How to remove all subdirectories? (unix shell scripting)

Question

I have a directory called "cdrs-roaming". Everyday I receive one or more .zip files and unzip them with this:

#!/bin/bash
for i in *.zip
do
    j=${i//\.zip/}
    mkdir $j
    cd $j
    unzip  ../$i
    cd -
done

Then I have for example: "example1.zip" and "example1"; "example2.zip" and "example2"

I'm removing all zip files (in this case: "example1.zip" and "example2.zip") with this:

#! /bin/bash
find /dados/cdrs-roaming/*.zip -mtime +1 -exec rm {} \;

So I want to remove the directories (or folders - I really don't know the difference) "example1" and "example2". I've tried this:

#! /bin/bash
find /dados/cdrs-roaming/ -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} \;

But it also removes "cdrs-roaming". I've also tried to use:

find /cdrs-roaming/ -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} \;

But it returns: find: ‘/cdrs-roaming/’: No such file or directory

Any idea for doing this? I need to delete only the directories within "cdrs-roaming" but I can't remove anything else inside it (my .sh files are inside of it)

The only difference between a "directory" and a "folder" is that the former is traditional UNIX terminology and the latter is traditional Windows terminology. — Charles Duffy, Jan 14 '21 at 22:29

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 15 '21 at 08:17

2

Since you are using bash, how about

rm -rf /dados/cdrs-roaming/*/

The final slash ensures that bash only expands the pattern to directories.

answered Jan 15 '21 at 08:17

user1934428

19,864
7
42
87

Thank you very much! This way I can remove all directories and subdirectories safely – GABRIEL ANDRADE QUEIROZ Jan 15 '21 at 17:21
'Safely' is a relative term. I always feel a shudder, if I do a `rm -rf`..... – user1934428 Jan 16 '21 at 18:19
1

Not only bash, this should work in all POSIX shells. See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58176457/is-portable – oguz ismail Jan 19 '21 at 12:14

Timur Shtatland · Answer 2 · 2021-01-14T22:48:52.703

0

Use -mindepth 1 option:

find /dados/cdrs-roaming/ -mindepth 1 -type d -mtime +1 -exec rm -rf {} \;

edited Jan 14 '21 at 22:48

answered Jan 14 '21 at 22:27

Timur Shtatland

12,024
2
30
47

Thanks! You helped a lot. I've changed "-mtime +1" to "-mmin +1" and it worked. First time there wasn't any directory from 1 day – GABRIEL ANDRADE QUEIROZ Jan 14 '21 at 22:53

How to remove all subdirectories? (unix shell scripting)

2 Answers2