Master Linux Find: 8 Powerful Ways to Locate and Manage Files

In Linux administration, the

find

command is essential for locating files and directories based on various criteria.

<code>find . -type f -atime +365 -exec rm -rf {} \;</code>

1. Search by name or regular expression

Example:

<code>find . -name test.txt</code>

Search for all PDF files:

<code>find ./yang/books -name "*.pdf"</code>

Specify file type for clarity:

<code>find ./yang/books -type f -name "*.pdf"</code>

2. Search by file type

Directories:

<code>find . -type d -name "yang*"</code>

Symbolic links:

<code>find . -type l -name "yang*"</code>

3. Search by timestamps

atime – last access time

mtime – last modification time

ctime – last status change time

Find files not accessed for over a year:

<code>find . -type f -atime +365</code>

Find files modified exactly 5 days ago:

<code>find . -type f -mtime 5</code>

Find files whose ctime is between 5 and 10 days ago:

<code>find . -type f -ctime +5 -ctime -10</code>

4. Search by size

Size units: b (512‑byte blocks), c (bytes), w (two‑byte words), k (KB), M (MB), G (GB).

Find files between 10 MB and 1 GB:

<code>find . -type f -size +10M -size -1G</code>

5. Search by permissions

Find files with permission 777:

<code>find . -type f -perm 777</code>

6. Search by ownership

Find files owned by user

yang

:

<code>find -type f -user yang</code>

7. Execute a command on matches

Delete files not accessed for over a year:

<code>find . -type f -atime +365 -exec rm -rf {} \;</code>

The

{}

placeholder represents each found file; the command must end with an escaped semicolon

\;

.

8. Search by directory name

Case‑insensitive search:

<code>find /path/to/search -type d -iname "directory_name"</code>

Find the most recently modified directory:

<code>find /path/to/search -type d -printf '%T+ %p\n' | sort -n | tail -1</code>

Awk quick reference

Awk processes structured text. Basic syntax:

<code>awk [options] 'pattern { action }' file</code>

Example file

file.txt

:

<code>name,age,sex,salary
Alice,30,女,9000
Bob,25,男,8000
Carol,35,男,7000
Karry,21,女,5000</code>

Print each line:

<code>awk '{ print }' file.txt</code>

Specify field separator:

<code>awk -F ',' '{ print $1, $3 }' file.txt</code>

Filter rows where age > 30:

<code>awk -F ',' '$2 > 30 { print $1 }' file.txt</code>