How to search all directories for a file in bash

overlook1977 · 04-08-2007, 08:54 PM

I know I can search with the KDE search function, but how would I search for a file if I did not know what directory it was located in? I was looking for 'xorg.conf'. I went into bash and typed 'whereis xorg.conf' but it returned "xorg". The file turned out to be in 'etc/X11'. I guess a bash command that would open the lost file would work, but is there a way to get bash to tell you the full path?

cgjones · 04-08-2007, 08:57 PM

Code:

find / -type f -iname xorg.conf

You might want to do this as root, otherwise you'll get a bunch of "Permission denied" errors.

SlowCoder · 04-08-2007, 09:28 PM

For your instance, try 'locate xorg.conf'.

overlook1977 · 04-08-2007, 09:29 PM

thanks! is there a way to force the shell to stop searching? this would be done by using ctrl-break in Windows, is there an equivalent?

cgjones · 04-08-2007, 09:33 PM

Ctrl-c should terminate the search.

SlowCoder · 04-09-2007, 09:35 AM

The locate command uses a database catalog that is rebuilt nightly. Unless your files are newer than a day or so, you should be able to use locate. It is much faster than the find command. Find is great for finding files that have been newly added.

MoMule · 04-09-2007, 12:15 PM

type:

updatebd
# followed by
locate <file being searched>

The updatedb command will update the database immediately.

Deion "Mule" Christopher

bandwidthjunkie · 04-10-2007, 07:00 AM

I would have thought that with slackware you would need to add

Code:

updatedb

to the daily cron run (the script needs root permissions) http://www.unixgeeks.org/security/ne...ix/cron-1.html. Then you can run

Code:

slocate blah

to find all instances of blah on your box. I find a useful search if I am looking for a program is

Code:

slocate blah | grep bin

This weeds out all the other rubbish and gives me what I'm looking for.