find and copy file using Bash

Question

Anybody has an alternate way of finding and copying files in bash than:

find . -ctime -15 | awk '{print "cp " $1 " ../otherfolder/"}' | sh

I like this way because it's flexible, as I'm building my command (can by any command) and executing it after.

Are there other ways of streamlining commands to a list of files?

Thanks

Similar Q&A 1+1/2 years later: http://stackoverflow.com/q/5241625/1172302 — Nikos Alexandris, Aug 15 '12 at 04:27

score 122 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:36

122

I would recommend using find's -exec option:

find . -ctime 15 -exec cp {} ../otherfolder \;

As always, consult the manpage for best results.

answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:36

asveikau

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The find man page suggests using single quotes around the braces since it may get misinterpreted without them. – Jonathan Sternberg May 15 '10 at 05:59
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You should replace `\;` with `+` to avoid running a `cp` every time. – Reinstate Monica Please Jul 13 '14 at 23:05
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@BroSlow Not sure why but this only works with \; and with + I get 'missing argument for -exec'. – Jan 07 '16 at 15:57
what if all the files have the same name (`im.png`)? Can I put them in the same directory while renaming, such as `im_1.png`, `im_2.png`, `im_3.png`... – MrMartin Jan 15 '19 at 13:33
If found in subdirectories - copies to the root of `otherfolder` :( – Vitaly Zdanevich Mar 21 '19 at 09:58
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@user234932 you need to use an alternate way to pass destination to `cp`: `find … -exec cp -t {} +` should work – Mr. Tao Nov 21 '19 at 13:34
@Mr.Tao This solution is ~3.5x faster than original solution. – Petr Javorik Mar 24 '20 at 10:17
On macos the "\;" solution works but the "{} +" not (for me). – Tapper Mar 15 '22 at 16:19

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:37

16

I usually use this one:

find . -ctime -15 -exec cp {} ../otherfolder/ \;

answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:37

tangens

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Idelic · Answer 3 · 2020-03-06T11:28:43.923

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If your cp is GNU's:

find . -ctime 15 -print0 | xargs --no-run-if-empty -0 cp --target-directory=../otherfolder

edited Mar 06 '20 at 11:28

answered Oct 14 '09 at 07:17

Idelic

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With this syntax I get `cp: missing operand`. If I use the syntax provided by @andrey-vlasovskikh (`-I{} -cp {} otherfolder`) I don't receive this error. – harperville Feb 16 '20 at 17:14
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Updated the answer to cover that case (when `find` produces no output). – Idelic Mar 06 '20 at 11:29
I like this. I added a `| head -z -n 10` after the find to limit my results. – netskink Jan 16 '22 at 19:05

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

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You can do it with xargs:

$ find . -ctime 15 -print0 | xargs -0 -I{} cp {} ../otherfolder

See also grep utility in shell script.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:40

Andrey Vlasovskikh

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This has the advantage of being faster than `find -exec` because it doesn't create a new `cp` process for each file. However if you have GNU find you can do `find -exec ... +` instead of `find -exec ... ';'` for the same effect :) – hobbs Oct 14 '09 at 07:18

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 30 '19 at 16:02

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Use this for copy and many other things:

for f in $(find /apps -type f -name 'foo'); do cp ${f} ${f}.bak; cmd2; cmd3; done;

edited Jun 30 '19 at 16:02

Vlad

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answered Feb 01 '11 at 07:55

hardihood07

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Shouldn't there be a $ before (find /apps -type f -name 'foo')? Thanks. – Shaohua Li Aug 26 '18 at 03:53

score -3 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:38

-3

-exec is likely the way to go, unless you have far too many files. Then use xargs.

answered Oct 13 '09 at 18:38

Norman

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This could be a comment to an accepted response or supply examples for each method you've mentioned. – harperville Feb 16 '20 at 17:16

find and copy file using Bash

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