Linux Command Locate

Original: 53285624

Briefly

Locate can quickly search the file system for a specific file. The method is to first establish an index database that includes all the file names and paths within the system, and when looking for it, simply query the index database without actually delving into the file system. Locate because it is only to retrieve the index database, it is much faster than the find overall retrieval.

In the general distribution, the establishment of the database is placed in the crontab automatic execution. Because the database used by locate is updated by Crondaemon periodic builds. is usually updated once a week, so the newly created file will not be found in the near today, or you will find a file that has been deleted. Then, you can manually update the database with the UpdateDB command, or re-adjust the update cycle yourself.

• Briefly
• Command Introduction
• Command options
• Usage examples

Command Introduction

• Command name
  Locate

• Basic syntax
  Locate [OPTION] ... [PATTERN] ...

• Function description
  Search for entries in the Mlocate database

Command options

Options	Description
-A, --all	Show only entries that match all patterns
-b, --basename	Match only the base name of the path name
-c, --count	Show only the number of entries found
-d, --database DBPATH	Use DBPATH instead of default data (i.e.:/var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db)
-e, --existing	Show only file entries that currently exist
-L, --follow	Follow the spread of symbolic links when a file is present (default)
-h, --help	Display Help information
-i, --ignore-case	Ignore case differences when matching patterns
-l, --limit, -n LIMIT	Limit to the output (or count) of the limit project
-m, --mmap	Ignored for backwards compatibility
-P, --nofollow, -H	Do not follow the spread of symbolic links when checking files
-0, --null	Separating items with NUL at output
-S, --statistics	Do not search for items, display statistics about each used database
-q, --quiet	Do not report error messages about reading the database
-r, --regexp REGEXP	Search for basic regular expressions REGEXP instead of patterns
--regex	Pattern is an extended regular expression
-s, --stdio	Ignored for backwards compatibility
-V, --version	Display version Information
-w, --wholename	Match full path name (default)

Usage examples

1. Search the directory for all files starting with SH

Locate /etc/sh/etc/shadow/etc/shadow-/etc/shells

2. Find the relevant file containing a string

[Email protected] ~]$Locate passwd/etc/passwd/etc/passwd-/etc/pam.d/passwd/etc/security/opasswd/usr/bin/gpasswd/usr/bin/grub2-mkpasswd-PBKDF2/usr/bin/kpasswd/usr/bin/lppasswd/usr/bin/passwd/usr/bin/smbpasswd# Partial display result omitted/usr/share/Mans/MAN8/CHPASSWD.8. GZ/usr/share/Mans/man8/saslpasswd2.8. GZ/usr/share/Mans/MAN8/SMBPASSWD.8. GZ/usr/share/Mans/PT_BR/MAN1/GPASSWD.1. GZ/usr/share/Mans/RU/MAN1/GPASSWD.1. GZ/usr/share/Mans/RU/MAN8/CHPASSWD.8. GZ/usr/share/Mans/ZH_CN/MAN1/GPASSWD.1. GZ/usr/share/Mans/ZH_CN/MAN8/CHPASSWD.8. GZ/usr/share/Mans/ZH_TW/MAN8/CHPASSWD.8. GZ/usr/share/vim/vim74/ftplugin/passwd. Vim/usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/passwd. Vim

3. Limit the number of displays

If you see too much content, you can use -n options to limit the number of displays.

Locate 5 passwd/etc/passwd/etc/passwd-/etc/pam.d/passwd/etc/security/opasswd /usr/bin/gpasswd

4. Case-insensitive when searching

The option is used when the lookup does not need to be case sensitive -i .

Locate 5 passwd/etc/passwd/etc/passwd-/etc/pam.d/passwd/etc/security/opasswd /usr/bin/gpasswd

5. Using Regular expressions

When you need to find information that conforms to a specific rule, you can use -r options to match the corresponding regular expression.

# Find in/var/lib/rpm opening file [[email protected]~]$Locate-R ^/var/lib/rpm/var/lib/rpm/var/lib/rpm- State/var/lib/rpm/. Dbenv.lock/var/lib/rpm/. Rpm.lock/var/lib/rpm/Basenames/var/lib/rpm/Conflictname/var/lib/rpm/Dirnames/var/lib/rpm/Group/var/lib/rpm/Installtid/var/lib/rpm/Name/var/lib/rpm/Obsoletename/var/lib/rpm/Packages/var/lib/rpm/Providename/var/lib/rpm/Requirename/var/lib/rpm/Sha1header/var/lib/rpm/SIGMD5/var/lib/rpm/triggername/var/lib/rpm/__db.001/var/lib/rpm/__db.002/var/lib/rpm/__db.003/var/lib/rpm-state/gconf# Find toZipend of file [[email protected]~]$Locate-RZip$/home/wang/doc.Zip/usr/bin/Funzip/usr/bin/gpg-Zip/usr/bin/Gunzip/usr/bin/gzip/usr/bin/Mzip/usr/bin/Unzip/usr/bin/Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_crystal.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_galaxy.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_hicontrast.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_oxygen.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_sifr.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/images_tango.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/glas-blue.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/glas-green.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/glas-red.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/round-gorilla.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/round-white.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/simple.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/square-blue.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/square-gray.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/square-green.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/square-red.Zip/usr/lib64/libreoffice/share/config/wizard/web/buttons/square-yellow.Zip/usr/local/lib/python3.5/test/zip_cp437_header.Zip/usr/local/lib/python3.5/test/zipdir.Zip/usr/local/lib/python3.5/test/test_importlib/namespace_pkgs/missing_directory.Zip/usr/local/lib/python3.5/test/test_importlib/namespace_pkgs/nested_portion1.Zip/usr/local/lib/python3.5/test/test_importlib/namespace_pkgs/top_level_portion1.Zip/usr/share/bash-completion/completions/gzip

6. Find the most recently changed files

You cannot find the most recently changed files using the Locate command. To avoid this situation, you can manually update the database by using the UpdateDB command before using locate.

# New file [[email protected]~]#TouchNew_file[[email protected]~]#Locate~/New_file[[email protected]~]# Updatedb[[email protected]~]#Locate~/New_file/root/New_file[[email protected]~]# # deleting files [[email protected]~]#RM-rffile. txt [[email protected]~]#Locate~/file. txt/root/file. Txt[[email protected]~]# Updatedb[[email protected]~]#Locate~/file. Txt[[email protected]~]#

Linux Command Locate