Failing if users don't have any files in their home directories











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I have an issue when I am finding files in users directory and deleting them, but I am getting below error "No such file or directory" when there are no files. Can anyone suggest me how to avoid this error?



[root@server1 ~]# find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf 


find: ‘/home//’: No such file or directory










share|improve this question




























    up vote
    1
    down vote

    favorite












    I have an issue when I am finding files in users directory and deleting them, but I am getting below error "No such file or directory" when there are no files. Can anyone suggest me how to avoid this error?



    [root@server1 ~]# find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf 


    find: ‘/home//’: No such file or directory










    share|improve this question


























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      I have an issue when I am finding files in users directory and deleting them, but I am getting below error "No such file or directory" when there are no files. Can anyone suggest me how to avoid this error?



      [root@server1 ~]# find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf 


      find: ‘/home//’: No such file or directory










      share|improve this question















      I have an issue when I am finding files in users directory and deleting them, but I am getting below error "No such file or directory" when there are no files. Can anyone suggest me how to avoid this error?



      [root@server1 ~]# find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf 


      find: ‘/home//’: No such file or directory







      shell find xargs






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Nov 20 at 13:14









      RavinderSingh13

      25.2k41437




      25.2k41437










      asked Nov 20 at 13:13









      MAK

      1083




      1083
























          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          0
          down vote



          accepted










          Don't do that. ext2 may contain any character other than and / for file names! Think about what would happen, if a user names a file



          "hi etc"


          Here, rm -rf would receive etc as second argument, so if your script is executed in /, you'd delete your /etc directory. There are options to safely handle file names with spaces, but some of these would fail if the file contains newlines - which of course is equally possible:



          "hi
          etc"


          find has an option to delete files (-delete), try to use this. This would also solve your original problem. If that's not possible, read documentation about find -print0 and xargs -0.






          share|improve this answer




























            up vote
            -1
            down vote













            When there are no file, your find search returns "No such file or directory", because when there are no file, the directory structure you describe does not exist. The error is then passed to rm with "xargs".



            find /home/ -name * | xargs rm -rf 


            should get you the result you're waiting without the warning, as find does not try to build a path that does not exist.






            share|improve this answer























            • Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
              – MAK
              Nov 20 at 14:09










            • Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
              – Fadila
              Nov 20 at 14:11










            • I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
              – MAK
              Nov 20 at 14:14










            • Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
              – Fadila
              Nov 20 at 14:19











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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes








            up vote
            0
            down vote



            accepted










            Don't do that. ext2 may contain any character other than and / for file names! Think about what would happen, if a user names a file



            "hi etc"


            Here, rm -rf would receive etc as second argument, so if your script is executed in /, you'd delete your /etc directory. There are options to safely handle file names with spaces, but some of these would fail if the file contains newlines - which of course is equally possible:



            "hi
            etc"


            find has an option to delete files (-delete), try to use this. This would also solve your original problem. If that's not possible, read documentation about find -print0 and xargs -0.






            share|improve this answer

























              up vote
              0
              down vote



              accepted










              Don't do that. ext2 may contain any character other than and / for file names! Think about what would happen, if a user names a file



              "hi etc"


              Here, rm -rf would receive etc as second argument, so if your script is executed in /, you'd delete your /etc directory. There are options to safely handle file names with spaces, but some of these would fail if the file contains newlines - which of course is equally possible:



              "hi
              etc"


              find has an option to delete files (-delete), try to use this. This would also solve your original problem. If that's not possible, read documentation about find -print0 and xargs -0.






              share|improve this answer























                up vote
                0
                down vote



                accepted







                up vote
                0
                down vote



                accepted






                Don't do that. ext2 may contain any character other than and / for file names! Think about what would happen, if a user names a file



                "hi etc"


                Here, rm -rf would receive etc as second argument, so if your script is executed in /, you'd delete your /etc directory. There are options to safely handle file names with spaces, but some of these would fail if the file contains newlines - which of course is equally possible:



                "hi
                etc"


                find has an option to delete files (-delete), try to use this. This would also solve your original problem. If that's not possible, read documentation about find -print0 and xargs -0.






                share|improve this answer












                Don't do that. ext2 may contain any character other than and / for file names! Think about what would happen, if a user names a file



                "hi etc"


                Here, rm -rf would receive etc as second argument, so if your script is executed in /, you'd delete your /etc directory. There are options to safely handle file names with spaces, but some of these would fail if the file contains newlines - which of course is equally possible:



                "hi
                etc"


                find has an option to delete files (-delete), try to use this. This would also solve your original problem. If that's not possible, read documentation about find -print0 and xargs -0.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Nov 20 at 15:16









                steffen

                9,22522254




                9,22522254
























                    up vote
                    -1
                    down vote













                    When there are no file, your find search returns "No such file or directory", because when there are no file, the directory structure you describe does not exist. The error is then passed to rm with "xargs".



                    find /home/ -name * | xargs rm -rf 


                    should get you the result you're waiting without the warning, as find does not try to build a path that does not exist.






                    share|improve this answer























                    • Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:09










                    • Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:11










                    • I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:14










                    • Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:19















                    up vote
                    -1
                    down vote













                    When there are no file, your find search returns "No such file or directory", because when there are no file, the directory structure you describe does not exist. The error is then passed to rm with "xargs".



                    find /home/ -name * | xargs rm -rf 


                    should get you the result you're waiting without the warning, as find does not try to build a path that does not exist.






                    share|improve this answer























                    • Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:09










                    • Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:11










                    • I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:14










                    • Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:19













                    up vote
                    -1
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    -1
                    down vote









                    When there are no file, your find search returns "No such file or directory", because when there are no file, the directory structure you describe does not exist. The error is then passed to rm with "xargs".



                    find /home/ -name * | xargs rm -rf 


                    should get you the result you're waiting without the warning, as find does not try to build a path that does not exist.






                    share|improve this answer














                    When there are no file, your find search returns "No such file or directory", because when there are no file, the directory structure you describe does not exist. The error is then passed to rm with "xargs".



                    find /home/ -name * | xargs rm -rf 


                    should get you the result you're waiting without the warning, as find does not try to build a path that does not exist.







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited Nov 20 at 17:41









                    pushkin

                    3,859102551




                    3,859102551










                    answered Nov 20 at 13:59









                    Fadila

                    11




                    11












                    • Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:09










                    • Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:11










                    • I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:14










                    • Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:19


















                    • Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:09










                    • Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:11










                    • I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                      – MAK
                      Nov 20 at 14:14










                    • Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                      – Fadila
                      Nov 20 at 14:19
















                    Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                    – MAK
                    Nov 20 at 14:09




                    Yes. I can remove the files/directories successfully but still the error is there that no such file or directory when I executed them again. How can I avoid this error? [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory [mak@node1 testscripts]$ find /home/*/* -name * | xargs rm -rf find: ‘/home/*/*’: No such file or directory
                    – MAK
                    Nov 20 at 14:09












                    Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                    – Fadila
                    Nov 20 at 14:11




                    Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but working with rm directly seems a good idea to me. Why do you need this "find" before ? You could do something like "rm -rf /home/*", or do you want to only delete files ?
                    – Fadila
                    Nov 20 at 14:11












                    I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                    – MAK
                    Nov 20 at 14:14




                    I am trying to run a weekly cron job where it should delete the user's directories/files in the /home/*/*. I should not get an error if there are no files found.
                    – MAK
                    Nov 20 at 14:14












                    Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                    – Fadila
                    Nov 20 at 14:19




                    Well, if you want to delete all files of all users, "rm -rf /home/*" should be a suiting solution. You don't need the find command.
                    – Fadila
                    Nov 20 at 14:19


















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