Locate command does not work

waffe · 09-26-2003, 09:30 PM

I have a fresh install of Debian and when I use the command "locate", I always get this error:
locate: /var/lib/locate/locatedb: No such file or directory.

I then go to the directory /var/lib/locate, and there is no file locatedb.

I assume I need to make this db somehow.

Anyone?

bigrigdriver · 09-26-2003, 09:44 PM

Anytime you install/remove something from the system, it's necessary to keep the database of installed files current if you want the locate command to work. The command is updatedb, which usually requires root privilege to run. So, su to root, run the command updatedb, then try locate whatever again. Be prepared to wait a minute or two for updatedb to finish, depending on how large your set of installed files is.

waffe · 09-26-2003, 09:54 PM

Thanks a billion * billion. Really hard to find stuff without this function.