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find(1)                   BSD General Commands Manual                  find(1)


NAME

     find -- walk a file hierarchy


SYNOPSIS

     find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-f path] path ... [expression]
     find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] -f path [path ...] [expression]


DESCRIPTION

     The find utility recursively descends the directory tree for each path
     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 pri-
             maries as extended (modern) regular 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 specified 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 sin-
             gle (`` ' '') and double (`` " '') quotes, backslash (``\''),
             space, tab and newline characters.

             However, you may wish to consider the -print0 primary in conjunc-
             tion 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 visits
             directories in pre-order, i.e., before their contents.  Note, the
             default is not a breadth-first traversal.

             This option is equivalent to the -depth primary of IEEE Std
             1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').  The -d option 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

     All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be pre-
     ceded 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''.

     -Bmin n
             True if the difference between the time of a file's inode cre-
             ation 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.

     -acl    May be used in conjunction with other primaries to locate files
             with extended ACLs.  See acl(3) for more information.

     -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:

             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 infor-
             mation 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 infor-
             mation and the time find was started is exactly n units.  Please
             refer to the -atime primary description for information on sup-
             ported time units.

     -d      Same as depth.  GNU find implements this as a primary in mistaken
             emulation of FreeBSD find(1).

     -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.  Following symlinks is incompatible with 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 argu-
             ments 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 path-
             names as possible for each invocation 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.

     -execdir utility [argument ...] {} +
             Same as -execdir, except that ``{}'' is replaced with as many
             pathnames as possible for each invocation of utility.  This be-
             haviour is similar to that of xargs(1).

     -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 pre-
             ceded 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
             lsvfs(1) command can be used to find out the types of file sys-
             tems that are available on the system.  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.

     -gid gname
             The same thing as -group gname for compatibility with GNU find.
             GNU find imposes a restriction that gname is numeric, while
             find(1) does not.

     -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.

     -ignore_readdir_race
             This option is for GNU find compatibility and is ignored.

     -ilname pattern
             Like -lname, but the match is case insensitive.  This is a GNU
             find extension.

     -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.

     -iwholename pattern
             The same thing as -ipath, for GNU find compatibility.

     -links n
             True if the file has n links.

     -lname pattern
             Like -name, but the contents of the symbolic link are matched
             instead of the file name.  This is a GNU find extension.

     -ls     This primary always evaluates to true.  The following information
             for the current file is written 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
             device number 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 displayed 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 normally be
             evaluated.  ``-maxdepth 0'' limits the whole search to the com-
             mand 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.

     -mount  The same thing as -xdev, for GNU find compatibility.

     -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 pattern 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 modifica-
             tion 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.

     -noignore_readdir_race
             This option is for GNU find compatibility and is ignored.

     -noleaf
             This option is for GNU find compatibility.  In GNU find it dis-
             ables an optimization not relevant to find(1), so it is ignored.

     -nouser
             True if the file belongs to an unknown user.

     -ok utility [argument ...] ;
             The -ok primary is identical to the -exec primary with the excep-
             tion 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 num-
             ber.  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/''.

     -samefile name
             True if the file is a hard link to name.  If the command option
             -L is specified, it is also true if the file is a symbolic link
             and points to name.

     -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

     -uid uname
             The same thing as -user uname for compatibility with GNU find.
             GNU find imposes a restriction that uname is numeric, while
             find(1) does not.

     -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.

     -wholename pattern
             The same thing as -path, for GNU find compatibility.

     -xattr  True if the file has any extended attributes.

     -xattrname name
             True if the file has an extended attribute with the specified
             name.


OPERATORS

     The primaries may be combined using the following operators.  The opera-
     tors are listed in order of decreasing precedence.

     ( expression )
             This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression evaluates
             to true.

     ! expression
     -not expression
             This is the unary NOT operator.  It evaluates to true if the
             expression is false.

     -false  Always false.
     -true   Always true.

     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 evaluated if the first
             expression is true.

     All operands and primaries must be separate arguments to find.  Primaries
     which themselves take arguments expect each argument to be a separate
     argument to find.


ENVIRONMENT

     The LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES and LC_TIME environ-
     ment variables affect the execution 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 -exec rm -- {} +
             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), lsvfs(1), whereis(1), which(1),
     xargs(1), stat(2), acl(3), 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 pri-
     maries -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 evalu-
     ates 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 imple-
     mented as -a.

     Historic implementations of the -exec and -ok primaries did not replace
     the string ``{}'' in the utility 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 difficult to specify files named -xdev or !.
     These problems are handled by the -f option and the getopt(3) ``--'' con-
     struct.

     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                           September 28, 2011                           BSD

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