How to find a file name recursively in unix

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• Use the Unix find command to search for files
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• How to recursively search for a filename that contains a particular pattern.

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Use the Unix find command to search for files

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Piping find into grep is often more convenient; it gives you the full power of regular expressions for arbitrary wildcard matching. In a few cases, I have needed the -L parameter to handle symbolic directory links.

By default symbolic links are ignored. In those cases it was quite confusing as I would change directory to a sub-directory and see the file matching the pattern but find would not return the filename.

Using -L solves that issue. The symbolic link options for find are -P -L -H. If your shell supports a new globbing option can be enabled by: shopt -s globstar , you can use:. Alternatively you can use a fd utility with a simple syntax, e.

In case, find is too slow, try fd utility - a simple and fast alternative to find written in Rust. Following command will list down all the files having exact name "pattern" for example in current and its sub folders.

It starts recursive traversing for filename or pattern from within current directory where you are positioned. With find command, you can use wildcards, and various switches, to see full list of options, type. It will look through its database of files and quickly print out path names that match pattern that you have typed. To see full list of locate's options, type: locate --help or man locate. Additionally you can configure locate to update it's database on scheduled times via cron job, so sample cron which updates db at 1AM would look like:.

These cron jobs need to be configured by root, since updatedb needs root privilege to traverse whole filesystem. Below command helps to search for any files 1 Irrespective of case 2 Result Excluding folders without permission 3 Searching from the root or from the path you like.

Of course, this is assuming that the updatedb is done and the index is updated periodically. This is much faster way to find files than to run a find and asking it go down the tree. Mentioning this for completeness. Nothing against using find, if the tree is not very heavy. This will search all the related files in current and sub directories, calculating their line count separately as well as totally:.

Learn more. How can I recursively find all files in current and subfolders based on wildcard matching? Ask Question. Asked 9 years ago. Active 4 months ago. Viewed 2. Active Oldest Votes. Use find for that: find.

On linux, the path is optional if you want to use dot. It is just his example. Worth stressing that " " is very necessary for recursive searching. Also useful: If you don't want to be notified about directories you don't have permission to or other errors , you can do find. Andy Lester Paul Whipp Paul Whipp I don't think it is about being unnecessary, but being more convenient. However, piping to grep -v can allow you to use simple strings or regexes to remove entries you don't want.

Sometimes grep becomes the only option. Llama Jul 5 '18 at IslandCow IslandCow 2, 3 3 gold badges 15 15 silver badges 24 24 bronze badges. L switch is very helpful.

Many times user do not have any idea about underlying directories, whether they are softlinked or are normal directories. So in case of doubt, it always good to use L option. At least, it has always helped me. That was the answer for me. This is supported by Bash 4, zsh and similar shells. This just goes into a single level. Broncha Because you need to activate the extended globbing by shopt -s globstar command. This is supported in Bash, zsh and similar shells.

First time I've seen a gif on SO in almost 9 years. Nice job! Those performance results look very promising. You might consider adding fd to home-brew Actually it's SVG format, so probably asciicast2vector can be used.

Your answer is the first most correct here as it only searches files as specified. The others not specifying type will return directories. You can use: find. Benjamin W. Default way to search for recursive file, and available in most cases is find.

Alberto Alberto 2 2 silver badges 6 6 bronze badges. I am surprised to see that locate is not used heavily when we are to go recursively. If you want to search special file with wildcard, you can used following code: find.

Reza Harasani Reza Harasani 10 10 bronze badges. This will search all the related files in current and sub directories, calculating their line count separately as well as totally: find. Jay Yang Jay Yang 81 1 1 silver badge 3 3 bronze badges. By default find does recursion. The -o stands for -or. So above means search for this wildcard OR this one. If you have only one pattern then no need for -o. The quotes around the wildcard pattern are required.

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By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy , Privacy Policy , and our Terms of Service. Stack Overflow for Teams is a private, secure spot for you and your coworkers to find and share information. Piping find into grep is often more convenient; it gives you the full power of regular expressions for arbitrary wildcard matching. In a few cases, I have needed the -L parameter to handle symbolic directory links. By default symbolic links are ignored.

This can be implemented using ls -R, please help me in this regard. To: "warwick. If you are not a named addressee, do not use, retain or disclose such information. This email is not guaranteed to be free from viruses and does not bind Serco in any contract or obligation. Serco Limited.

How to recursively search for a filename that contains a particular pattern.

To use the find command, at the Unix prompt, enter:. Leave the double quotes in. The find command will begin looking in the starting directory you specify and proceed to search through all accessible subdirectories. You may specify more than one starting directory for searching. By default, multiple options are joined by "and". You may specify "or" with the -o flag and the use of grouped parentheses. To match all files modified more than 7 days ago and accessed more than 30 days ago, use:. You may specify "not" with an exclamation point. To match all files ending in. You can specify the following actions for the list of files that the find command locates:.

By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy , Privacy Policy , and our Terms of Service. Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It only takes a minute to sign up. Possible Duplicate: How to Combine find and grep for a complex search?

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