UPDATED with additional information.
This guide will work for most Unix-like operating systems. A lot of people probably know about this or similar approaches, but many new users don't.
If you have a Unix-like OS with a Desktop Environment, you probably search for files on your system or in storage by using a file manager's search tool (inputting something into the find field in dolphin/nemo/thunar/caja etc). If you have many files, such a search could take a lot of time to complete and find what you want, dozens of minutes in some cases. For example, I have caja on my GhostBSD and it can take forever to look for something on a multi-terabyte drive.
On systems without a Desktop Environment people usually look for files with
There is a much more efficient way to look for files by employing a list/database of contents on your file system and checking it instead.
On FreeBSD the
After database creation you can search for files containing e.g. "BSD" in their names with
Furthermore,
You can create your own lists of contents with
You can create a list which would include files' and directories' names, modification dates and sizes with the following command (tested on FreeBSD 15.1 and GhostBSD 26.1; they should also work on Linux):
To list only files:
Then if you want to find files containing "BSD" in their names, simply run
It should be noted that
Please note that the basic
You can also exclude paths when using
If you would go with creating your own contents lists you could disable
Commands for older versions of FreeBSD:
This guide will work for most Unix-like operating systems. A lot of people probably know about this or similar approaches, but many new users don't.
If you have a Unix-like OS with a Desktop Environment, you probably search for files on your system or in storage by using a file manager's search tool (inputting something into the find field in dolphin/nemo/thunar/caja etc). If you have many files, such a search could take a lot of time to complete and find what you want, dozens of minutes in some cases. For example, I have caja on my GhostBSD and it can take forever to look for something on a multi-terabyte drive.
On systems without a Desktop Environment people usually look for files with
find. For example: find /bin -name ddThere is a much more efficient way to look for files by employing a list/database of contents on your file system and checking it instead.
On FreeBSD the
locate command does this (suggested by T-Daemon). A database of files is created and periodically updated on FreeBSD and locate command goes through this database looking for files. It is pre-installed on the stock FreeBSD. If you have a fresh install, when inputting locate BSD you'd receive a message: locate: the locate database 'var/db/locate.database' is smaller than 256 bytes large.
To create a new database, please run the following command as root:
/etc/periodic/weekly/310.locateAfter database creation you can search for files containing e.g. "BSD" in their names with
locate BSD. The command is case-sensitive. locate might not be flexible enough for some users. For example, if you have many external drives which you mount and dismount frequently, they might not get into the locate's periods of updates and sometimes it is more comfortable to manually create individual file/contents lists for the drives so that locate would not try to update them when there is no need (this could take a lot of time for voluminous drives and create unnecessary reads while not adding new information). If you periodically run FreeBSD from RAM for short times (by using GhostBSD, for example), there would be no databases on the operating system.Furthermore,
locate only shows file names with their paths, it does not show additional information like file size or modification date, and it does not show directories. locate might also not index all the files on the system/storage because of access issues (not having enough privileges), as was noted by bob2112.You can create your own lists of contents with
find and then look for contents in it with grep, grep usually takes mere seconds to complete even on file lists weighting hundreds megabytes (in my personal experience). The only drawback is that the initial list creating using find command takes time, but you need to do this only once or once in a while to keep the file list updated (this can be done manually or automated with a script to update periodically; since I update manually, I do not have scripts to share at the moment). The initial file creation process shouldn't take longer than a regular search using the file manager and you won't need to bother your drives with find requests anymore.You can create a list which would include files' and directories' names, modification dates and sizes with the following command (tested on FreeBSD 15.1 and GhostBSD 26.1; they should also work on Linux):
find path-to-directory-where-you'd-like-to-look-for-files -printf "%t %s %p\n" > contentsTo list only files:
find path-to-directory-where-you'd-like-to-look-for-files -type f -printf "%t %s %p\n" > filesThen if you want to find files containing "BSD" in their names, simply run
grep BSD filesIt should be noted that
grep is a very versatile command and there are many ways to tweak the search queries to get more exact search results.Please note that the basic
grep command is case-sensitive! find command can also be tweaked in various ways to add the file/directory information you'd expect to look for in contents lists.You can also exclude paths when using
find, for example: find / -path "/home" -prune -o -path "/media" -prune -o -type f -printf "%t %s %p\n" > system_filesIf you would go with creating your own contents lists you could disable
locate altogether by running the following command as root as suggested by me12345 on GhostBSD forum: chmod -x /etc/periodic/weekly/310.locateCommands for older versions of FreeBSD:
find path-to-directory-where-you'd-like-to-look-for-files | xargs stat -f "%Sa %z %N" > contents
find path-to-directory-where-you'd-like-to-look-for-files -type f | xargs stat -f "%Sa %z %N" > files
grep BSD files
find / -path "/home" -prune -type f -o -path "/media" -prune -type f -o -type f | xargs stat -f "%Sa %z %N" > system_files
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