find with -exec for actions in Linux CLI - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of find with -exec to list files

What is the output of this command if the current directory contains files file1.txt and file2.log only?

find . -name '*.txt' -exec ls -l {} \;

Linux CLI

find . -name '*.txt' -exec ls -l {} \;

A No output, command fails

B Lists detailed info of file2.log only

C Lists detailed info of file1.txt only

D Lists detailed info of both file1.txt and file2.log

💡 Hint

The command finds files ending with .txt and runs ls -l on each.

The find command searches for files matching '*.txt' and runs 'ls -l' on each found file. Only file1.txt matches, so only its details are listed.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Effect of find with -exec rm on files

Given a directory with files a.txt, b.txt, and c.log, what files remain after running?

find . -name '*.txt' -exec rm {} \;

Linux CLI

find . -name '*.txt' -exec rm {} \;

A Only c.log remains

B All files remain

C Only a.txt remains

D Only b.txt remains

💡 Hint

The command deletes files ending with .txt.

The find command locates all files ending with .txt and deletes them with rm. Only c.log remains.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Correct syntax for find with -exec to move files

Which option correctly moves all .log files to /backup using find with -exec?

A find . -name '*.log' -exec mv {} /backup \;

B find . -name '*.log' -exec mv {} /backup ;

C find . -name '*.log' -exec mv {} /backup \

D find . -name '*.log' -exec mv {} /backup

💡 Hint

The -exec command must end with an escaped semicolon.

The correct syntax requires the escaped semicolon '\;' to mark the end of the command for -exec. Options B, C, and D miss this or have wrong escaping.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this find with -exec command fail?

This command is intended to compress all .txt files with gzip:

find . -name '*.txt' -exec gzip {} ;

Why does it fail?

Linux CLI

find . -name '*.txt' -exec gzip {} ;

A The find command needs -print before -exec

B gzip command does not accept file arguments

C The wildcard '*.txt' is not quoted

D Missing escape before semicolon causes syntax error

💡 Hint

Check how the semicolon is written at the end of -exec.

The semicolon must be escaped as '\;' to prevent shell interpreting it. Without escape, find sees syntax error.

🚀 Application

expert

Count files modified in last 7 days and delete them

Which command correctly finds files modified in the last 7 days and deletes them safely using find with -exec?

A find . -type f -mtime 7 -exec rm {} \;

B find . -type f -mtime -7 -exec rm -i {} \;

C find . -type f -mtime +7 -exec rm -f {} \;

D find . -mtime -7 -exec rm {}

💡 Hint

Use -mtime with negative value for files modified within last N days and confirm deletion.

Option B finds files modified less than 7 days ago and deletes them interactively (-i). Others either use wrong time, no confirmation, or missing escape.