find command basics in Linux CLI - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the find command do in Linux?

The find command searches for files and directories in a directory hierarchy based on conditions like name, type, size, or modification time.

beginner

How do you use find to search for files named notes.txt in the current directory and its subdirectories?

Use find . -name "notes.txt". The dot . means start from the current directory.

beginner

What option do you use with find to search only for directories?

Use -type d to find directories only. For example, find . -type d lists all directories.

intermediate

How can you find files larger than 1 megabyte using find?

Use -size +1M. For example, find . -size +1M finds files bigger than 1 megabyte.

intermediate

What does the -exec option do in the find command?

It runs a command on each file found. For example, find . -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \; deletes all .log files found.

Which command finds all files named report.txt starting from the current directory?

A find -name report.txt

B find / -type d report.txt

C find report.txt -type f

D find . -name "report.txt"

Option D correctly uses find starting at current directory . with -name to find the file.

What does find /home -type f -size +10M do?

A Finds directories larger than 10MB in /home

B Finds files larger than 10MB in /home

C Finds files smaller than 10MB in /home

D Finds all files in /home

The -type f means files, and -size +10M means larger than 10 megabytes.

How do you find all directories named backup?

A find . -type d -name "backup"

B find . -type f -name "backup"

C find backup -type d

D find . -name "backup"

Option A searches for directories (-type d) named backup starting from current directory.

What is the purpose of the curly braces {} in find . -name "*.txt" -exec rm {} \;?

A It is a placeholder for each found file

B It represents the current directory

C It ends the command

D It is a wildcard for file names

Curly braces {} are replaced by each file found by find when running the -exec command.

Which option limits find to search only in the current directory, not subdirectories?

A -depth 0

B -mindepth 1

C -maxdepth 1

D -nodir

The -maxdepth 1 option tells find to search only the current directory level.

Explain how to use the find command to locate files by name and then delete them safely.

Think about searching files and running a delete command on each.

Describe how to find all directories named 'config' starting from your home directory.

Focus on directory type and name filtering.