Master Linux Cleanup: How to Use tmpwatch to Auto-Delete Stale Files

Many systems accumulate forgotten, unused files that waste resources; identifying and removing such files without knowing their names can be difficult.

What is tmpwatch

tmpwatch

repeatedly deletes files in a specified directory that have not been accessed within a given time frame. It is commonly used on temporary directories such as /tmp or /var/tmp. The command removes empty directories, regular files, and symbolic links while avoiding root‑owned system files.

By default it bases its decision on atime (last access time) rather than mtime (last modify time); the criterion can be changed with appropriate options.

Warning: Do not run tmpwatch or tmpreaper on the root directory, as there is no safeguard against deleting critical system files.

Installation

Installation commands differ by Linux distribution:

RHEL/CentOS 6: $ sudo yum install -y tmpwatch Debian/Ubuntu (command is tmpreaper): $ sudo apt-get install tmpreaper openSUSE: $ sudo zypper install -y tmpwatch Fedora:

$ sudo dnf install -y tmpwatch

Key options and parameters

atime

– file last access time. mtime – file last modify time. ctime – file metadata change time. dirmtime – directory last modification time.

Time suffixes used to specify the age threshold: d – days. h – hours. m – minutes. s – seconds.

Basic usage examples

Delete files in /tmp not accessed in the last 5 hours (default atime, hour unit): # tmpwatch 5 /tmp Delete files in /home/daygeek/Downloads not modified in the last 10 hours (using mtime): # tmpwatch -m 10 /home/daygeek/Downloads Delete files older than 30 days: # tmpwatch 30d /home/daygeek/Downloads Delete all files (including directories) not accessed for 12 hours:

# tmpwatch -am 12 /tmp

Excluding paths and patterns

Exclude directories from deletion:

# tmpwatch -am 10 --nodirs /home/daygeek/Downloads

Exclude a specific subdirectory:

# tmpwatch -am 10 --exclude=/home/daygeek/Downloads/Movies /home/daygeek/Downloads

Exclude files matching a pattern (e.g., PDFs):

# tmpwatch -am 10 --exclude-pattern='*.pdf' /home/daygeek/Downloads

Preview mode

Show what would be deleted without actually removing files:

# tmpwatch -t 5h /home/daygeek/Downloads

Scheduling with cron

Place a script in /etc/cron.daily/tmpreaper or add a crontab entry. Example to run daily at 10 AM and delete files not accessed for 15 days:

# crontab -e

0 10 * * * /usr/sbin/tmpwatch 15d /home/daygeek/Downloads