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updatedb - update a file name database
updatedb [options]
This
manual page documents the GNU version of updatedb, which updates file name
databases used by GNU locate. The file name databases contain lists of files
that were in particular directory trees when the databases were last updated.
The file name of the default database is determined when locate and updatedb
are configured and installed. The frequency with which the databases are
updated and the directories for which they contain entries depend on how
often updatedb is run, and with which arguments.
In networked environments,
it often makes sense to build a database at the root of each filesystem,
containing the entries for that filesystem. updatedb is then run for each
filesystem on the fileserver where that filesystem is on a local disk,
to prevent thrashing the network. Users can select which databases locate
searches using an environment variable or command line option; see locate(1L)
.
Databases can not be concatenated together.
The file name database format
changed starting with GNU find and locate version 4.0 to allow machines
with diffent byte orderings to share the databases. The new GNU locate
can read both the old and new database formats. However, old versions of
locate and find produce incorrect results if given a new-format database.
- --localpaths='path1 path2...'
- Non-network directories to put in the database.
Default is /.
- --netpaths='path1 path2...'
- Network (NFS, AFS, RFS, etc.) directories
to put in the database. Default is none.
- --prunepaths='path1 path2...'
- Directories
to not put in the database, which would otherwise be. Default is /tmp /usr/tmp
/var/tmp /afs.
- --output=dbfile
- The database file to build. Default is system-dependent,
but typically /usr/local/var/locatedb.
- --netuser=user
- The user to search network
directories as, using su(1)
. Default is daemon.
- --old-format
- Create the database
in the old format instead of the new one.
- --version
- Print the version number
of updatedb and exit.
- --help
- Print a summary of the options to updatedb and
exit.
find(1L)
, locate(1L)
, locatedb(5L)
, xargs(1L)
Finding Files
(on-line in Info, or printed)
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