nixCraft

vamsi · #1 (**permalink**) 24-11-2009, 02:45 PM

Hi all..I am very much new to shell scripting and I am highly interested to learn this as I can use this to automate many things

can any one from here please create a shell script with the following requirements ?

Desired
a script that will automatically delete all files with .html extension in a folder/directory ( in apache directories also) in prescribed time intervals ( craon job ?)
platform - CentOS 5.0

if possible please put some comments in the script , so that I can learn also

Thanks !!

nixcraft · #2 (**permalink**) 24-11-2009, 05:39 PM

No need to write a shell script, simply use find command. In this example, list all *.html files stored in /path/to/dir:

Code:

find /path/to/dir -iname "*.html"

To delete simply add -delete

Code:

find /path/to/dir -iname "*.html" -delete

Set a cron job and clean out required files. If you want to delete them daily then create a file called /etc/cron.daily/cleanhtmlfiles:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
# Task: Clean html files
# add your find command here
find /dir1 -iname "*.html" -delete
find /dir2 -iname "*.html" -delete

Set executable permission and you are done!

nixcraft · #3 (**permalink**) 24-11-2009, 05:41 PM

See our cron job FAQ:

How do I add jobs to cron under Linux or UNIX oses?
I'm sure you know where to look for scripting tutorial

jaysunn · #4 (**permalink**) 24-11-2009, 07:24 PM

If your version of find does not support the delete option you can use the following when deleting files.

Code:

find /path/to/dir -iname "*.html" -exec rm -f {} \; -print

HTH,
jaysunn

nixcraft · #5 (**permalink**) 24-11-2009, 08:27 PM

Good point, also take a look at xargs (for speed) and print0 (files with spaces).

cfajohnson · #6 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nixcraft

No need to write a shell script, simply use find command. In this example, list all *.html files stored in /path/to/dir:

Code:

find /path/to/dir -iname "*.html"

To delete simply add -delete

Code:

find /path/to/dir -iname "*.html" -delete

Neither -iname nor -delete is in the POSIX spec for find. Most implementations will not include them.

Use -name and -exec rm.

To remove all the .html files in the current folder all that's needed is:
Code:
rm *.html

jaysunn · #7 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 07:50 PM

Hello

To avoid pressing y 1000 times after running the rm command without the -f option. Use this if you are in the directory that contain the html files.

Code:

rm -f *.html

Jaysunn

monk · #8 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfajohnson

Neither -iname nor -delete is in the POSIX spec for find. Most implementations will not include them.

To remove all the .html files in the current folder all that's needed is:

OP clear stated CentOS 5 as operating system and the find command does support those options on CentOS 5. But, I agree POSIX compatible script will run on other UNIX variant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfajohnson

Code:

rm *.html

Only if you want to clear all *.html files from the current directory. If you need to process 10-20 subdirs, find is handy tool, IMO.

On a related not what do you think of using find ... | xargs rm syntax instead of find .... -exec rm syntax?

nixcraft · #9 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysunn

Hello

To avoid pressing y 1000 times after running the rm command without the -f option. Use this if you are in the directory that contain the html files.

Code:

rm -f *.html

Jaysunn

from the rm man page:

Quote:

-f, --force ignore nonexistent files, never prompt

I think y prompt is becuase of RHEL / CentOS default rm aliase (rm is rm -i). So to get around:

Code:

\rm *.html
/bin/rm *.html

jaysunn · #10 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 09:34 PM

Yes due to the O/P's O/S. I explained that the rm without the -f option will be unbearable to run.

Quote:

platform - CentOS 5.0

Here is the test I just ran to demonstrate the horror. LOL

Code:

[root@radio5 testing]# rm *.html
rm: remove regular empty file `a.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `b.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `c.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `d.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `e.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `google45648f09a80004b1.html'? y
rm: remove regular empty file `googlec628fdecd594064c.html'? y
rm: remove regular file `index.html'? y
rm: remove regular file `jason.html'? y
[root@radio5 testing]#

Jaysunn

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Shell script to delete all files with .html extension in a folder

Shell script to delete all files with .html extension in a folder

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