ls: cannot access '*.txt': No such file or directory

mansitalmgr · 08-03-2019, 09:36 PM

I use windows 10. I have installed virtual box 6.0 and run ubuntu in it.
Tried to run mansital@VB:~$ ls *.txt

I got ls: cannot access '*.txt': No such file or directory

I have .txt files in Documents and Desktop folder.

frankbell · 08-03-2019, 09:46 PM

This is a shot in the dark, but the ls command, like the dir command, is not recursive. It will search only the current directory.

If you issue the command in your home directory, it will search only /home/[username]. It will not search the /home/[username]/Documents or /home/[username]/Desktop directories.

If you want a recursive search, use locate or find. See their man pages for more. (Personally, I prefer locate for simple searches.)

Oh, and welcome to LQ.

individual · 08-03-2019, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

This is a shot in the dark, but the ls command, like the dir command, is not recursive. It will search only the current directory.

If you issue the command in your home directory, it will search only /home/[username]. It will not search the /home/[username]/Documents or /home/[username]/Desktop directories.

If you want a recursive search, use locate or find. See their man pages for more. (Personally, I prefer locate for simple searches.)

Oh, and welcome to LQ.

It isn't recursive by default, but if you call ls -R it will list files/directories recursively.

frankbell · 08-03-2019, 10:05 PM

Thanks, individual. I learned something thanks to you.

individual · 08-03-2019, 10:29 PM

I should have clarified that ls is more suited for listing directories, not finding files like find does. So, as frankbell suggested, try using find. Or, if you really want to use ls, try ls Documents/*.txt Desktop/*.txt.

MadeInGermany · 08-04-2019, 01:18 AM

Try

Code:

ls -R /*.txt

ehartman · 08-04-2019, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadeInGermany

Try

Code:

ls -R /*.txt

Won't work as "/*.txt" will be expanded by the shell as
all of the .txt files in the root (/) directory, which normally should be none!
So this will return a "No match" error.

michaelk · 08-04-2019, 06:18 AM

In addition

Quote:

Tried to run mansital@VB:~$ ls *.txt

That ~ in the command prompt means your in your home directory. There are many ways to search for files. This will change to Documents directory.

cd Documents
ls *.txt

MadeInGermany · 08-04-2019, 09:08 AM

In my last post I forgot that the shell handles the glob.
Well, then let the shell do it all.
In bash (>=4.0) try

Code:

shopt -s globstar
ls /**.txt

scasey · 08-04-2019, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

In addition

Quote:

Tried to run mansital@VB:~$ ls *.txt

That ~ in the command prompt means your in your home directory. There are many ways to search for files. This will change to Documents directory.

cd Documents
ls *.txt

While conceding that the lack of code tags makes the OP's statement difficult to read, I'm pretty sure that the ~ is part of the prompt (PS1) and not part of the command.

That said, yes, cd to a directory and then list will work. So will (from the user's home directory)

Code:

ls -R */*.txt

(and I, too, learned of the -R option in this thread. I can see its usefulness...)