Bash script that deletes files older than N days but excludes files in certain folder

Question

I need to create a bash script that deletes all files older than N days in downloads folder but would exclude all files in archive sub-folder. My folder structure is like this:

downloads/
   user1_folder/
      archive/
   user2_folder/
      archive/
   ...

Based on this Q&A I was able to create script that finds and deletes files older than N days, but I would like to exclude all files in archive subfolders.

#!/bin/bash
find ./downloads -mtime +32 -type f -delete

What's your specific scenario? Using mtime (last modified time) could cause problems. For instance, if a file is copied from another location and added to one of your user folders, the change time will update but the last modified time will not. — Usagi, May 20 '14 at 07:06
@Usagi I want to have a cronjob and delete all files in downloads folder which are older then 4 weeks. Meaning were added into the downloads folder before that time... you might have a point here with modified time. — Primoz Rome, May 20 '14 at 07:10
@Usagi do you recommend using ctime instead? I found a great explanation between atime, mtime and ctime and seems pretty clear that ctime is the best way to go http://www.linux-faqs.info/general/difference-between-mtime-ctime-and-atime — Primoz Rome, May 20 '14 at 07:29
Yes, I think you should be able to avoid most all problems with ctime given your situation. — Usagi, May 20 '14 at 08:00

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 20 '14 at 06:11

2

Try:

find ./downloads -maxdepth 2 -type f -mtime +32 -delete

-maxdepth levels Descend at most levels (a non-negative integer) levels of directories below the command line arguments. -maxdepth 0 means only apply the tests and actions to the command line arguments.

answered May 20 '14 at 06:11

Juan Diego Godoy Robles

14,447
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Great clean solution and it works for my case where I have static folder structure. I will accept this answer. – Primoz Rome May 20 '14 at 06:18

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 20 '14 at 06:03

0

Adding ! -path (your path) should do the trick

find ./downloads ! -path ./downloads/*/archive/* -mtime +32 -type f -delete

answered May 20 '14 at 06:03

Jonathan Wheeler

2,539
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Works fine unless there are more the 1 files in archive folders. In this case the command `find ./fuel/app/downloads ! -path ./fuel/app/downloads/*/archive/* -mtime +32 -type` will return `find: ./fuel/app/downloads/primoz-rome-sp/archive/image001-3.png: unknown primary or operator` – Primoz Rome May 20 '14 at 06:14
Then you can replace the first asterisk with [^/]* – Jonathan Wheeler May 20 '14 at 06:17
Promising, but you need to _quote_ your pattern to prevent premature expansion by the _shell_; also, it's better to use `-not` instead of `!` to prevent conflicts with the history expansion feature in interactive shells; thus: `-not -path './downloads/*/archive/*'` – mklement0 May 20 '14 at 06:17

Bash script that deletes files older than N days but excludes files in certain folder

2 Answers2