find

find linux command cheatsheet by Thamizhiniyan C S

Introduction

The find command is used to search for files in a directory hierarchy.

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Syntax

find [-H] [-L] [-P] [-D debugopts] [-Olevel] [starting-point...] [expression]

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Important Flags

Flag	Description
-H	Follow symbolic links on command line only.
-L	Follow all symbolic links.
-P	Never follow symbolic links.
-D	Process debugging option.
-name	Matches files/directories by name.
-type	Matches files by type.
-perm	Matches files by permission.
-user	Matches files by owner.
-mtime	Matches files by modification time.
-atime	Matches files by access time.
-cmin	Matches files by changed minutes ago.
-amin	Matches files by accessed minutes ago.
-size	Matches files by size.
-writable	Matches files that are writable.

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Examples

Command	Description
man find	Read the manual for the find command
find . -name flag1.txt	find the file named “flag1.txt” in the current directory
find /home -name flag1.txt	find the file names “flag1.txt” in the /home directory
find / -type d -name config	find the directory named config under “/”
find / -type f -perm 0777	find files with the 777 permissions (files readable, writable, and executable by all users)
find / -perm a=x	find executable files
find /home -user frank	find all files for user “frank” under “/home”
find / -mtime 10	find files that were modified in the last 10 days
find / -atime 10	find files that were accessed in the last 10 day
find / -cmin -60	find files changed within the last hour (60 minutes)
find / -amin -60	find files accesses within the last hour (60 minutes)
find / -size 50M	find files with a 50 MB size
find / -size +100M	find files that are larger than 100 MB
find / -size +100M -type f 2>/dev/null	redirect errors to “/dev/null” and have a cleaner output
find / -writable -type d 2>/dev/null	Find world-writeable folders
find / -perm -222 -type d 2>/dev/null	Find world-writeable folders
find / -perm -o w -type d 2>/dev/null	Find world-writeable folders
find / -perm -o x -type d 2>/dev/null	Find world-executable folders
find / -name perl*	Find files/directories named "gcc*"
find / -name python*	Find files with setuid, suppress errors
find / -name gcc*	Find setuid files, suppress errors
find / -perm -u=s -type f 2>/dev/null	Find files with the SUID bit
find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null	Find files with the SUID bit
find [directory path] -type f -newerat [start date range] ! -newerat [end date range]	Find files based on date accessed
find [directory path] -type f -newermt [start date range] ! -newermt [end date range]	Find files based on date modified
find [directory path] -type f -newermt '[date and time]'	Find files modified after a specific date
find [directory path] -type f -group [group name]	Find files based on group name
find [directory] -type l ! -exec test -e {} \; -print	To perform the search and locate the links that do not work (Find Broken Symbolic Links)