GNU find Cheatsheet
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find is used to search for files in a directory hierarchy based on various criteria.
Basic Usage
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| Command/Option | Example | Description |
|---|
find /path -name filename | find /home/user -name document.txt | Find files named document.txt in /home/user |
find /path -type f | find /home/user -type f | Find all regular files in /home/user |
find /path -type d | find /home/user -type d | Find all directories in /home/user |
find /path -size +100M | find /var -size +100M | Find files larger than 100 MB |
Advanced Usage
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| Command/Option | Example | Description |
|---|
find /path -name "*.txt" -exec ls -l {} \; | find /home/user -name "*.txt" -exec ls -l {} \; | Find .txt files and list details |
find /path -mtime -7 | find /var/log -mtime -7 | Find files modified in the last 7 days |
find /path -user username | find /home/user -user john | Find files owned by user john |
find /path -perm 644 | find /home/user -perm 644 | Find files with permission mode 644 |
Deletion and Actions
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| Command/Option | Example | Description |
|---|
find /path -name "*.tmp" -delete | find /tmp -name "*.tmp" -delete | Delete all .tmp files in /tmp |
find /path -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \; | find /var/log -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \; | Delete all .log files in /var/log |
This cheatsheet covers essential find commands and options for GNU systems.