linux noob needs help on file archive automation.

[hookahmasta]

As a wet behind the ears admin, I need some help in terms of cycling archive files... Here's the situation...

A Cron job runs every morning that compresses our DB2 database into a archive file around 4 Gigs. It gets made, and gets copied to the NFS share of my main file server. I only need to keep copies from the previous 3 days. Is there a script that can look in the contents in that directory, find any files that are older than 3 days, and deletes them, since I don't need them anymore? If I'd placed that as a cron job, then older files that I don't need gets deleted automatically... I'm relatively new to scripting, so I need all the help I'd ned.

 

[stefanwagner]

I would use at for that job.

After creation of the backup, run as last step:

at now+3days rm $BACKUP

an alternative is to use find, but I'm not used to the 'cnewer' or 'mtime' - syntax:

a) man find
b) test first

touch timestamp
find ./ -mtime +3 -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*.backup" -exec rm {} \;

seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[KenCunningham]

find /path/to/dir -name '*.bak' -mtime +3 -exec rm {} \;

Test first with:

find /path/to/dir -name '*.bak' -mtime +3 -exec ls -la {} \;

to ensure that you're picking up the correct files. I've included the /path/to/directory because it's safer than using . in my opinion.

 

[Kozusnik]

Here's a shell script I use for everything. I'm sure there are better scripts, but this one serves it's purpose well. Just run "backup_db 3" or schedule it. See the bottom for your own personal configuration.

Mark


#!/bin/sh

# Input: backup_db n (e.g. backup_db 31)

# Check that the input is valid.
# There should be exactly 1 argument.
if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
echo Error: $0 invalid usage.
echo Usage: $0 n
exit 1
fi

# The argument should be an integer.
n=`expr $1 + 0 2> /dev/null`
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
qnbad=0
elif [ $n -lt 0 ]; then
qnbad=0
else
qnbad=1
fi
if [ $qnbad -eq 0 ]; then
echo Error: n must be a positive integer.
echo Usage: $0 n
exit 1
fi

# Set the current month day and year.
month=`date +%m`
day=`date +%d`
year=`date +%Y`
ymonth=`date +%m`
yday=`date +%d`
yyear=`date +%Y`
hour=`date +%H`
min=`date +%M`

# Add 0 to month. This is a
# trick to make month an unpadded integer.
month=`expr $month + 0`
ymonth=`expr $ymonth + 0`
# Subtrace n from the current day.
yday=`expr $yday - 0`
day=`expr $day - $n`

# While the day is less than or equal to
# 0, deincrement the month.
while [ $day -le 0 ]
do
month=`expr $month - 1`

# If month is 0 then it is Dec of last year.
if [ $month -eq 0 ]; then
year=`expr $year - 1`
month=12
fi

# Add the number of days appropriate to the
# month.
case $month in
1|3|5|7|8|10|12) day=`expr $day + 31`;;
4|6|9|11) day=`expr $day + 30`;;
2)
if [ `expr $year % 4` -eq 0 ]; then
if [ `expr $year % 400` -eq 0 ]; then
day=`expr $day + 29`
elif [ `expr $year % 100` -eq 0 ]; then
day=`expr $day + 28`
else
day=`expr $day + 29`
fi
else
day=`expr $day + 28`
fi
;;
esac
done

# While the day is less than or equal to
# 0, deincrement the month.
while [ $yday -le 0 ]
do
ymonth=`expr $ymonth`

# If ymonth is 0 then it is Dec of last year.
if [ $ymonth -eq 0 ]; then
yyear=`expr $yyear`
ymonth=12
fi

# Add the number of days appropriate to the
# month.
case $ymonth in
1|3|5|7|8|10|12) yday=`expr $yday + 31`;;
4|6|9|11) yday=`expr $yday + 30`;;
2)
if [ `expr $yyear % 4` -eq 0 ]; then
if [ `expr $yyear % 400` -eq 0 ]; then
yday=`expr $yday + 29`
elif [ `expr $yyear % 100` -eq 0 ]; then
yday=`expr $yday + 28`
else
yday=`expr $yday + 29`
fi
else
yday=`expr $yday + 28`
fi
;;
esac
done
if [ $day -le 9 ] ; then
day="0"$day
fi
if [ $month -le 9 ] ; then
month="0"$month
fi
if [ $yday -le 9 ] ; then
yday="0"$yday
fi
if [ $ymonth -le 9 ] ; then
ymonth="0"$ymonth
fi

# make a backup directory using date
# ex. /path/to/backup/20050907
mkdir /path/to/backup/$yyear$ymonth$yday
# copy database files to it
cp /path/to/files/* /path/to/backup/$yyear$ymonth$yday

# remove old backup
rm -Rf /path/to/backup/$year$month$day
exit 0