[SOLVED] How do I delete a file that is x minutes old

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 07:08 AM

Hello, I am using a hosting site and I am told that I need to create a cron job to automatically delete the file I want to, so what is the Linux command to force remove all .TS files in my directory that are older than 10 minutes? Thank you

schneidz · 08-12-2016, 07:18 AM

i would touch a file and datestamp it to the time you want. then use find to find files that are not (!) newer than the touched file.

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 07:25 AM

OK, can you please provide me the commands then I would use, thx

1 - command to touch 20 .ts files all at once
2 - command to delete all .ts files older that 15 minutes

So I can't just use a rm command to do all what I want at once?

TenTenths · 08-12-2016, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

i would touch a file and datestamp it to the time you want. then use find to find files that are not (!) newer than the touched file.

Not sure you'd even have to touch a file and do the compare.

Just run find and use -amin +10 to only list files accessed 10 or more minutes ago.

Code:

man find

is your friend

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 07:30 AM

basically what the hosting site told me to do is in my control panel is setup the cron job to run every 15 min and it has a line to put the Linux command that I want it to run. do I have to setup multiple tasks then instead of one command?

TenTenths · 08-12-2016, 07:58 AM

You can do the deletion be using the -delete parameter.

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 08:04 AM

ok, so is this the command I will use;

rm *.tc -amin +10 -delete

hydrurga · 08-12-2016, 08:10 AM

Just to point out that your plan may result in files being as old as 25 minutes old before being deleted. For example, if you run the cron at point A, you will delete any files older than 10 minutes old. That may leave files that are just under 10 minutes old. By the time you get to your next cron run, those files will be just under 25 minutes old. As long as you're fine with that, all is ok.

TenTenths · 08-12-2016, 08:11 AM

No, that's the rm (remove) command, you need the find command to find files.

Take a look at man find and work out what the line below will do, that'll get you closer to what you want to achieve.

Code:

find /path/to/the/folder -name "*.tc" -type f -amin +10 -delete

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 08:16 AM

Yeah, that's fine, I just don't want the files to build up for days

So the command is correct? since it is on an FTP server, what is the syntax to specify the directory name that the files are in?

EG: I'm going to assume my home directory is /public so where do I add another directory?

rm /directory *.tc -amin +10 -delete

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 08:18 AM

Oh, ok so this is what I use;

find /directory -name "*.tc" -type f -amin +10 -delete

TenTenths · 08-12-2016, 08:20 AM

You're still not getting it.

The rm command does not support the -amin parameter.

You need the find command and the -delete parameter.

Go read post #9 again and then then go read the man page for find.

As for multiple directories, if you've only a couple of them then do separate cron entries for each directory.

matrixebiz · 08-12-2016, 08:25 AM

Sorry, should of delete my other post, I meant;

find /directory -name "*.tc" -type f -amin +10 -delete

What the heck is a man page

TenTenths · 08-12-2016, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matrixebiz

What the heck is a man page

I don't know if you're being serious or sarcastic, so I'll go with serious.

man pages are the manual pages for commands.

You can access the man page by typing: man <command> at the linux command prompt.

If you don't have command line access to a system then using Google and searching for man <command> will give you a list of resource links. My preference is for links to linux.die.net So in this case http://linux.die.net/man/1/find is a good starting point.

hydrurga · 08-12-2016, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matrixebiz

Sorry, should of delete my other post, I meant;

find /directory -name "*.tc" -type f -amin +10 -delete

What the heck is a man page

If you're kidding, it's the male equivalent of a woman page.

If you're not, the man command shows you the manual page(s) for software and commands available on your computer. So, for example, man find will tell you more about the find command.