[SOLVED] Attempting to delete files that are older than 90 days, but not directories

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:06 AM

Hi everyone;

Sorry if this is another eye roller, I tried going through the manual and wasn't sure, I tried searching around and couldn't find a specific answer to my question, which is THIS:

I want all files that are older than 90 days in this one particular directory and all sub directories to be removed. However, when I ran this command, it also ended up deleting a bunch of sub directories. (I'm not sure why, as no files had gone through them for the past 90 days?)

I don't want directories to be deleted, only files, this is the command I used after doing a bit of searching, I decided it was the best:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -mtime +90 -exec rm -rf {} \;

the 'stopper' directory has a ton of other sub directories (well, not anymore!) and as I said, I'd like for it to only delete files and not directories, any assistance would be appreciated.

jlinkels · 07-07-2012, 07:09 AM

According to the manual add -type f to the find options.

jlinkels

414N · 07-07-2012, 07:15 AM

I can spot 2 errors in your "find" command:

you didn't set "find" to search only for regular files (option -type f);
you ran a rm -rf on everything "find" found, so all subdirectories older than 90 days got wiped. Still puzzles me why almost everyone issues an "exec rm -rf {}" command while "find" comes itself with a -delete option...

I suggest you try the following:

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -delete

You should remove the delete command first to see which files will be deleted and then, when happy with the result, add it again.

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:16 AM

Right. so thus:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec rm -rf {} \;

-type f is regular file, so it should only find regular files at that point, and not directories, but it'll still search all the directories? I don't have a manual for -rf so I'm not actually sure what they're doing, I just get 'no manual entry for rf'

Thanks for the quick response.

whizje · 07-07-2012, 07:18 AM

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec rm -rf {} \;

Add -type f for that you only want files.

414N · 07-07-2012, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caiphn

I don't have a manual for -rf so I'm not actually sure what they're doing, I just get 'no manual entry for rf'

rf are options to the "rm" command.

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 414N

I can spot 2 errors in your "find" command:

you didn't set "find" to search only for regular files (option -type f);
you ran a rm -rf on everything "find" found, so all subdirectories older than 90 days got wiped. Still puzzles me why almost everyone issues an "exec rm -rf {}" command while "find" comes itself with a -delete option...

I suggest you try the following:

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -delete

You should remove the delete command first to see which files will be deleted and then, when happy with the result, add it again.

Thank-you for the fast response. The reason I used 'exec rm {}' is that several 'how to' websites reference to it. I am a huge newbie, I see the massive list of files, what do I need to add to that so I see a time stamp of the files, similar to a 'ls -ltr'?

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 414N

rf are options to the "rm" command.

My bad, it's late. Thanks.

414N · 07-07-2012, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caiphn

what do I need to add to that so I see a time stamp of the files, similar to a 'ls -ltr'?

Well, you could exec "ls -ltr" on every file found instead of "rm -rf"

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec ls -ltr {} \;

You may want so save the output to a file using redirection:

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec ls -ltr {} \; > filelist.txt

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 414N

Well, you could exec "ls -ltr" on every file found instead of "rm -rf"

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec ls -ltr {} \;

You may want so save the output to a file using redirection:

Code:

find /opt/files/users/stopper/ -type f -mtime +90 -exec ls -ltr {} \; > filelist.txt

Thanks a bunch!

414N · 07-07-2012, 07:37 AM

Please mark the thread "Solved" if the issue is nomore

jlinkels · 07-07-2012, 12:27 PM

About not having the manual for find, do man find. You'll be surprised

. The man command works for virtually all commands.

jlinkels

caiphn · 07-07-2012, 07:11 PM

jlinkels: Sorry, I meant I was attempting to manual for 'rm', but I was typing 'rf' instead as it was 5:30AM and my brain was a little fried. Thanks for everyones help.