Adding a files creation date to it's file name?

msmith88 · 09-17-2010, 01:41 PM

Hi all,

New to the forums here and fairly green when it comes to Linux. I have some basic experiencing creating simple scripts/making directories/changing permissions/etc. but I'm stumped on this one.

I have two linux boxes. I have a script set up on box 'A' to SCP into box 'B', grab a copy of a database backup and store it on box 'A'. It looks like this:

scp root@X.X.X.X:/blah/blah/blah/dump.23.gz /home/blah/DB_Backups/

I have generated a public key on box 'A' and placed it into the authorized_keys file on box 'B', so a password is not required and the file copies over successfully when the script is run. On to my problem...

I need to know what date the 'dump.23.gz' file was originally created when I'm viewing it after it's been copied to box 'A'. If I ls -l on box 'A' it only shows me the date it was created on box 'A' when it was copied.

What would I need to add to my script to append the backup's original creation date on box 'B' to the filename so that when it gets copied to box 'A' I know when the backup was created on box 'B'. I'm sure this is probably confusing. I've done lots of searching and can only find information on how to append the current date and time to a file name. I need to append it's original creation timestamp to the filename when it copies over. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

druuna · 09-17-2010, 02:03 PM

Hi,

Would scp's -p option help?

Quote:

-p Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the original file.

scp -p root@X.X.X.X:/blah/blah/blah/dump.23.gz /home/blah/DB_Backups/

Hope this helps.

gdejonge · 09-17-2010, 02:13 PM

Take a look at the date command. It has the possibillity to format its output.
Example:

Code:

$ date +%a-%d-%b
Fri-17-Sep

Combine this with your copy command

Code:

scp root@X.X.X.X:/blah/blah/blah/dump.23.gz /home/blah/DB_Backups/`date +%a-%d-%b`-dump.23.gz

Notice the backquotes around the date command. The will make sure that the date command will be executed and the output from it will be used as text in the scp command.

____________________
Gerrard

druuna · 09-17-2010, 02:34 PM

@gdejonge: That will add the current date to the file, not the original date of the scp'ed file.

sem007 · 09-17-2010, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmith88

I need to append it's original creation timestamp to the filename when it copies over.

As i under stand your question you want original file creation time stamp.

just say example you create one file on 1st September and this file modify many time after creation. now you want to creation time (1st September) am i right ?

As i know linux filesystem do not store file creation date and time.

BTW you can find last access modify time by stat command.

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# stat test
File: `test'
  Size: 9703            Blocks: 24         IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 801h/2049d      Inode: 1558337     Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2010-09-18 10:21:01.000000000 +0530
Modify: 2010-09-18 10:21:15.000000000 +0530
Change: 2010-09-18 10:21:15.000000000 +0530

or you can preserve time -p option as suggest by druuna.

HTH

Regards,

prayag_pjs · 09-18-2010, 12:03 AM

scp -p

AnanthaP · 09-18-2010, 06:51 AM

ls -l <filename> | awk '{get the date column'} | mv filename filename_output_of_awk.

What did you try so far?

druuna · 09-18-2010, 06:56 AM

Hi,

Did you read the question?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnanthaP

ls -l <filename> | awk '{get the date column'} | mv filename filename_output_of_awk.

How would you implement this when the file is on box A, you copy it to box B (time-stamp is now current time on box B, not creation time as mentioned on box A)???

As mentioned by me and other later on: use scp -p ........ Problem solved.

chrism01 · 09-19-2010, 12:07 AM

As said by sem007

Quote:

linux filesystem do not store file creation date and time.

You need to have the original creation of the dump file include the date/time as part of the name...

reg360 · 01-20-2011, 11:23 AM

I submitted a script at this other thread because I had the same task as the original poster there:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...lename-800333/

As already suggested on this thread, preserve the original dump file date with "scp -p". Then maybe use "stat" or something else to get file metadata. Then script something like I did to add that info back into your filename on box "A" (or on whatever box/filename you want the timestamp to be stored)

chrism01 · 01-20-2011, 08:16 PM

The problem with that is if you want/need to copy or access that file again, or even the original on box B via another cmd etc.
It really is best to amend the actual backup script to insert the date (& optionally time) in the backup filename. Then you never need to worry.
Think about what would happen if you back it up to external storage eg tape, DVD. You'd always have to remember (& be able) to find a cmd that does the -p feature. This may not always be the case...

ncollette · 09-28-2018, 03:48 PM

I used the following with success:

Code:

# Rename all the files with timestamps.
for filename in ./*; do
    NEW_NAME=`stat $filename | grep -E '^(  File:|Modify:)' | awk '{print $2$3}' | sed 's/[^0-9a-zA-Z_\.]//g' | awk -F. '{printf "%s:%s:", $1,$2}' | awk -F: '{printf "%s_%s.%s", $1, $3, $2}'`
    sudo mv $filename $NEW_NAME
done