Linux / Unix: Find All The Files Owned By a Particular User / Group

How do I list or find all the files owned by a particular system user or group under Linux or UNIX like operating systems using command line options?

You need to use the find command to search for files in a directory hierarchy. It has options that allow you to search files owned by a specific user or groups under Unix / Linux / *BSD / Apple OS X operating systems.

Find file owned by a group

Use the following syntax:

find directory-location -group {group-name} -name {file-name}

Where,

• directory-location : Locate the file in this directory path.
• -group {group-name} : Find the file belongs to group-name.
• -name {file-name} : The file name or a search pattern

In this example, locate or find all files belongs to a group called "ftpusers" in the /home directory:
# find /home -group ftpusers
To find all *.c file belongs to a group called "ftpusers" in /data/project directory, run:
# find /data/project -group ftpusers -name "*.c"
OR do case insensitive search:
# find /data/project -group ftpusers -iname "*.c"

Find file owned by user

The syntax is:

find directory-location -user {username} -name {file-name}

Where,

• directory-location : Locate files or directories in this directory location.
• -user { user-name } : Find the file belongs to user.
• -name {file-name} : File name or pattern.

In this example, locate or find all file belongs to a user called "vivek" in /var directory:
# find /var -user vivek
To find all *.pl (perl files) file belongs to a user called "vivek" in /var/www directory, enter:
# find /var/www -user vivek -name "*.pl"

See also:

• Linux: Finding/locating files with find command part # 1

• Tweet
• 
• 

You should follow me on twitter here or grab rss feed to keep track of new changes.

Featured Articles:

• 30 Handy Bash Shell Aliases For Linux / Unix / Mac OS X
• Top 30 Nmap Command Examples For Sys/Network Admins
• 25 PHP Security Best Practices For Sys Admins
• 20 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know
• 20 Linux Server Hardening Security Tips
• Linux: 20 Iptables Examples For New SysAdmins
• Top 20 OpenSSH Server Best Security Practices
• Top 20 Nginx WebServer Best Security Practices
• 20 Examples: Make Sure Unix / Linux Configuration Files Are Free From Syntax Errors
• 15 Greatest Open Source Terminal Applications Of 2012
• My 10 UNIX Command Line Mistakes
• Top 10 Open Source Web-Based Project Management Software
• Top 5 Email Client For Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows Users
• The Novice Guide To Buying A Linux Laptop