Linux Find command using +mtime gives incorrect results

Question

I am using find to list files older than 21 days so they can be moved or deleted.

I have a list of 80 files with dates ranging from 28/12/2017 to 11/01/2017

If I issue the command

find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.ABC*' -type f -mtime +7
    -rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  11K Dec 29 04:53 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Dec 29 04:53 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.9K Dec 29 04:11 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Dec 29 04:14 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  12K Dec 29 16:09 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 16:10 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 27 06:03 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 06:06 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 27 15:06 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 15:08 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 22:43 ./FILESH20171228034212.ABC501141.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.1K Dec 28 21:17 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Dec 28 21:17 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Dec 29 01:49 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 01:50 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.3K Dec 29 06:08 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 06:08 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Dec 29 12:22 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 12:22 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 29 13:11 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 29 13:13 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 6.3K Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  231 Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 6.3K Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  231 Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 3.1K Dec 28 21:12 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Dec 28 21:14 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639.err

I get a list of the files older than 7 days

If I issue the command

find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.ABC*' -type f -mtime +21

-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Jan  9 03:44 ./FILEDETAEDXB.ABC0006309.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  11K Jan  2 04:40 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  2 04:40 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  11K Jan  2 05:41 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  2 05:43 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.4K Jan  5 06:23 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0833717
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  5 06:25 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0833717.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.4K Jan 10 02:30 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0835828
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan 10 02:30 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0835828.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  11K Dec 29 04:53 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Dec 29 04:53 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.9K Dec 29 04:11 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Dec 29 04:14 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.9K Jan  2 02:16 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  2 02:16 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.6K Jan  4 06:58 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136566
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  4 07:00 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136566.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.6K Jan  5 03:31 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136644
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  5 03:31 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136644.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.6K Jan  7 05:54 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136957
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  7 05:56 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136957.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.6K Jan  9 08:30 ./FILEDETFRCDG.ABC0925054
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  9 08:32 ./FILEDETFRCDG.ABC0925054.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 9.4K Jan  8 10:30 ./FILEDETGBLHR.ABC0924523
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  235 Jan  8 10:31 ./FILEDETGBLHR.ABC0924523.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  12K Jan  5 20:47 ./FILEDETUSIND.ABC1079659
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  230 Jan  5 20:47 ./FILEDETUSIND.ABC1079659.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  12K Dec 29 16:09 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 16:10 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 27 06:03 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 06:06 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 27 15:06 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 15:08 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 27 22:43 ./FILESH20171228034212.ABC501141.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.1K Dec 28 21:17 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Dec 28 21:17 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Dec 29 01:49 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 01:50 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.3K Dec 29 06:08 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 06:08 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Dec 29 12:22 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Dec 29 12:22 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Dec 29 13:11 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Dec 29 13:13 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 6.3K Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  231 Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 6.3K Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  231 Dec 30 09:07 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.3K Jan  2 06:03 ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Jan  2 06:04 ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 7.1K Jan  4 08:53 ./FILESH20180104135324.ABC526871
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  223 Jan  4 08:54 ./FILESH20180104135324.ABC526871.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 1.6K Jan  5 11:23 ./FILESH20180105162316.ABC532119
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  194 Jan  5 11:25 ./FILESH20180105162316.ABC532119.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.8K Jan  5 19:03 ./FILESH20180106000302.ABC533625
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  231 Jan  5 19:05 ./FILESH20180106000302.ABC533625.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Jan  7 10:50 ./FILESH20180107155028.ABC537128
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Jan  7 10:50 ./FILESH20180107155028.ABC537128.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.1K Jan  8 12:30 ./FILESH20180108173029.ABC541273
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Jan  8 12:31 ./FILESH20180108173029.ABC541273.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.3K Jan  9 05:00 ./FILESH20180109100016.ABC544589
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  220 Jan  9 05:02 ./FILESH20180109100016.ABC544589.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.3K Jan 10 02:07 ./FILESH20180110070732.ABC549496
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  307 Jan 10 02:09 ./FILESH20180110070732.ABC549496.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.1K Jan 10 04:34 ./FILEFRCDG.ABC0925588
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan 10 04:36 ./FILEFRCDG.ABC0925588.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 4.1K Jan 10 08:08 ./FILEFRCDG.ABC0925774
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan 10 08:09 ./FILEFRCDG.ABC0925774.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 2.8K Jan  6 02:48 ./FILEHKHKG.ABC0002019
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan  6 02:50 ./FILEHKHKG.ABC0002019.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 3.1K Dec 28 21:12 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Dec 28 21:14 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 5.1K Jan  2 19:31 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan  2 19:33 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 3.8K Jan  5 20:20 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043212
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan  5 20:20 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043212.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 3.1K Jan 10 01:29 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043467
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan 10 01:30 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043467.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 3.1K Jan 10 02:04 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043479
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser  274 Jan 10 02:06 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0043479.err

I get a list of all of the files as none were matched, I would have expected 0 files to show. This is no good to me if I want to delete on a rolling basis as it will delete everything.

Is this just a the default behaviour using mtime (checked the man pages and didn't find any relevant comments)?

"I get a list of all of the files as none were matched, this is obviously no good to me if I want to delete on a rolling basis as it will delete everything." What exactly does this mean? I've got a hard time understanding this sentence, what you intend to do and which results you expect. Please rephrase and add examples. — Murphy, Jan 11 '18 at 12:04

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 11 '18 at 14:31

From the second list of files from your question I have recreated files in the directory, so it looks like this:

[/tmp/10]$ cat /tmp/2 | awk '{print $6,$7,$8,$9}' | while read a b c file; do touch -m -t $(date --date="$(if [ "$a" == Jan ]; then echo "2018-01-$b $c:00"; else echo "2017-12-$b $c:00"; echo $b >&2; fi)" +%Y%m%d%H00) "$file"; done
[/tmp/10]$ ls -lat  --time-style=long-iso
total 0
drwxrwxrwt 18 root  root   520 2018-01-11 14:34 ../
drwxr-xr-x  2 kamil kamil 1640 2018-01-11 14:30 ./
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 08:00 FILEFRCDG.ABC0925774
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 08:00 FILEFRCDG.ABC0925774.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 04:00 FILEFRCDG.ABC0925588
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 04:00 FILEFRCDG.ABC0925588.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0835828
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0835828.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043479
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043479.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILESH20180110070732.ABC549496
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 02:00 FILESH20180110070732.ABC549496.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 01:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043467
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-10 01:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043467.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-09 08:00 FILEDETFRCDG.ABC0925054
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-09 08:00 FILEDETFRCDG.ABC0925054.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-09 05:00 FILESH20180109100016.ABC544589
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-09 05:00 FILESH20180109100016.ABC544589.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-09 03:00 FILEDETAEDXB.ABC0006309.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-08 12:00 FILESH20180108173029.ABC541273
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-08 12:00 FILESH20180108173029.ABC541273.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-08 10:00 FILEDETGBLHR.ABC0924523
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-08 10:00 FILEDETGBLHR.ABC0924523.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-07 10:00 FILESH20180107155028.ABC537128
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-07 10:00 FILESH20180107155028.ABC537128.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-07 05:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136957
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-07 05:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136957.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-06 02:00 FILEHKHKG.ABC0002019
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-06 02:00 FILEHKHKG.ABC0002019.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 20:00 FILEDETUSIND.ABC1079659
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 20:00 FILEDETUSIND.ABC1079659.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 20:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043212
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 20:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0043212.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 19:00 FILESH20180106000302.ABC533625
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 19:00 FILESH20180106000302.ABC533625.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 11:00 FILESH20180105162316.ABC532119
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 11:00 FILESH20180105162316.ABC532119.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 06:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0833717
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 06:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0833717.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 03:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136644
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-05 03:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136644.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-04 08:00 FILESH20180104135324.ABC526871
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-04 08:00 FILESH20180104135324.ABC526871.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-04 07:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136566.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-04 06:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136566
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 19:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0042904
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 19:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0042904.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 06:00 FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 06:00 FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 05:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 05:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 04:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 04:00 FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 02:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2018-01-02 02:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-30 09:00 FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-30 09:00 FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-30 09:00 FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-30 09:00 FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 16:00 FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 16:00 FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 13:00 FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 13:00 FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 12:00 FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 12:00 FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 06:00 FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 06:00 FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 04:00 FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 04:00 FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 04:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 04:00 FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 01:00 FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-29 01:00 FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-28 21:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0042639
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-28 21:00 FILESGSIN.ABC0042639.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-28 21:00 FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-28 21:00 FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-27 22:00 FILESH20171228034212.ABC501141.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-27 15:00 FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-27 15:00 FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980.err
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-27 06:00 FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058
-rw-r--r--  1 kamil kamil    0 2017-12-27 06:00 FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058.err

Running -mtime +7:

[/tmp/10]$ find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.ABC*' -type f -mtime +7 | xargs ls -lat --time-style=long-iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 19:00 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 19:00 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 06:00 ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 06:00 ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 05:00 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 05:00 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 04:00 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 04:00 ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 02:00 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2018-01-02 02:00 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-30 09:00 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-30 09:00 ./FILESH20171230140743.ABC511960.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-30 09:00 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-30 09:00 ./FILESH20171230140744.ABC511961.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 16:00 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 16:00 ./FILEDETUSMIA.ABC1076077.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 13:00 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 13:00 ./FILESH20171229181138.ABC509510.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 12:00 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 12:00 ./FILESH20171229172209.ABC509285.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 06:00 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 06:00 ./FILESH20171229110823.ABC507313.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 04:00 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 04:00 ./FILEDETDKKPH.ABC0135779.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 04:00 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 04:00 ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0135771.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 01:00 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-29 01:00 ./FILESH20171229064908.ABC506346.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-28 21:00 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-28 21:00 ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042639.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-28 21:00 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-28 21:00 ./FILESH20171229021743.ABC505716.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-27 22:00 ./FILESH20171228034212.ABC501141.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-27 15:00 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-27 15:00 ./FILESH20171227200641.ABC499980.err
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-27 06:00 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058
-rw-r--r-- 1 kamil kamil 0 2017-12-27 06:00 ./FILESH20171227110357.ABC498058.err

gives me a few more files, but maybe it is 2 hours later:

[/tmp/10]$ diff <(cat /tmp/1 | awk '{print $9}' | sort) <(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.ABC*' -type f -mtime +7 | sort)
0a1,4
> ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923
> ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831923.err
> ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948
> ./FILEDETDEFFM.ABC0831948.err
4a9,10
> ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108
> ./FILEDETESPMI.ABC0136108.err
8a15,16
> ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904
> ./FILESGSIN.ABC0042904.err
27a36,37
> ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782
> ./FILESH20180102110316.ABC517782.err

Anyway running -mtime +21 gives me no results.

[/tmp/10]$ find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.ABC*' -type f -mtime +21
[/tmp/10]$

I have put the code on tutorialspoint.com http://tpcg.io/OgKDKc

I can guess that:

your find utility is somewhat broken.
time on your system is not stable and bad.
files modification times showed in your listings are not modification times, but access or creation times. Maybe you are using ls -u to list the files or your ls utility is broken.
i have failed to recreate the conditions

PS. In your question I assumed you meant '11/01/2018' and not '11/01/2017'.

Linux Find command using +mtime gives incorrect results

1 Answers1