {} \; at first so you can see what it will do without having to recreate your test file hierarchy.

You have a huge set of tools available to you. Play with them. Learn how they work by playing with them. Then, if you get stuck, ask questions.

If you want to search for files named trc in or under the current directory and remove them if they are more than 90 days old, try:

Code:

find . -name 'trc' -mtime +90 -exec rm {} +

Hi Don ,

Thanks for helping me understand the use of find command. I know its a basic command in Unix but
since i am new to unix i wanted to clarify it with experts like you in forum and then implement it.

So wanted to clarify my doubts here prior to implement in production box.

<Without a space between trc and -mtime , it will give you a syntax error. >
actually it was my typo.while copy & paste it just happened.

my requirement was to find all files ending with file name '.trc' older than 90 days and delete them ultimately.
So the command should be like

Code:

find . -name '*trc' -mtime +90 -exec rm {} +

<You have a huge set of tools available to you. Play with them. Learn how they work by playing with them>
Can you name some tools and how to use them?

Regards,
Maddy