$ find
Search for files in a directory
hierarchy
Syntax: $ find
Some of the more commonly used options include –
-name
The –name option simply searches for files that
have the specified name. It can
incorporate wildcards as long as they are enclosed in quotation marks.
For eg – this command will return all the files that start with the file name - 'file'
located anywhere beneath the /root/good directory.
$ find / -name ‘file*’
Output:
[root ~/good 12:44:58] # find /root/good -name 'file*'
/root/good/file3.sh
/root/good/file1.sh
/root/good/file2.sh
-links
Search for any file with the
specified number of links attached to it.
For eg – this command will return all files with 6 links in /home/che/test and its
subdirectories.
$ find /home/che/test –links 6
Output:
[root ~/good 16:21:03] # ls -l /home/che/test
total 48
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4096 Aug 24 15:40 dir1
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4096 Aug 24 15:40 dir2
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4096 Aug 24 15:40 dir3
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one_hlink1
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one_hlink2
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one_hlink3
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one_hlink4
-rw-r--r-- 6 che solaris 0 Aug 24 16:19 one_hlink5
[root ~/good 16:21:16] # find /home/che/test -links 6
/home/che/test/one_hlink3
/home/che/test/one_hlink1
/home/che/test/one
/home/che/test/one_hlink5
/home/che/test/one_hlink4
/home/che/test/one_hlink2
-type
Search for files of a certain
type.
Syntax: $ find path –type <b/c/d/p/f/l/s>
Where -
b = Refers to block-special devices.
c = Refers to character-special devices.
d = Refers to directories.
p = Refers to named pipes.
f = Refers to ordinary files.
l = Refers to symbolic links.
s = Refers to sockets.
Output
[root ~/good 14:38:01] # find -type d
.
./dir2
./dir5
./dir4
./dir3
./dir1
./test
[root ~ 11:58:40] # find /root –type f ‘good’
/root/good
/root/test/good
Note: By default, if the path is not specified on the ‘find’
command to search, then it search the current directory
As Unix are case sensitive, to ignore the case,
-iname option is used.
This can be useful if we are unsure of the exact
case of a file name we are looking for.
Output:
[root ~/good
12:52:22] # find -iname 'File*'
./file3.sh
./file1.sh
./file2.sh
To find the files that are modified recently. For
example to find the files that are modified before/earlier/last 5 minutes -
# find -mmin -5
Where -
-mmin = modified minutes
Output:
[root ~/good 13:03:31] # ls -lh file*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 53 Aug 24 13:02 file1.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root
0 Aug 24 12:44 file2.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root
0 Aug 24 12:44 file3.sh
[root ~/good 13:03:42] # echo "Updating the file
named file2.sh for testing purpose" >> file2.sh
[root ~/good 13:04:04] # find -mmin -5
./file1.sh
./file2.sh
To find the files that are modified more than 5
min or older than that -
#find -mmin +5
Output:
[root ~/good 13:19:48] # find -mmin +5
.
./test_split_fileaj
./edit_file
./test_split_fileax
./test_mod_script_file
./du
./man
(Output Truncated...)
# find -mmin 5
Displays the files that are exactly modified before
5 min.
To find the files that are modified 5 days back.
For example to find the files that are modified before/earlier/last 5 days -
# find -mtime -5
Output:
[root ~/good
13:28:40] # ls -lht | find -mtime -5
.
./file3.sh
./file1.sh
./file2.sh
./test
./test/test_file510:54:00-20_08_13
./test/example_file10:52:49-20_08_13
./test/test_file210:54:00-20_08_13
./test/test_file110:54:00-20_08_13
./test/test_file410:54:00-20_08_13
./test/test_file310:54:00-20_08_13
Where -
-mtime = number of days.
Note:
1.
Normally 'time' stands for 24 hour, hence here 5 means, 5 times of 24
(5x24)
2. Alike -mmin -5, -mmin +5 and -mmin 5, -mtime -5, -mtime +5 and -mtime
5 can be used.
3. Alike -mmin, -cmin and -amin do
work.
4. Alike -mtime, -ctime and -atime do work.
To list out the empty files (file without content)
Output:
[root ~/good 13:44:30] # ls -lh fname?
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 24 13:44 fname1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 24 13:44 fname2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 24 13:44 fname3
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 24 13:44 fname4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 24 13:44 fname5
[root ~/good 13:44:38] # find -empty
./fname1
./fname4
./fname5
./fname3
./fname2
-size
Searches
for any files approximately equal to a specified size, which is specified on
the argument. By default, the size
indicates the number of 512 byte blocks of information. You can specify a size in bytes by appending
the c option or in kilo bytes by appending the k option.
To find the files with the size 10M.
# find -size 10M
Output:
[root ~/good 14:28:49] # find -size 10M
./new_file
./new_file2
./output.dat
To find the files with the size 10485760 bytes
Output:
[root ~/good 14:30:21] # find -size 10485760b
[root ~/good 14:30:31] # find -size 10485760c
./new_file
./new_file2
./output.dat
To find the files with the size 10240 kilo bytes
Output:
[root ~/good 14:33:41] # find -size 10240k
./new_file
./new_file2
./output.dat
Where -
M = mega bytes
c = bytes
k = kilo bytes
To list out only the directory.
# find -type d
Output:
[root ~/good 14:38:01] # find -type d
.
./dir2
./dir5
./dir4
./dir3
./dir1
./test
To find only the regular files with the size 10M
Output:
[root ~/good 14:37:48] # find -type f -size 10M
./new_file
./new_file2
./output.dat
To find the files owned by the user specified -
'che'
Output:
[root ~/good 14:45:17] # find /home -user che
/home/che
/home/che/.bashrc
/home/che/.bash_history
/home/che/.bash_profile
/home/che/.bash_logout
/home/che/test
/home/che/test/three
/home/che/test/one
/home/che/test/two
/home/che/.sh_history
To find the files owned by the group specified -
Output:
[root ~/good 14:52:31] # find /home -group solaris
/home/che/Unix
/home/che/world
/home/che/to
/home/che/of
/home/che/the
/home/che/welcome
/home/vcs1
/home/vcs1/.bashrc
/home/vcs1/.bash_profile
/home/vcs1/.bash_logout
[root ~/good 14:52:45] # ls -lh /home/che | grep solaris
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 of
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 the
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 to
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 Unix
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 welcome
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 world
To find the files having the permission 777 on the
path /home -
Output:
[root ~/good 14:56:15] # find /home -perm 777
/home/che/to
/home/che/of
/home/che/the
[root ~/good 14:56:29] # ls -l /home/che
total 24
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 of
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 the
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 to
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 Unix
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 welcome
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 world
To find and delete only the files owned by the
specified group - 'vcs'
Output:
[root ~/good 15:01:45] # ls -lh /home/che
total 24K
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 of
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che vcs
0 Aug 24 14:52 the
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che vcs
0 Aug 24 14:52 to
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 Unix
-rw-r--r-- 1 che vcs
0 Aug 24 14:52 welcome
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 world
[root ~/good 15:01:52] # find /home -group vcs -delete
[root ~/good 15:02:09] # ls -lh /home/che
total 12K
-rwxrwxrwx 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 of
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 Unix
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 14:52 world
To find the files owned the specific user -
'che', then execute the command - 'wc
-l' and to display the same.
Output:
[root ~/good 15:07:06] # find /home -user che -exec wc -l
{} \;
wc: /home/che: Is a directory
0 /home/che
107 /home/che/Unix
8 /home/che/.bashrc
58 /home/che/world
21 /home/che/.bash_history
114 /home/che/of
12 /home/che/.bash_profile
3 /home/che/.bash_logout
22 /home/che/.sh_history
To find and delete the files owned by the specific
user 'che', delete the files getting confirmation -
# find /home/che/test -user che -type f -ok rm {} \;
Output:
[root ~/good 15:40:51] # ls -lh /home/che/test
total 36K
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir1
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir2
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir3
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 15:40 file1
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 15:40 file2
-rw-r--r-- 1 che solaris 0 Aug 24 15:40 file3
[root ~/good 15:40:57] # find /home/che/test -user che
-type f -ok rm {} \;
< rm ... /home/che/test/file1 > ? y
< rm ... /home/che/test/file2 > ? y
< rm ... /home/che/test/file3 > ? y
[root ~/good 15:41:40] # ls -lh /home/che/test
total 24K
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir1
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir2
drwxr-xr-x 2 che solaris 4.0K Aug 24 15:40 dir3
Where -
-ok = Key word prompts for confirmation before
performing the delete/remove operation as requested.
