I am new to bash scripting and I have to create a script that will run on all computers within my group at work (so it's not just checking one computer). We have a spreadsheet that keeps certain file information, and I am working to automate the updating of that spreadsheet. I already have an existing python script that gathers the information needed and writes to the spreadsheet.
What I need is a bash script (cron job, maybe?) that is activated anytime a user deletes a file that matches a certain extension within the specified file path. The script should hold on to the file name before it is completely deleted. I don't need any other information besides the name.
Does anyone have any suggestions for where I should begin with this? I've searched a bit but not found anything useful yet.
It would be something like:
for folders and files in path:
if file ends in .txt and is being deleted:
save file name
To save the name of every file .txt deleted in some directory path or any of its subdirectories, run:
inotifywait -m -e delete --format "%w%f" -r "path" 2>stderr.log | grep '\.txt$' >>logfile
Explanation:
-m tells inotifywait to keep running. The default is to exit after the first event
-e delete tells inotifywait to only report on file delete events.
--format "%w%f" tells inotifywait to print only the name of the deleted file
path is the target directory to watch.
-r tells inotifywait to monitor subdirectories of path recursively.
2>stderr.log tells the shell to save stderr output to a file named stderr.log. As long as things are working properly, you may ignore this file.
>>logfile tells the shell to redirect all output to the file logfile. If you leave this part off, output will be directed to stdout and you can watch in real time as files are deleted.
grep '\.txt$' limits the output to files with .txt extensions.
Mac OSX
Similar programs are available for OSX. See "Is there a command like “watch” or “inotifywait” on the Mac?".
I have a requirement where I need to copy some files from one location to other (Where the file may exist). While doing so,
I need to take a backup if the file already exists.
Copy the new file to the same location
I am facing problem in point 2. While I am trying to get the destination path for copying files, I am unable to extract the directory of the file. I tried using various options of find command, but was unable to crack it.
I need to trim the file name from the full file path so that it can be used in cp command. I am new to shell scripting. Any pointers are appreciated.
You can use
cp --backup
-b'--backup[=METHOD]'
*Note Backup options::. Make a backup of each file that would
otherwise be overwritten or removed. As a special case, `cp'
makes a backup of SOURCE when the force and backup options are
given and SOURCE and DEST are the same name for an existing,
regular file. One useful application of this combination of
options is this tiny Bourne shell script:
#!/bin/sh
# Usage: backup FILE...
# Create a GNU-style backup of each listed FILE.
for i; do
cp --backup --force -- "$i" "$i"
done
If you need only the filename, why not do a
basename /root/wkdir/index.txt
and assign it to a variable which would return only the filename?
When I compress files with the built in zip compressor in Mac OSX, it causes an extra folder titled "__MACOSX" to be created in the extracted zip.
Can I adjust my settings to keep this folder from being created or do I need to purchase a third party compression tool?
UPDATE: I just found a freeware app for OSX that solves my problem: "YemuZip"
UPDATE 2: YemuZip is no longer freeware.
Can be fixed after the fact by zip -d filename.zip __MACOSX/\*
And, to also delete .DS_Store files: zip -d filename.zip \*/.DS_Store
When I had this problem I've done it from command line:
zip file.zip uncompressed
EDIT, after many downvotes: I was using this option for some time ago and I don't know where I learnt it, so I can't give you a better explanation. Chris Johnson's answer is correct, but I won't delete mine. As one comment says, it's more accurate to what OP is asking, as it compress without those files, instead of removing them from a compressed file. I find it easier to remember, too.
Inside the folder you want to be compressed, in terminal:
zip -r -X Archive.zip *
Where -X means: Exclude those invisible Mac resource files such as “_MACOSX” or “._Filename” and .ds store files
source
Note: Will only work for the folder and subsequent folder tree you are in and has to have the * wildcard.
This command did it for me:
zip -r Target.zip Source -x "*.DS_Store"
Target.zip is the zip file to create. Source is the source file/folder to zip up. The -x parameter specifies the file/folder to exclude.
If the above doesn't work for whatever reason, try this instead:
zip -r Target.zip Source -x "*.DS_Store" -x "__MACOSX"
I'm using this Automator Shell Script to fix it after.
It's showing up as contextual menu item (right clicking on any file showing up in Finder).
while read -r p; do
zip -d "$p" __MACOSX/\* || true
zip -d "$p" \*/.DS_Store || true
done
Create a new Service with Automator
Select "Files and Folders" in "Finder"
Add a "Shell Script Action"
zip -r "$destFileName.zip" "$srcFileName" -x "*/\__MACOSX" -x "*/\.*"
-x "*/\__MACOSX": ignore __MACOSX as you mention.
-x "*/\.*": ignore any hidden file, such as .DS_Store .
Quote the variable to avoid file if it's named with SPACE.
Also, you can build Automator Service to make it easily to use in Finder.
Check link below to see detail if you need.
Github
The unwanted folders can be also be deleted by the following way:
zip -d filename.zip "__MACOSX*"
Works best for me
The zip command line utility never creates a __MACOSX directory, so you can just run a command like this:
zip directory.zip -x \*.DS_Store -r directory
In the output below, a.zip which I created with the zip command line utility does not contain a __MACOSX directory, but a 2.zip which I created from Finder does.
$ touch a
$ xattr -w somekey somevalue a
$ zip a.zip a
adding: a (stored 0%)
$ unzip -l a.zip
Archive: a.zip
Length Date Time Name
-------- ---- ---- ----
0 01-02-16 20:29 a
-------- -------
0 1 file
$ unzip -l a\ 2.zip # I created `a 2.zip` from Finder before this
Archive: a 2.zip
Length Date Time Name
-------- ---- ---- ----
0 01-02-16 20:29 a
0 01-02-16 20:31 __MACOSX/
149 01-02-16 20:29 __MACOSX/._a
-------- -------
149 3 files
-x .DS_Store does not exclude .DS_Store files inside directories but -x \*.DS_Store does.
The top level file of a zip archive with multiple files should usually be a single directory, because if it is not, some unarchiving utilites (like unzip and 7z, but not Archive Utility, The Unarchiver, unar, or dtrx) do not create a containing directory for the files when the archive is extracted, which often makes the files difficult to find, and if multiple archives like that are extracted at the same time, it can be difficult to tell which files belong to which archive.
Archive Utility only creates a __MACOSX directory when you create an archive where at least one file contains metadata such as extended attributes, file flags, or a resource fork. The __MACOSX directory contains AppleDouble files whose filename starts with ._ that are used to store OS X-specific metadata. The zip command line utility discards metadata such as extended attributes, file flags, and resource forks, which also means that metadata such as tags is lost, and that aliases stop working, because the information in an alias file is stored in a resource fork.
Normally you can just discard the OS X-specific metadata, but to see what metadata files contain, you can use xattr -l. xattr also includes resource forks and file flags, because even though they are not actually stored as extended attributes, they can be accessed through the extended attributes interface. Both Archive Utility and the zip command line utility discard ACLs.
You can't.
But what you can do is delete those unwanted folders after zipping. Command line zip takes different arguments where one, the -d, is for deleting contents based on a regex. So you can use it like this:
zip -d filename.zip __MACOSX/\*
Cleanup .zip from .DS_Store and __MACOSX, including subfolders:
zip -d archive.zip '__MACOSX/*' '*/__MACOSX/*' .DS_Store '*/.DS_Store'
Walkthrough:
Create .zip as usual by right-clicking on the file (or folder) and selecting "Compress ..."
Open Terminal app (search Terminal in Spotlight search)
Type zip in the Terminal (but don't hit enter)
Drag .zip to the Terminal so it converts to the path
Copy paste -d '__MACOSX/*' '*/__MACOSX/*' .DS_Store '*/.DS_Store'
Hit enter
Use zipinfo archive.zip to list files inside, to check (optional)
I have a better solution after read all of the existed answers. Everything could done by a workflow in a single right click.
NO additional software, NO complicated command line stuffs and NO shell tricks.
The automator workflow:
Input: files or folders from any application.
Step 1: Create Archive, the system builtin with default parameters.
Step 2: Run Shell command, with input as parameters. Copy command below.
zip -d "$#" "__MACOSX/*" || true
zip -d "$#" "*/.DS_Store" || true
Save it and we are done! Just right click folder or bulk of files and choose workflow from services menu. Archive with no metadata will be created alongside.
IMAGE UPDATE: I chose "Quick Action" when creating a new workflow - here’s an English version of the screenshot:
do not zip any hidden file:
zip newzipname filename.any -x "\.*"
with this question, it should be like:
zip newzipname filename.any -x "\__MACOSX"
It must be said, though, zip command runs in terminal just compressing the file, it does not compress any others. So do this the result is the same:
zip newzipname filename.any
Keka does this. Just drag your directory over the app screen.
Do you mean the zip command-line tool or the Finder's Compress command?
For zip, you can try the --data-fork option. If that doesn't do it, you might try --no-extra, although that seems to ignore other file metadata that might be valuable, like uid/gid and file times.
For the Finder's Compress command, I don't believe there are any options to control its behavior. It's for the simple case.
The other tool, and maybe the one that the Finder actually uses under the hood, is ditto. With the -c -k options, it creates zip archives. With this tool, you can experiment with --norsrc, --noextattr, --noqtn, --noacl and/or simply leave off the --sequesterRsrc option (which, according to the man page, may be responsible for the __MACOSX subdirectory). Although, perhaps the absence of --sequesterRsrc simply means to use AppleDouble format, which would create ._ files all over the place instead of one __MACOSX directory.
This is how i avoid the __MACOSX directory when compress files with tar command:
$ cd dir-you-want-to-archive
$ find . | xargs xattr -l # <- list all files with special xattr attributes
...
./conf/clamav: com.apple.quarantine: 0083;5a9018b1;Safari;9DCAFF33-C7F5-4848-9A87-5E061E5E2D55
./conf/global: com.apple.quarantine: 0083;5a9018b1;Safari;9DCAFF33-C7F5-4848-9A87-5E061E5E2D55
./conf/web_server: com.apple.quarantine: 0083;5a9018b1;Safari;9DCAFF33-C7F5-4848-9A87-5E061E5E2D55
Delete the attribute first:
find . | xargs xattr -d com.apple.quarantine
Run find . | xargs xattr -l again, make sure no any file has the xattr attribute. then you're good to go:
tar cjvf file.tar.bz2 dir
Another shell script that could be used with the Automator tool (see also benedikt's answer on how to create the script) is:
while read -r f; do
d="$(dirname "$f")"
n="$(basename "$f")"
cd "$d"
zip "$n.zip" -x \*.DS_Store -r "$n"
done
The difference here is that this code directly compresses selected folders without macOS specific files (and not first compressing and afterwards deleting).
I'm running the command
rar a -m0 -v100m rarname.rar *.*
On some files with a bash script. I know I specified the rarname, but because of the -v option which sets a size limit to the rar, this command can make lots of rars named rarname.part1.rar, rarname.part2.rar, etc.
What is the best way to get the list of files created?
This should do it:
rarname.*.rar
Globs are not limited to the DOS-style "name.ext" pattern.
You can either capture and parse the output from the rar command or create the rar'ed files in a temporary directory, and then process the files there.
I'd recommend the later option.