tmpwatch

TMPWATCH(8)              System Administrator's Manual             TMPWATCH(8)



NAME
       tmpwatch  -  removes  files which haven't been accessed for a period of
       time

SYNOPSIS
       tmpwatch [-u|-m|-c] [-faqstv] [--verbose] [--force] [--all] [--test]
                      [--fuser ] [--atime|--mtime|--ctime]  [--quiet]  <hours>
       <dirs>


DESCRIPTION
       tmpwatch  recursively  removes  files which haven't been accessed for a
       given number of hours. 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,
        and only removes empty directories and regular files.

       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  this
       times.

       The  hours  parameter  defines the threshold for removing files. If the
       file has not been accessed for hours hours, the file is removed.   Fol-
       lowing 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.



       -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.


       -a, --all
              Remove all file types, not just regular files 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).


       -t, --test
              Doesn't  remove  files, but goes through the motions of removing
              them. This implies -v.


       -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.


       -v, --verbose
              Print a verbose display. Two levels of verboseness are available
              -- use this option twice to get the most verbose output.


SEE ALSO
       cron(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>



4th Berkeley Distribution       Wed Nov 28 2001                    TMPWATCH(8)