[SOLVED] Locate Does Not Work

hitmen · 09-12-2011, 11:51 AM

I saved my file as antennaproposal.doc but when I use the command "locate antenna" or "locate antennaproposal" I cannot find my file. Why?

bigrigdriver · 09-12-2011, 11:55 AM

The locate command depends on a database of files on the disk. You must run the updatedb command to update the database before it will show any new files.

hitmen · 09-16-2011, 12:07 AM

c@c-laptop:~/bash_folder$ updatedb

updatedb: can not open a temporary file for `/var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db'

Something is wrong...

dudeman41465 · 09-16-2011, 12:09 AM

Run updatedb as root. Since you're in Ubuntu that would be:

Code:

sudo updatedb

Edit: Updatedb has a record of all files on the hard drive, many of which normal users don't have access to, so it has to be executed with root privileges.

jschiwal · 09-16-2011, 12:26 AM

See if there is a /var/lib/mlocate/tmp/ directory. If so what are the permissions? Maybe you need to run updatedb as root.

The updatedb program is usually run daily in the wee hours.

Another thing to check is if your disks are low on space. That could prevent creating a temporary file in /tmp/ or /var/tmp/.

hitmen · 09-16-2011, 06:42 AM

Help! something is wrong!

c@c-laptop:/var/lib/mlocate$ cd tmp
bash: cd: tmp: No such file or directory

err.. sudo updatedb works but it takes an awful long time.

jdkaye · 09-16-2011, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitmen

Help! something is wrong!

c@c-laptop:/var/lib/mlocate$ cd tmp
bash: cd: tmp: No such file or directory

err.. sudo updatedb works but it takes an awful long time.

No problem, Hitmen. I don't have /var/lib/mlocate/tmp either. The only file or folder in /var/lib/mlocate/ is mlocate.db
It's normal for it to take a long time if this is the first time you did it or if you haven't undated it for a long time. Not to worry.

ciao,
jdk