find

The find command in Unix/Linux is used to search for files and directories in a directory hierarchy based on various criteria. It is a powerful and flexible tool that allows you to locate files and perform actions on them

find [path] [expression]

Here are some common options:
    -name pattern: Search for files with a specific name pattern.
    -type type: Search for files of a specific type (e.g., f for regular files, d for directories).
    -mtime n: Search for files modified n days ago.
    -size n[c]: Search for files of a specific size (optionally followed by a unit, such as k for kilobytes).
    -exec command {} +: Execute a command on the found files.

Examples

Find files by name

find /path/to/search -name "filename.txt"

Find directories by name

find /path/to/search -type d -name "directory_name"

Find files modified in the last 24 hours

find /path/to/search -mtime -1

Find files larger than 1gb

find /path/to/search -size +1G

Find files by extension

find /path/to/search -name "*.log"

Find files and execute a command on each

find /path/to/search -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Find files by inode number

find /path/to/search -inum 12345

Find files and exclude a directory

find /path/to/search -type f -not -path "/path/to/exclude/*"

Find files by permission mode

find /path/to/search -type f -perm 644

Find empty directories

find /path/to/search -type d -empty

Find files and delete them

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.tmp" -delete

Find files and archive them

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.txt" -exec tar czf archive.tar.gz {} +

Find files based on modification time

find /path/to/search -newermt "2023-01-01"

Find files and list only their names

find /path/to/search -type f -exec basename {} \;

Find files and count them

find /path/to/search -type f | wc -l

Find files and display their size

find /path/to/search -type f -exec du -h {} \;

Find files and display their permissions

find /path/to/search -type f -exec ls -l {} \;

Find files and sort them by modification time

find /path/to/search -type f -exec ls -lt {} +

Find files modified in the last 7 days

find /path/to/search -mtime -7

Find files and display their owners

find /path/to/search -type f -exec ls -l {} \; | awk '{print $3}'

Find directories and list contents recursively

find /path/to/search -type d -exec ls -R {} \;

Find files and move them to another directory

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.jpg" -exec mv {} /path/to/destination/ \;

Find files and compress them

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.log" -exec gzip {} \;

Find files and display their last access time

find /path/to/search -type f -exec stat --format="%x" {} \;

Find files and set their permissions

find /path/to/search -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Find files modified in the last 30 minutes

find /path/to/search -mmin -30

Find files and delete them interactively

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.bak" -exec rm -i {} \;

Find files and display their inode numbers

find /path/to/search -type f -exec ls -i {} \;

Find files and rename them

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.txt" -exec rename 's/\.txt$/\.bak/' {} \;

Find files and archive them with timestamp in the filename

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.log" -exec tar czf archive_$(date +"%Y%m%d%H%M%S").tar.gz {} +

Find files and display their selinux context

find /path/to/search -type f -exec ls -Z {} \;

Find files and display their modification time in iso format

find /path/to/search -type f -exec stat --format="%y" {} \;

Find files and display their size in megabytes

find /path/to/search -type f -exec du -h --apparent-size {} \;

Find files and copy them to another directory

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.jpg" -exec cp {} /path/to/destination/ \;

Find directories and remove them

find /path/to/search -type d -name "temp" -exec rm -r {} \;

Find files and display their modification time in epoch format

find /path/to/search -type f -exec stat --format="%Y" {} \;

Find files and archive them with timestamp and custom prefix

find /path/to/search -type f -name "*.log" -exec tar czf archive_$(date +"%Y%m%d")_{} \;

Find files modified more than 30 days ago

find /path/to/search -mtime +30

Find files and move them to a directory structure based on modification year and month

find /path/to/search -type f -exec bash -c 'year=$(date -r "{}" +%Y); month=$(date -r "{}" +%m); mkdir -p "/path/to/destination/$year/$month" && mv "{}" "/path/to/destination/$year/$month/"' \;

Find files and display their permissions in octal format

find /path/to/search -type f -exec stat --format="%a" {} \;

Delete files matching a pattern

find /path/to/directory -type f -name "*.txt" -exec rm {} \;

Copy files to another directory

find /path/to/source -type f -exec cp {} /path/to/destination/ \;

Move files to a backup directory

find /path/to/files -type f -exec mv {} /path/to/backup/ \;

Change file permissions recursively

find /path/to/files -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Search for and print text in files

find /path/to/files -type f -exec grep "search_text" {} \;

Count lines in files and summarize

find /path/to/files -type f -exec wc -l {} \; | awk '{ total += $1 } END { print "Total lines: " total }'

Execute a custom script on files

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.sh" -exec ./custom_script.sh {} \;

Display file information

find /path/to/files -type f -exec stat {} \;

Find and archive files

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.log" -exec tar -cvzf logs.tar.gz {} +

Delete empty directories

find /path/to/directory -type d -empty -exec rmdir {} \;

Search for files modified in the last 7 days

find /path/to/files -type f -mtime -7 -exec ls -l {} \;

Search for and delete temporary files

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.tmp" -exec rm {} \;

Search for large files

find /path/to/files -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \;

Search for and archive files by extension

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.jpg" -or -name "*.png" -exec tar -cvzf images.tar.gz {} +

Search for and move files to another directory

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.pdf" -exec mv {} /path/to/pdf_files/ \;

Search for files owned by a specific user

find /path/to/files -type f -user username -exec ls -l {} \;

Search for files with specific permissions

find /path/to/files -type f -perm 644 -exec ls -l {} \;

Search for files with specific extension and delete

find /path/to/files -type f -name "*.bak" -exec rm {} \;

Search for and display file metadata

find /path/to/files -type f -exec exiftool {} \;

Search for and archive files with specific modification time

find /path/to/files -type f -mtime -30 -exec tar -cvzf recent_files.tar.gz {} +