FIND(1) BSD General Commands Manual FIND(1)
NAME
find -- walk a file hierarchy
SYNOPSIS
find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-f pathname] pathname ... expression
find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] -f pathname [pathname ...] expression
DESCRIPTION
The find utility recursively descends the directory tree for each pathname listed, evaluating an
expression (composed of the ``primaries'' and ``operands'' listed below) in terms of each file in the
tree.
The options are as follows:
-E Interpret regular expressions followed by -regex and -iregex options as extended (modern) regu-lar regular
lar expressions rather than basic regular expressions (BRE's). The re_format(7) manual page
fully describes both formats.
-H Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned for each symbolic link speci-fied specified
fied on the command line to be those of the file referenced by the link, not the link itself.
If the referenced file does not exist, the file information and type will be for the link
itself. File information of all symbolic links not on the command line is that of the link
itself.
-L Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned for each symbolic link to be
those of the file referenced by the link, not the link itself. If the referenced file does not
exist, the file information and type will be for the link itself.
This option is equivalent to the deprecated -follow primary.
-P Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned for each symbolic link to be
those of the link itself. This is the default.
-X Permit find to be safely used in conjunction with xargs(1). If a file name contains any of the
delimiting characters used by xargs(1), a diagnostic message is displayed on standard error,
and the file is skipped. The delimiting characters include single (`` ' '') and double (`` "
'') quotes, backslash (``\''), space, tab and newline characters.
However, you may wish to consider the -print0 primary in conjunction with ``xargs -0'' as an
effective alternative.
-d Cause find to perform a depth-first traversal, i.e., directories are visited in post-order and
all entries in a directory will be acted on before the directory itself. By default, find vis-its visits
its directories in pre-order, i.e., before their contents. Note, the default is not a breadth-first breadthfirst
first traversal.
This option is equivalent to the -depth primary of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1''). -d can
be useful when find is used with cpio(1) to process files that are contained in directories
with unusual permissions. It ensures that you have write permission while you are placing
files in a directory, then sets the directory's permissions as the last thing.
-f Specify a file hierarchy for find to traverse. File hierarchies may also be specified as the
operands immediately following the options.
-s Cause find to traverse the file hierarchies in lexicographical order, i.e., alphabetical order
within each directory. Note: `find -s' and `find | sort' may give different results.
-x Prevent find from descending into directories that have a device number different than that of
the file from which the descent began.
This option is equivalent to the deprecated -xdev primary.
PRIMARIES
-Bmin n
True if the difference between the time of a file's inode creation and the time find was
started, rounded up to the next full minute, is n minutes.
-Bnewer file
Same as -newerBm.
-Btime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the time of
a file's inode creation and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour
period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the time of a
file's inode creation and the time find was started is exactly n units. Please refer to the
-atime primary description for information on supported time units.
-amin n
True if the difference between the file last access time and the time find was started, rounded
up to the next full minute, is n minutes.
-anewer file
Same as -neweram.
-atime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the file
last access time and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period, is
n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the file last
access time and the time find was started is exactly n units. Possible time units are as fol-lows: follows:
lows:
s second
m minute (60 seconds)
h hour (60 minutes)
d day (24 hours)
w week (7 days)
Any number of units may be combined in one -atime argument, for example, ``-atime -1h30m''.
Units are probably only useful when used in conjunction with the + or - modifier.
-cmin n
True if the difference between the time of last change of file status information and the time
find was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is n minutes.
-cnewer file
Same as -newercm.
-ctime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the time of
last change of file status information and the time find was started, rounded up to the next
full 24-hour period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the time of
last change of file status information and the time find was started is exactly n units.
Please refer to the -atime primary description for information on supported time units.
-delete
Delete found files and/or directories. Always returns true. This executes from the current
working directory as find recurses down the tree. It will not attempt to delete a filename
with a ``/'' character in its pathname relative to ``.'' for security reasons. Depth-first
traversal processing is implied by this option.
-depth Always true; same as the -d option.
-depth n
True if the depth of the file relative to the starting point of the traversal is n.
-empty True if the current file or directory is empty.
-exec utility [argument ...] ;
True if the program named utility returns a zero value as its exit status. Optional arguments
may be passed to the utility. The expression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If
you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise
treat it as a control operator. If the string ``{}'' appears anywhere in the utility name or
the arguments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file. Utility will be executed
from the directory from which find was executed. Utility and arguments are not subject to the
further expansion of shell patterns and constructs.
-exec utility [argument ...] {} +
Same as -exec, except that ``{}'' is replaced with as many pathnames as possible for each invo-cation invocation
cation of utility. This behaviour is similar to that of xargs(1).
-execdir utility [argument ...] ;
The -execdir primary is identical to the -exec primary with the exception that utility will be
executed from the directory that holds the current file. The filename substituted for the
string ``{}'' is not qualified.
-flags [-|+]flags,notflags
The flags are specified using symbolic names (see chflags(1)). Those with the "no" prefix
(except "nodump") are said to be notflags. Flags in flags are checked to be set, and flags in
notflags are checked to be not set. Note that this is different from -perm, which only allows
the user to specify mode bits that are set.
If flags are preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates to true if at least all of the
bits in flags and none of the bits in notflags are set in the file's flags bits. If flags are
preceded by a plus (``+''), this primary evaluates to true if any of the bits in flags is set
in the file's flags bits, or any of the bits in notflags is not set in the file's flags bits.
Otherwise, this primary evaluates to true if the bits in flags exactly match the file's flags
bits, and none of the flags bits match those of notflags.
-fstype type
True if the file is contained in a file system of type type. The sysctl(8) command can be used
to find out the types of file systems that are available on the system:
sysctl vfs
In addition, there are two pseudo-types, ``local'' and ``rdonly''. The former matches any file
system physically mounted on the system where the find is being executed and the latter matches
any file system which is mounted read-only.
-group gname
True if the file belongs to the group gname. If gname is numeric and there is no such group
name, then gname is treated as a group ID.
-iname pattern
Like -name, but the match is case insensitive.
-inum n
True if the file has inode number n.
-ipath pattern
Like -path, but the match is case insensitive.
-iregex pattern
Like -regex, but the match is case insensitive.
-links n
True if the file has n links.
-ls This primary always evaluates to true. The following information for the current file is writ-ten written
ten to standard output: its inode number, size in 512-byte blocks, file permissions, number of
hard links, owner, group, size in bytes, last modification time, and pathname. If the file is
a block or character special file, the major and minor numbers will be displayed instead of the
size in bytes. If the file is a symbolic link, the pathname of the linked-to file will be dis-played displayed
played preceded by ``->''. The format is identical to that produced by ls -dgils.
-maxdepth n
Always true; descend at most n directory levels below the command line arguments. If any
-maxdepth primary is specified, it applies to the entire expression even if it would not nor-mally normally
mally be evaluated. -maxdepth 0 limits the whole search to the command line arguments.
-mindepth n
Always true; do not apply any tests or actions at levels less than n. If any -mindepth primary
is specified, it applies to the entire expression even if it would not normally be evaluated.
-mindepth 1 processes all but the command line arguments.
-mmin n
True if the difference between the file last modification time and the time find was started,
rounded up to the next full minute, is n minutes.
-mnewer file
Same as -newer.
-mtime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the file
last modification time and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour
period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the difference between the file last
modification time and the time find was started is exactly n units. Please refer to the -atime
primary description for information on supported time units.
-name pattern
True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches pattern. Special shell pat-tern pattern
tern matching characters (``['', ``]'', ``*'', and ``?'') may be used as part of pattern.
These characters may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a backslash (``\'').
-newer file
True if the current file has a more recent last modification time than file.
-newerXY file
True if the current file has a more recent last access time (X=a), inode creation time (X=B),
change time (X=c), or modification time (X=m) than the last access time (Y=a), inode creation
time (Y=B), change time (Y=c), or modification time (Y=m) of file. In addition, if Y=t, then
file is instead interpreted as a direct date specification of the form understood by cvs(1).
Note that -newermm is equivalent to -newer.
-nogroup
True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
-nouser
True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
-ok utility [argument ...] ;
The -ok primary is identical to the -exec primary with the exception that find requests user
affirmation for the execution of the utility by printing a message to the terminal and reading
a response. If the response is not affirmative (`y' in the ``POSIX'' locale), the command is
not executed and the value of the -ok expression is false.
-okdir utility [argument ...] ;
The -okdir primary is identical to the -execdir primary with the same exception as described
for the -ok primary.
-path pattern
True if the pathname being examined matches pattern. Special shell pattern matching characters
(``['', ``]'', ``*'', and ``?'') may be used as part of pattern. These characters may be
matched explicitly by escaping them with a backslash (``\''). Slashes (``/'') are treated as
normal characters and do not have to be matched explicitly.
-perm [-|+]mode
The mode may be either symbolic (see chmod(1)) or an octal number. If the mode is symbolic, a
starting value of zero is assumed and the mode sets or clears permissions without regard to the
process' file mode creation mask. If the mode is octal, only bits 07777 (S_ISUID | S_ISGID |
S_ISTXT | S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) of the file's mode bits participate in the comparison.
If the mode is preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates to true if at least all of
the bits in the mode are set in the file's mode bits. If the mode is preceded by a plus
(``+''), this primary evaluates to true if any of the bits in the mode are set in the file's
mode bits. Otherwise, this primary evaluates to true if the bits in the mode exactly match the
file's mode bits. Note, the first character of a symbolic mode may not be a dash (``-'').
-print This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of the current file to standard
output. If none of -exec, -ls, -print, -print0, or -ok is specified, the given expression
shall be effectively replaced by ( given expression ) -print.
-print0
This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of the current file to standard
output, followed by an ASCII NUL character (character code 0).
-prune This primary always evaluates to true. It causes find to not descend into the current file.
Note, the -prune primary has no effect if the -d option was specified.
-regex pattern
True if the whole path of the file matches pattern using regular expression. To match a file
named ``./foo/xyzzy'', you can use the regular expression ``.*/[xyz]*'' or ``.*/foo/.*'', but
not ``xyzzy'' or ``/foo/''.
-size n[ckMGTP]
True if the file's size, rounded up, in 512-byte blocks is n. If n is followed by a c, then
the primary is true if the file's size is n bytes (characters). Similarly if n is followed by
a scale indicator then the file's size is compared to n scaled as:
k kilobytes (1024 bytes)
M megabytes (1024 kilobytes)
G gigabytes (1024 megabytes)
T terabytes (1024 gigabytes)
P petabytes (1024 terabytes)
-type t
True if the file is of the specified type. Possible file types are as follows:
b block special
c character special
d directory
f regular file
l symbolic link
p FIFO
s socket
-user uname
True if the file belongs to the user uname. If uname is numeric and there is no such user
name, then uname is treated as a user ID.
All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be preceded by a plus sign (``+'') or a
minus sign (``-''). A preceding plus sign means ``more than n'', a preceding minus sign means ``less
than n'' and neither means ``exactly n''.
OPERATORS
The primaries may be combined using the following operators. The operators are listed in order of
decreasing precedence.
( expression ) This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression evaluates to true.
! expression
-false expression
-not expression
This is the unary NOT operator. It evaluates to true if the expression is false.
expression -and expression
expression expression
The -and operator is the logical AND operator. As it is implied by the juxtaposition
of two expressions it does not have to be specified. The expression evaluates to true
if both expressions are true. The second expression is not evaluated if the first
expression is false.
expression -or expression
The -or operator is the logical OR operator. The expression evaluates to true if
either the first or the second expression is true. The second expression is not evalu-ated evaluated
ated if the first expression is true.
All operands and primaries must be separate arguments to find. Primaries which themselves take argu-ments arguments
ments expect each argument to be a separate argument to find.
ENVIRONMENT
The LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES and LC_TIME environment variables affect the execu-tion execution
tion of the find utility as described in environ(7).
EXAMPLES
The following examples are shown as given to the shell:
find / \! -name "*.c" -print
Print out a list of all the files whose names do not end in .c.
find / -newer ttt -user wnj -print
Print out a list of all the files owned by user ``wnj'' that are newer than the file ttt.
find / \! \( -newer ttt -user wnj \) -print
Print out a list of all the files which are not both newer than ttt and owned by ``wnj''.
find / \( -newer ttt -or -user wnj \) -print
Print out a list of all the files that are either owned by ``wnj'' or that are newer than ttt.
find / -newerct '1 minute ago' -print
Print out a list of all the files whose inode change time is more recent than the current time
minus one minute.
find / -type f -exec echo {} \;
Use the echo(1) command to print out a list of all the files.
find -L /usr/ports/packages -type l -delete
Delete all broken symbolic links in /usr/ports/packages.
find /usr/src -name CVS -prune -o -depth +6 -print
Find files and directories that are at least seven levels deep in the working directory
/usr/src.
find /usr/src -name CVS -prune -o -mindepth 7 -print
Is not equivalent to the previous example, since -prune is not evaluated below level seven.
COMPATIBILITY
The -follow primary is deprecated; the -L option should be used instead. See the STANDARDS section
below for details.
SEE ALSO
chflags(1), chmod(1), cvs(1), locate(1), whereis(1), which(1), xargs(1), stat(2), fts(3), getgrent(3),
getpwent(3), strmode(3), re_format(7), symlink(7)
STANDARDS
The find utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'')
standard.
All the single character options except -H and -L as well as -amin, -anewer, -cmin, -cnewer, -delete,
-empty, -fstype, -iname, -inum, -iregex, -ls, -maxdepth, -mindepth, -mmin, -path, -print0, -regex and
all of the -B birthtime related primaries are extensions to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').
Historically, the -d, -L and -x options were implemented using the primaries -depth, -follow, and
-xdev. These primaries always evaluated to true. As they were really global variables that took
effect before the traversal began, some legal expressions could have unexpected results. An example is
the expression -print -o -depth. As -print always evaluates to true, the standard order of evaluation
implies that -depth would never be evaluated. This is not the case.
The operator -or was implemented as -o, and the operator -and was implemented as -a.
Historic implementations of the -exec and -ok primaries did not replace the string ``{}'' in the util-ity utility
ity name or the utility arguments if it had preceding or following non-whitespace characters. This
version replaces it no matter where in the utility name or arguments it appears.
The -E option was inspired by the equivalent grep(1) and sed(1) options.
HISTORY
A find command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
BUGS
The special characters used by find are also special characters to many shell programs. In particular,
the characters ``*'', ``['', ``]'', ``?'', ``('', ``)'', ``!'', ``\'' and ``;'' may have to be escaped
from the shell.
As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file names and the expression, it is dif-ficult difficult
ficult to specify files named -xdev or !. These problems are handled by the -f option and the
getopt(3) ``--'' construct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause the file system tree traversal
options to be changed.
The -mindepth and -maxdepth primaries are actually global options (as documented above). They should
probably be replaced by options which look like options.
BSD December 13, 2006 BSD
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