Tag: xargs command

Linux / Unix: Find All Hidden Dot Directories and Delete

Posted on in Categories , , last updated May 5, 2013

I need to clean up my backups stored on the nas server. I need to free up the disk space. How do I find out all hidden dot directories such as /nas01/backups/home/user/.gnome/, /nas01/backups/home/user/.gnome/ and so on and delete then in a single pass using Linux or Unix command line option? Please note that I do not want to delete nested hidden directories such as /nas01/backups/home/user/data/.xml, /nas01/backups/home/user/foo/bar/.level/.levle2/ and so on.

xargs: How To Control and Use Command Line Arguments

Posted on in Categories , , , , , , , , , , last updated September 2, 2010

I am trying to use xargs command using shell pipes and not able to understand how to control and use command line arguments. For example I’d like to find out all *.c file located in 100s of sub-directories and move them to another directory called ~/old.src. How do I use command line args with xargs to achieve the same?

How To Find and Overcome Shell Command Line Length Limitations

Posted on in Categories , , , , , , , , , , last updated April 3, 2012

While using mv or rm command I get command line length error (Argument list too long error). How do I find out current running shell command line length limitations? How do I overcomes these limitations while writing UNIX / BSD / Linux shell utilities?