[SOLVED] How to remove all hidden directories and folders, and only hidden directories and folders

rm_-rf_windows · 04-10-2016, 03:43 PM

Hi there!

I've spent about an hour looking for an answer to this question and was surprised not find a clear answer. At times the initial poster wasn't clear in what he wanted, so I'll try to be very clear.

I have made several backups of my home directory on a hard disk and now realize that the backups have copied all hidden directories and files. I would now like to delete hidden directories and files in these backups in order to free up some space on my hard disk.

In other words, the backup of my home directory may contain something like the following:

Code:

.                     .emacs             .gnome2_private      .mozilla                .pulse-cookie               .TrueCrypt-lock-user
..                    .emacs-bkp         .gstreamer-0.10      .mozilla-thunderbird    .purple                     .update-notifier
.adobe                .emacs.d           .gtk-bookmarks       .mplayer                .qt                         .ure
.android              .epiphany          .gvfs                Music                   .recently-used              Videos
.AtelierB             es                 .hplip               .mysql_history          .recently-used.xbel         .viminfo
Azureus Downloads     .esd_auth          hs_err_pid24894.log  .nano_history           .recently-used.xbel.EQGT6V  .vnc
.bash_history         .evolution         hts-cache            .nautilus               .sbclrc                     .vpinstall.properties
.bash_logout          .festival_history  hts-log.txt          .nbi                    .SciTEUser.properties       .vplls
.bashrc               .filezilla         .ICEauthority        .netbeans               .scripts                    .vpsuite_installation.xml
.bashrc.bkp           .fontconfig        .icedteaplugin       .netbeans-registration  .Skype                      .wicd
bin                   FrostWire          .icons               .netx                   .slime                      .winefish

I want to delete everything EXCEPT the following folders/files: Asureuz\ Downloads, bin, es, Frostwire, hs_err_pid24894.log, hts-cache, hts-log.txt, Music, Videos

What is the simplest and safest way to do this, preferably a command I can run from the terminal?

Thanks in advance.

RM

frankbell · 04-10-2016, 03:53 PM

You could try this command. I would make a copy of one the backups and test on the copy first, just to make sure it works, as I'm just doing this off the top of my head.

Code:

rm -r .*            <---The "-r" means "recursive."

For backup purposes, you might want to look at using rsync and writing a little script to back up only the directories you wish to back up.

http://www.tecmint.com/rsync-local-r...tion-commands/

astrogeek · 04-10-2016, 03:58 PM

As frankbell says, except make the glob a little more specific to prevent walking back up the parent directory...

Code:

rm -r .[a-zA-Z_]*

And the same caution - try it in a safe environment first!

But try this and see if it gives you the right list...

Code:

ls .[a-zA-Z_]*

sundialsvcs · 04-10-2016, 10:21 PM

Or... in one directory... [font=courier]ls -1 .* | xargs rm[/font\ (note that this is "dash-one" not "dash-el")

frankbell · 04-11-2016, 08:17 PM

Thanks, Astrogeek. Globbing makes my brain hurt and every little bit someone teaches me is appreciated.

rm_-rf_windows · 04-12-2016, 07:28 AM

Hi again,

Many thanks for your quick replies!

This worked like a charm (I added a hyphen):

Code:

rm -r .[a-zA-Z_-]*

I have two other related questions that I will put in two separate posts to facilitate search results for people looking for answers to each respective question:

- a better copy command to avoid copying hidden files (link to post here)

- a way of fusing two backups that could BOTH contain common and different elements (link to post here)

Many thanks,

RM