Hi, I have a set of log files which are in different directories with different dates. I would like to list all the files created 1 month ago and then delete only those files which are in several different directories every day. Can someone help me with the command as I have just started with Linux recently. Thank you.
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Listing and deleting files 1
- Thread starter taneujin
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KenCunningham
Technical User
Have all the files got a common extension (eg .html). If they have, and they reside on the same filesystem, you could use find as follows, from the top level directory above your log directories:
find . -name '*.html' -mtime +31 -print |pg
This will list the files. If you're really sure you want to delete them, replace the -print command with -exec rm {} \; and take out the |pg at the end. Be careful with rm, however, it's a very dangerous command in this and any other context. You could add an -i option to the rm so that you are prompted for each file to be deleted, but this may not be practical if there are hundreds.
If this does not suit your requirements (eg because the files aren't on the same filesystem), you could write a script to cd to the appropriate directories and do individual finds and deletes on them as above. Hope this makes sense - post again if you require further info. Cheers.
find . -name '*.html' -mtime +31 -print |pg
This will list the files. If you're really sure you want to delete them, replace the -print command with -exec rm {} \; and take out the |pg at the end. Be careful with rm, however, it's a very dangerous command in this and any other context. You could add an -i option to the rm so that you are prompted for each file to be deleted, but this may not be practical if there are hundreds.
If this does not suit your requirements (eg because the files aren't on the same filesystem), you could write a script to cd to the appropriate directories and do individual finds and deletes on them as above. Hope this makes sense - post again if you require further info. Cheers.
Guest_imported
New member
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Just wondering, the months are not all 31 days. How can I set it to all files that are 30 or 60 days old from the time I start the find command? Thanks
KenCunningham
Technical User
Glad to help. Just change the 31 to 30 or 60 as required. Apologies if this caused any confusion, I just used 31 for illustrative purposes. You can have as many or as few days specified as you wish. Incidentally, the -mtime option finds the files based on their modification time - in the case of log files this is usually whenh they are created. HTH.
krischrist
ISP
Hi,
Well, you can make a simple script and the n run that script at anytime which will automatically delete the log files.You can even run this script automatically if you want.Go to Super user scheduled tasks in Linuxconf and add a rule with the timing.
Helpful commands:-
ls -tru #This gives a list of old and unused files.
Note:After deleting the log files you need to activate that file again.Do this
touch filename
regards
Krischrist
Well, you can make a simple script and the n run that script at anytime which will automatically delete the log files.You can even run this script automatically if you want.Go to Super user scheduled tasks in Linuxconf and add a rule with the timing.
Helpful commands:-
ls -tru #This gives a list of old and unused files.
Note:After deleting the log files you need to activate that file again.Do this
touch filename
regards
Krischrist
- Thread starter
- #6
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