locate

A tool for finding files by name, often faster than find

Description

The locate command allows users to quickly search the file system for specified files. It works by querying a database that contains the names and paths of all files in the system, rather than searching the file system itself. In most distributions, the database is automatically updated periodically via a cron job.

locate is fast because it searches a database updated by the updatedb program. However, it may not find files that were created or renamed very recently. By default, updatedb runs daily; this schedule can be modified in crontab.

locate searches for files or directories that match the given pattern. Patterns can include wildcards (like * or ?). For example, searching for kcpa*ner will find any file or directory starting with kcpa and ending with ner, such as kcpartner.

While locate performs a similar function to find, it is much faster due to the indexing. You can run updatedb manually to force an immediate index update.

Syntax

locate [-d path | --database=path] [-e | -E | --[non-]existing] [-i |
       --ignore-case] [-0 | --null] [-c | --count] [-w | --wholename] [-b |
       --basename] [-l N | --limit=N] [-S | --statistics] [-r | --regex ]
       [--regextype R] [--max-database-age D] [-P | -H | --nofollow] [-L |
       --follow] [--version] [-A | --all] [-p | --print] [--help] pattern...

Options

-b, --basename      # Match only the base name of the path
-c, --count         # Output only the count of matching entries
-d, --database PATH # Use the specified database instead of the default /var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db
-e, --existing      # Only print entries for files that currently exist
-0, --null          # Separate entries with NUL in the output
-S, --statistics    # Print statistics about each database instead of searching
-q, --quiet         # Quiet mode; do not display error messages
-P, --nofollow, -H  # Do not follow trailing symbolic links when checking file existence
-l, --limit, -n N   # Limit the output (or count) to N entries
-r, --regexp REGEXP # Use a basic regular expression
    --regex         # Use an extended regular expression
-i, --ignore-case   # Ignore case distinctions
-V, --version       # Display version information
-h, --help          # Display help information

Examples

Example 1: Find all files related to pwd:

root ~ # locate pwd
/bin/pwd
/etc/.pwd.lock
/sbin/unix_chkpwd
/usr/bin/pwdx
/usr/include/pwd.h
...

Example 2: Search for all files in /etc starting with sh:

root ~ # locate /etc/sh
/etc/shadow
/etc/shadow-
/etc/shells

Example 3: Search for all files in /etc starting with m:

root ~ # locate /etc/m
/etc/magic
/etc/magic.mime
/etc/mailcap
/etc/mailcap.order
...

Ignore case when searching for files in the home directory starting with r:

locate -i ~/r