How do I make “find” exclude the folder it searches in?

I'm running the following command:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

I would like to delete all the folders under the processing folder (the processing folder should never be deleted).

The command is deleting the processing folder as well. How do I limit the script to delete only the folders under that folder?

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

1

posterity: stackoverflow.com/questions/13525004/…

– Trevor Boyd Smith
Sep 20 '16 at 17:37

add a comment |

I'm running the following command:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

I would like to delete all the folders under the processing folder (the processing folder should never be deleted).

The command is deleting the processing folder as well. How do I limit the script to delete only the folders under that folder?

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

1

posterity: stackoverflow.com/questions/13525004/…

– Trevor Boyd Smith
Sep 20 '16 at 17:37

add a comment |

I'm running the following command:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

I would like to delete all the folders under the processing folder (the processing folder should never be deleted).

The command is deleting the processing folder as well. How do I limit the script to delete only the folders under that folder?

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

I'm running the following command:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

I would like to delete all the folders under the processing folder (the processing folder should never be deleted).

The command is deleting the processing folder as well. How do I limit the script to delete only the folders under that folder?

linux shell find

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

edited May 2 '13 at 7:30

slhck

161k47447470

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

asked May 2 '13 at 7:10

Elad Dotan

168126

1

posterity: stackoverflow.com/questions/13525004/…

– Trevor Boyd Smith
Sep 20 '16 at 17:37

add a comment |

1

posterity: stackoverflow.com/questions/13525004/…

– Trevor Boyd Smith
Sep 20 '16 at 17:37

posterity: stackoverflow.com/questions/13525004/…

– Trevor Boyd Smith
Sep 20 '16 at 17:37

add a comment |

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

The easiest way would be to just add -mindepth 1, which will skip the first depth hierarchy and thus leave out your parent directory.

Also, you don't need an extra -exec call to rm, you can just delete the folders directly if they're empty.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -delete

If they're not empty:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

If you're lazy you can also have a wildcard expanded. Since * doesn't include the current directory by default (unless dotglob is set), you could also do:

find /var/www/html/content/processing/* -type d -mtime +1 -delete

However, this would also not include hidden folders, again due to the dotglob option.

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

add a comment |

The problem is that find returns the current directory (.) along with the other directories, so it deletes the processing folder as well as the subdirectories. A quick way to get around that would be to append the option

-not -name .

which stops find from outputting the current directory, and in turn stops it from being deleted.

That would work if you were running the command within the processing directory, so to allow for the fact that you are using an absolute path:

-not -name /var/www/html/content/processing

And the whole command would be:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -not -name /var/www/html/content/processing -exec rm -rf {} ;

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

add a comment |

Already answered, still I would like to list another approach.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This will exclude top directory (and also sub directories), and now you can apply whatever command that we want to apply over it.

>> Options:

-mindepth 1 : To exclude root directory

-maxdepth 1 : To avoid parsing sub directories. (For particular scenario as questioned, you don't need this).

-type d : List only directory types. This option should come after mindepth maxdepth uses.

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

add a comment |

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3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

The easiest way would be to just add -mindepth 1, which will skip the first depth hierarchy and thus leave out your parent directory.

Also, you don't need an extra -exec call to rm, you can just delete the folders directly if they're empty.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -delete

If they're not empty:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

If you're lazy you can also have a wildcard expanded. Since * doesn't include the current directory by default (unless dotglob is set), you could also do:

find /var/www/html/content/processing/* -type d -mtime +1 -delete

However, this would also not include hidden folders, again due to the dotglob option.

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

add a comment |

The easiest way would be to just add -mindepth 1, which will skip the first depth hierarchy and thus leave out your parent directory.

Also, you don't need an extra -exec call to rm, you can just delete the folders directly if they're empty.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -delete

If they're not empty:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

If you're lazy you can also have a wildcard expanded. Since * doesn't include the current directory by default (unless dotglob is set), you could also do:

find /var/www/html/content/processing/* -type d -mtime +1 -delete

However, this would also not include hidden folders, again due to the dotglob option.

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

add a comment |

The easiest way would be to just add -mindepth 1, which will skip the first depth hierarchy and thus leave out your parent directory.

Also, you don't need an extra -exec call to rm, you can just delete the folders directly if they're empty.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -delete

If they're not empty:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

If you're lazy you can also have a wildcard expanded. Since * doesn't include the current directory by default (unless dotglob is set), you could also do:

find /var/www/html/content/processing/* -type d -mtime +1 -delete

However, this would also not include hidden folders, again due to the dotglob option.

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

The easiest way would be to just add -mindepth 1, which will skip the first depth hierarchy and thus leave out your parent directory.

Also, you don't need an extra -exec call to rm, you can just delete the folders directly if they're empty.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -delete

If they're not empty:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} ;

If you're lazy you can also have a wildcard expanded. Since * doesn't include the current directory by default (unless dotglob is set), you could also do:

find /var/www/html/content/processing/* -type d -mtime +1 -delete

However, this would also not include hidden folders, again due to the dotglob option.

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

edited May 5 '13 at 15:03

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

answered May 2 '13 at 7:26

slhck

161k47447470

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

add a comment |

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

Hi, I get "find: warning: you have specified the -mindepth option after a non-option argument -type, but options are not positional (-mindepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it). Please specify options before other arguments. " and also "find: cannot delete `/folder/50d82faf0e09e': Directory not empty"

– Elad Dotan
May 5 '13 at 7:14

Add mindepth before type then. To delete the directories when not empty you can stick with the rm approach you had originally.

– slhck
May 5 '13 at 12:25

add a comment |

-not -name .

which stops find from outputting the current directory, and in turn stops it from being deleted.

That would work if you were running the command within the processing directory, so to allow for the fact that you are using an absolute path:

-not -name /var/www/html/content/processing

And the whole command would be:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -not -name /var/www/html/content/processing -exec rm -rf {} ;

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

add a comment |

-not -name .

which stops find from outputting the current directory, and in turn stops it from being deleted.

That would work if you were running the command within the processing directory, so to allow for the fact that you are using an absolute path:

-not -name /var/www/html/content/processing

And the whole command would be:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -not -name /var/www/html/content/processing -exec rm -rf {} ;

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

add a comment |

-not -name .

which stops find from outputting the current directory, and in turn stops it from being deleted.

That would work if you were running the command within the processing directory, so to allow for the fact that you are using an absolute path:

-not -name /var/www/html/content/processing

And the whole command would be:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -not -name /var/www/html/content/processing -exec rm -rf {} ;

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

-not -name .

which stops find from outputting the current directory, and in turn stops it from being deleted.

That would work if you were running the command within the processing directory, so to allow for the fact that you are using an absolute path:

-not -name /var/www/html/content/processing

And the whole command would be:

find /var/www/html/content/processing -type d -mtime +1 -not -name /var/www/html/content/processing -exec rm -rf {} ;

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

answered May 2 '13 at 7:19

Xenopathic

5011414

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

add a comment |

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

The last command is wrong. -name refers to basename, it never matches anything with a slash. You probably need to use -path.

– Kamil Maciorowski
Jan 17 at 23:22

add a comment |

Already answered, still I would like to list another approach.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This will exclude top directory (and also sub directories), and now you can apply whatever command that we want to apply over it.

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

add a comment |

Already answered, still I would like to list another approach.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This will exclude top directory (and also sub directories), and now you can apply whatever command that we want to apply over it.

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

add a comment |

Already answered, still I would like to list another approach.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This will exclude top directory (and also sub directories), and now you can apply whatever command that we want to apply over it.

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

Already answered, still I would like to list another approach.

find /var/www/html/content/processing -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d

This will exclude top directory (and also sub directories), and now you can apply whatever command that we want to apply over it.

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

edited Nov 5 '18 at 9:26

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

answered Oct 12 '18 at 8:20

prashant

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

add a comment |

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

Why -maxdepth 1? Why -type d twice? How is this different to the accepted answer?

– Attie
Oct 12 '18 at 11:17

@Attie: Thanks, corrected the mistake. maxdepth is not necessary, but it would be useful if you want to avoid listing sub-directories.

– prashant
Nov 5 '18 at 9:27

add a comment |

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