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Remove all the subdirectories except latest 5 inside any given directory

 
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# 1  
Old 01-29-2015
Computer Remove all the subdirectories except latest 5 inside any given directory
I Want to remove all the sub-directories except latest five in any given TGTDIR.
Is there a way to do so without making a cd to TGTDIR?
I have tried the following but not worked.
Thank you.

Code:
rm -rf `ls -t $TGTDIR | awk 'NR>5'`

Last edited by Devendra Hupri; 01-29-2015 at 01:32 AM.. Reason: edit description
# 2  
Old 01-29-2015
Hello Devendra Hupri,

Welcome to forum, following may help you in same.
1st command:
Code:
TGTDIR=/tmp ##For ust an example
ls -ltr $TGTDIR | awk '/^d/ {A++;X[++j]=$NF} END{for(i=1;i<=A-5;i++){print "rm -rf " X[i]}}'

It will only print the results, if happy with results you can use following command then.
2nd command:
Code:
TGTDIR=/tmp
ls -ltr $TGTDIR | awk '/^d/ {A++;X[++j]=$NF} END{for(i=1;i<=A-5;i++){print "rm -rf " X[i]}}' | sh

NOTE: Please test 1st suggestion and if happy then only follow the 2nd suggestion.

Thanks,
R. Singh
Last edited by RavinderSingh13; 01-29-2015 at 02:33 AM.. Reason: Added equal condition now
This User Gave Thanks to RavinderSingh13 For This Post:
Devendra Hupri
# 3  
Old 01-29-2015
Not tested, but maybe some form of the following might work ? Please try on a dummy set first..
Waiting on a second opinion

Code:
find /TGTDIR/ -maxdepth 1 -type -d -name '*' -print0 | xargs -r0 ls -t | tail -n +5 | tr '\n' '\0' | xargs -r0 rmdir

This User Gave Thanks to senhia83 For This Post:
Devendra Hupri
# 4  
Old 01-29-2015
Thanks RavinderSingh13, The first code worked,
I had 7 subdirs, it only listed 1(which was old) it was expected to report 2 old dirs
# 5  
Old 01-29-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by senhia83
Not tested, but maybe some form of the following might work ? Please try on a dummy set first..
Waiting on a second opinion
Code:
find /TGTDIR/ -maxdepth 1 -type -d -name '*' -print0 | xargs -r0 ls -t | tail -n +5 | tr '\n' '\0' | xargs -r0 rmdir

Hello Senhia,

I didn't test your code but rmdir will work only if directories are empty(User didn't mention here about the same either directories are empty or not).

Hello Devendra Hupri,

Could you please be more clear on your requirement and give us more details like do we need to check each directory's subdirectory also and perform same deletion operation there except 5 directories?

EDIT: Also Devendra, I have added <= condition now in solution POST#2, could you please try those and let me know if that helps.
Code:
ls -ltr $TGTDIR | awk '/^d/ {A++;X[++j]=$NF} END{for(i=1;i<=A-5;i++){print "rm -rf " X[i]}}'

Then if happy with above command:
Code:
TGTDIR=/tmp
ls -ltr $TGTDIR | awk '/^d/ {A++;X[++j]=$NF} END{for(i=1;i<=A-5;i++){print "rm -rf " X[i]}}' | sh

Thanks,
R. Singh
Last edited by RavinderSingh13; 01-29-2015 at 02:35 AM.. Reason: Added comment about solution now
This User Gave Thanks to RavinderSingh13 For This Post:
Devendra Hupri
# 6  
Old 01-29-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devendra Hupri
I Want to remove all the sub-directories except latest five in any given TGTDIR.
Is there a way to do so without making a cd to TGTDIR?
I have tried the following but not worked.
Thank you.

Code:
rm -rf `ls -t $TGTDIR | awk 'NR>5'`

What operating system and shell are you using?

In what way did it not work?

Are there any files other than directories in the directory named by $TGTDIR? Could non-directory files in $TGTDIR be related to why your command did not work?

Do any filenames in $TGTDIR contain any whitespace characters (i.e., <space>, <tab>, <newline>, <carriage-return>, or <form-feed>)?
This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
Devendra Hupri
# 7  
Old 01-29-2015
Hey Ravinder,

No need to check the dir contents, I just need to retain latest five removing the old ones.
The dirs are not empty. they contain some data.
 
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