find by name, type, and size in Linux CLI - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to find files named 'report.txt' in the current directory.

Linux CLI

find . -name [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A"report.txt"

Breport.txt

C'report.txt'

Dreport

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Not using quotes causes the shell to interpret the pattern incorrectly.

Using no quotes may fail if the filename contains special characters.

The find command requires the name pattern in quotes to avoid shell expansion. Single quotes are safest.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to find directories named 'backup' anywhere under /home.

Linux CLI

find /home -type [1] -name 'backup'

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Ad

Bf

Cl

Dx

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-type f' finds files, not directories.

Using an invalid type causes no results.

The '-type d' option tells find to look for directories only.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to find files larger than 10MB named 'data.log'.

Linux CLI

find /var/log -name 'data.log' -size [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A10

B10M

C-10M

D+10M

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '10M' finds files exactly 10MB, not larger.

Using '-10M' finds files smaller than 10MB.

The '+10M' means files larger than 10 megabytes. Without '+', it means exactly 10MB.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to find symbolic links named 'config' smaller than 1KB.

Linux CLI

find /etc -type [1] -name [2] -size -1k

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Al

B'config'

C"config"

Df

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-type f' finds files, not links.

Not quoting the name can cause errors.

Use '-type l' for symbolic links and quote the name 'config' to match exactly.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to find regular files named 'log.txt' larger than 5MB in /var.

Linux CLI

find /var -type [1] -name [2] -size [3]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Af

B'log.txt'

C+5M

Dd

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-type d' finds directories, not files.

Not quoting the filename causes errors.

Using '5M' finds files exactly 5MB, not larger.

Use '-type f' for files, quote the name, and '+5M' for files larger than 5MB.

Practice

1. What does the find command option -name do in Linux CLI?

easy

A. Searches files or directories by their name pattern

B. Filters files by their size

C. Lists all files in the current directory

D. Changes the name of a file

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the -name option

   The -name option in the find command is used to search for files or directories that match a specific name pattern.

2. Step 2: Compare with other options

   Options like filtering by size or listing files are done with other flags, not -name.

3. Final Answer:

   Searches files or directories by their name pattern -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   -name = Search by name [OK]

Hint: Remember: -name matches file names exactly [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing -name with size filters
• Thinking -name lists files
• Using -name to rename files

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to find all regular files named report.txt in the current directory and its subdirectories?

easy

A. find . -type f -name report.txt

B. find . -name "report.txt" -type d

C. find . -type f -name "report.txt"

D. find / -type f -name report.txt

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the syntax for find

   The correct syntax requires the path (here . for current directory), the type -type f for regular files, and the name pattern with quotes -name "report.txt" to match the exact file name.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   find . -type f -name report.txt misses quotes around the name, which can cause issues with special characters. find . -name "report.txt" -type d searches for directories (-type d) not files. find / -type f -name report.txt searches from root /, not current directory. find . -type f -name "report.txt" is correct with quotes and correct type.

3. Final Answer:

   find . -type f -name "report.txt" -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Quotes + correct type + current dir = find . -type f -name "report.txt" [OK]

Hint: Always quote the name pattern to avoid shell issues [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting quotes around the name
• Using wrong type flag (-type d instead of -type f)
• Searching from wrong directory

3. What will be the output of the command find /tmp -type f -size +1M -name "*.log" assuming there are two files: /tmp/app.log (500K) and /tmp/error.log (2M)?

medium

A. /tmp/app.log
/tmp/error.log

B. /tmp/error.log

C. /tmp/app.log

D. " (no output)

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the command filters

   The command searches in /tmp for regular files (-type f) with size greater than 1 megabyte (-size +1M) and names ending with .log (-name "*.log").

2. Step 2: Apply filters to given files

   /tmp/app.log is 500K, which is less than 1M, so excluded. /tmp/error.log is 2M, which matches size and name filters, so included.

3. Final Answer:

   /tmp/error.log -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Size +1M and name *.log = /tmp/error.log [OK]

Hint: Size +1M means files larger than 1 megabyte [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Including files smaller than 1M
• Ignoring the name pattern
• Confusing +1M with exactly 1M

4. You run the command find . -type f -name *.txt -size -10k but get an error or unexpected results. What is the likely problem?

medium

A. The command needs sudo to run

B. Wrong size flag; should be +10k instead of -10k

C. Using -type f instead of -type d

D. Missing quotes around *.txt causing shell expansion

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the issue with -name pattern

   The pattern *.txt without quotes is expanded by the shell before find runs, causing unexpected behavior or errors.

2. Step 2: Correct usage with quotes

   Enclosing *.txt in quotes like "*.txt" prevents shell expansion and lets find correctly match file names.

3. Final Answer:

   Missing quotes around *.txt causing shell expansion -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Always quote patterns in -name [OK]

Hint: Quote wildcards in -name to avoid shell expansion [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Not quoting the name pattern
• Confusing size flags + and -
• Using wrong type flag

5. You want to find all directories named backup larger than 100MB inside /var. Which command correctly achieves this?

hard

A. find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M -exec du -sh {} \;

B. find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M

C. find /var -type d -name "backup" -exec du -sh {} \; | awk '$1 > 100M'

D. find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M -size +100M

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand find limitations on directory size

   The -size option measures file size, but for directories it measures disk usage metadata, not total content size.

2. Step 2: Use -exec du -sh to get actual directory size

   find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M -exec du -sh {} \; uses -exec du -sh {} to show human-readable size of each directory found, which helps verify size over 100MB.

3. Step 3: Confirm correct filtering

   find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M incorrectly uses -size +100M on directories which is unreliable. find /var -type d -name "backup" -exec du -sh {} \; | awk '$1 > 100M' tries to filter with awk but size format is not numeric only. find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M -size +100M repeats -size +100M unnecessarily.

4. Final Answer:

   find /var -type d -name "backup" -size +100M -exec du -sh {} \; -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Use -exec du -sh to check directory sizes [OK]

Hint: Use du with -exec to measure directory size [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Relying on -size for directory content size
• Not quoting the name pattern
• Repeating size filters unnecessarily