Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 09:27:29 -0500 From: "Andrew L. Gould" <algould@datawok.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Removing thousands of files using rm Message-ID: <200407060927.29771.algould@datawok.com> In-Reply-To: <3703.209.167.16.15.1089123354.squirrel@209.167.16.15> References: <3703.209.167.16.15.1089123354.squirrel@209.167.16.15>
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On Tuesday 06 July 2004 09:15 am, Steve Bertrand wrote: > I often have the need to remove hundreds or even thousands of files > from a single directory (very often). Using rm, I usually get: > > pearl# rm -rvf * > /bin/rm: Argument list too long. > > Is there any way to work around this instead of having to select a > small bunch of files at a time to remove? > > The directory I am trying to remove the files from is always hot, so > deleting the directory is unfortunately not an option. (I don't > think). > > Any assistance is greatly appreciated. > > Tks all, > > Steve You could always write a short script that reads and loops through the directory contents; and deletes one file (or a group of files) at a time. It would take a little longer, but at least it would be automated. Andrew Gould
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