how to delete all files in a directory EXCEPT some specified exclusions?

scottmusician · 06-22-2017, 03:00 AM

Hi everybody,

how can I delete all files in a directory that DON'T match an exclusion list?

For example, I have a file called "exclusions.txt", containing

Code:

File1
File3
File7

My aim is to delete File2, File 4, File5 and File 6 using a single command.

Any thoughts would be great! Thank you again

AwesomeMachine · 06-22-2017, 03:19 AM

If you read the "man" page for "rm" there is a way to read a list from a file. But you would need to invert the exclusions list into a delete list.

aragorn2101 · 06-22-2017, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmusician

My aim is to delete File2, File 4, File5 and File 6 using a single command.

I suggest you make a delete.list file looking like this:

Code:

File2
File4
File5
File6

Then you do:

Code:

cat delete.list | xargs rm -v

If you have a large list of files to delete and only few exclusions, you can create the file with

Code:

ls -1 > delete.list

and then edit the file to remove your exclusions.