In Linux, find Command is used to search for specific files and folders. The beauty of the linux find command lies in its ability to perform complex searches. Find command provides plenty of options to specify size, modification date, type, owner, permission while performing a search operation. This article describes some of the most useful options availble with the linux find command with the help of examples. For more articles like this, visit www.thegeekscope.com

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Find Files in Linux using Find Command
In Linux, find Command is used to search for specific files and folders. The beauty of the linux find
command lies in its ability to perform complex searches. Find command provides plenty of options to
specify size, modification date, type, owner, permission while performing a search operation.
This article describes some of the most useful options availble with the linux find command with the
help of examples.
Find Files Based on Filename Pattern
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -type [f|d] -name "<PATTERN>"
type ‘f’ indicates that search for files
type ‘d’ indicates that search for directories
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Example: Search for files in the /root folder which contains the string “monitor” in the filename
# find /root -type f -name "*monitor*"
/root/monitor_script.sh
/root/monitor_script.sh.v2
/root/monitor_script.sh.v1
Example: Search for folders in the /root folder which contains the string “monitor” in the foldername
# find /root -type d -name "*monitor*"
/root/test/test_monitor123
Example: Search for files/folders in the /root folder which contains the string “monitor” in the name
# find /root -name "*monitor*"
/root/test/test_monitor123
/root/monitor_script.sh
/root/monitor_script.sh.v2
/root/monitor_script.sh.v1
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2. Find Files Based on Modification Time in Days
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -mtime <x>
Integer <x> indicates days
<x> along with ‘+’ sign indicates, modified before x days
<x> along with ‘-’ sign indicates, modified within last x days
<x> with no sign indicates, modified exactly x days ago
Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders modified exactly 7 days ago
# find /etc -mtime 7
Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders modified before 7 days
# find /etc -mtime +7
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Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders modified in last 7 days
# find /etc -mtime -7
You can use ‘atime‘ in place of ‘mtime’ to find files and folders based on last access time in days.
Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders accessed in last 7 days
# find /etc -atime -7
Find Files Based on Modification Time in Mins
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -mmin <x>
Integer <x> indicates minutes
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3. <x> along with ‘+’ sign indicates, modified before x mins
<x> along with ‘-’ sign indicates, modified within last x mins
<x> with no sign indicates, modified exactly x mins ago
Example: Search /home folder for files/folders modified exactly 60 minutes ago
# find /home -mmin 60
Example: Search /home folder for files/folders modified before 60 minutes
# find /home -mmin +60
Example: Search /home folder for files/folders modified in last 60 minutes
# find /home -mmin -60
You can use ‘amin‘ in place of ‘mmin’ to find files and folders based on last access time in mins.
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Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders accessed in last 60 mins
# find /etc -amin -60
Find Files Based on Size
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -size <x>
Integer <x> indicates size in bytes/kilobytes/megabytes/gigabytes
<x> along with ‘+’ sign indicates size larger than x
<x> along with ‘-’ sign indicates size smaller than x
<x> with no sign indicates, size exactly equal to x
Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders having size exactly equal to 20015 bytes
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4. # find /etc -size 20015c
Example: Search /root folder for files/folders having size greater than 2 megabytes
# find /etc -size +2M
Example: Search /home folder for files/folders having size less than 1 kilobytes
# find /etc -size -1k
Find Files Based on Permissions
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -perm <permission>
Example: Search /etc folder for files/folders with permission 755 (read,write,execute for owner and
read,execute for group owner and others)
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# find /etc -type f -perm 664
Find Empty files and Folders
Syntax:
find -empty
Example: Find all empty files/folders available in a system
# find / -empty
Find Files Owned by a Specific User
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -user <username>
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5. Example: Find all files/folders owned by user ‘kam’
# find / -user kam
Find Files Owned by a Specific Group
Syntax:
find <SEARCH_PATH> -group <groupname>
Example: Find all files/folders owned by group account ‘projectx’
# find / -group projectx
Use ‘-and’ and ‘-or’ qualifier to join search patterns
Example: Search /root folder for files/folders modified in last 7 days and having size less than 200kB
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# find /etc -mtime -7 -and -size -200k
Example: Search /home folder for files/folders accessed in last 2 hours or having size greater than
10MB
# find /etc -amin -120 -or -size +10M
Tagged as: Find Command, Find Files, Find files in LInux, Find files in Unix, Linux Find Command,
Search Files, Using Find Command
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