Delete a directory using Python?

Question

I am getting the output of a directory using subprocess like this :-

directory_content = subprocess.getoutput("ssh -i /key.pem ubuntu@IP ls -l --time-style=long-iso /opt/orientdb/databases" | awk -F' ' '{print $6 $8}'")

And i am converting the output to a list of tuples such that i get the directory and the date on which the directory was created.

[('2019-04-25', 'database1'), ('2019-04-26', 'database2') .......]

And i am looping over list and getting the respective directory

for date,db in directory_content:
    if (date == '2019-04-25'):
        os.remove(db)

but i am getting the error message :-

 os.remove(db)
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

I can use some help on how i can delete the directory. Thank you.

The error means what it says. Double check your file name spellings and paths — 12944qwerty, May 04 '21 at 15:30
Is the python file executed in the same directory as database1, database2, etc..... And is there any file extensions missing? — RMRiver, May 04 '21 at 15:30
You should either (1) [change the working directory](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1810760/) to where the files are located or (2) [use absolute paths](https://stackoverflow.com/a/51523/). — enzo, May 04 '21 at 15:31
@12944qwerty i will have to disagree with you. The directory definitely exists. — Somethingwhatever, May 04 '21 at 15:31
@Somethingwhatever are you sure your path is correct? Check the links that Enzo sent — 12944qwerty, May 04 '21 at 15:32
maybe try setting variable `db = /whole/path/` and then `os.remove(db)` — Tony, May 04 '21 at 15:32
@RMRiver I am using subprocess to ssh into another VM and then get the directory info. — Somethingwhatever, May 04 '21 at 15:32
@Somethingwhatever Just to confirm, you are running the python script in the VM and not locally? — RMRiver, May 04 '21 at 15:35
@Somethingwhatever If the python file is running locally, it won't be able to delete "database1" that is within a VM.... You need to run the scipt within the VM, or ssh with python into the vpn. — RMRiver, May 04 '21 at 15:39

James K. Lowden · Answer 1 · 2021-05-04T17:36:52.773

FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

That doesn't say you can't delete the file. That says there is no file. The computer is surely telling you truth about that.

I see two problems.

The directory list is fetched from ubuntu@IP, but afaict os.remove is executed locally. That could be a ... problem.
The directory names are relative to /opt/orientdb/databases, but there's no evidence that's the current working directory when the process executes.

For any file not found error in Python that "can't be", a good strategy is to wrap the offending code in a try/catch block and, when the exception is caught, print both the argument name and the current working directory. Nearly always, when you string those two pieces of information together, you'll agree with the computer with a resounding, "duh!".

Delete a directory using Python?

1 Answers1