TMPWATCH(8) System Administrator's Manual TMPWATCH(8)NAMEtmpwatch - removes files which haven't been accessed for a period of
time
SYNOPSIStmpwatch [-u|-m|-c] [-MUadfqstvx] [--verbose] [--force] [--all]
[--nodirs] [--nosymlinks] [--test] [--fuser] [--quiet]
[--atime|--mtime|--ctime] [--dirmtime] [--exclude path]
[--exclude-user user] time dirs
DESCRIPTIONtmpwatch recursively removes files which haven't been accessed for a
given time. Normally, it's used to clean up directories which are used
for temporary holding space such as /tmp.
When changing directories, tmpwatch is very sensitive to possible race
conditions and will exit with an error if one is detected. It does not
follow symbolic links in the directories it's cleaning (even if a sym‐
bolic link is given as its argument), will not switch filesystems,
skips lost+found directories owned by the root user, and only removes
empty directories, regular files, and symbolic links.
By default, tmpwatch dates files by their atime (access time), not
their mtime (modification time). If files aren't being removed when ls
-l implies they should be, use ls -u to examine their atime to see if
that explains the problem.
If the --atime, --ctime or --mtime options are used in combination, the
decision about deleting a file will be based on the maximum of these
times. The --dirmtime option implies ignoring atime of directories,
even if the --atime option is used.
The time parameter defines the threshold for removing files. If the
file has not been accessed for time, the file is removed. The time
argument is a number with an optional single-character suffix specify‐
ing the units: m for minutes, h for hours, d for days. If no suffix is
specified, time is in hours.
Following this, one or more directories may be given for tmpwatch to
clean up.
OPTIONS-u, --atime
Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's
atime (access time). This is the default.
Note that the periodic updatedb file system scans keep the atime
of directories recent.
-m, --mtime
Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's
mtime (modification time) instead of the atime.
-c, --ctime
Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's
ctime (inode change time) instead of the atime; for directories,
make the decision based on the mtime.
-M, --dirmtime
Make the decision about deleting a directory based on the direc‐
tory's mtime (modification time) instead of the atime; com‐
pletely ignore atime for directories.
-a, --all
Remove all file types, not just regular files, symbolic links
and directories.
-d, --nodirs
Do not attempt to remove directories, even if they are empty.
-f, --force
Remove files even if root doesn't have write access (akin to rm
-f).
-l, --nosymlinks
Do not attempt to remove symbolic links.
-q, --quiet
Report only fatal errors.
-s, --fuser
Attempt to use the "fuser" command to see if a file is already
open before removing it. Not enabled by default. Does help in
some circumstances, but not all. Dependent on fuser being
installed in /sbin. Not supported on HP-UX or Solaris.
-t, --test
Don't remove files, but go through the motions of removing them.
This implies -v.
-U, --exclude-user=user
Don't remove files owned by user, which can be an user name or
numeric user ID.
-v, --verbose
Print a verbose display. Two levels of verboseness are available
-- use this option twice to get the most verbose output.
-x, --exclude=path
Skip path; if path is a directory, all files contained in it are
skipped too. If path does not exist, it must be an absolute
path that contains no symbolic links.
-X, --exclude-pattern=pattern
Skip paths matching pattern; if a directory matches pattern, all
files contained in it are skipped too. pattern must match an
absolute path that contains no symbolic links.
SEE ALSOcron(1), ls(1), rm(1), fuser(1)WARNINGS
GNU-style long options are not supported on HP-UX.
AUTHORS
Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>
Preston Brown <pbrown@redhat.com>
Nalin Dahyabhai <nalin@redhat.com>
Miloslav Trmac <mitr@redhat.com>
4th Berkeley Distribution 2009-10-15 TMPWATCH(8)
