Linux updatedb Command

Linux Command Manual

The updatedb command is used to create or update the database file necessary for the slocate/locate commands.

The execution process of the updatedb command is lengthy because it traverses the entire system's directory tree and writes all file information into the slocate/locate database file.

Note: slocate itself has a database containing information about files and directories on the system.

Syntax

updatedb(options)

Parameters

--o<file> : Ignore the default database file and use the specified slocate database file;

--U<directory> : Update the slocate database for the specified directory;

--v : Display detailed execution process.

The following example checks for a non-existent file tutorialpro.txt:

# locate tutorialpro.txt   # Search for tutorialpro.txt, no output indicates the file does not exist
# touch ./tutorialpro.txt  # Add file tutorialpro.txt
# locate tutorialpro.txt   # Search for tutorialpro.txt again, the file still does not exist
# updatedb            # Update the locate.db database
# locate tutorialpro.txt   # Search for tutorialpro.txt in the database again, the file is found
/root/tutorialpro/tutorialpro.txt

Using the -U option allows specifying the directory to update the slocate database for.

updatedb -U /root/tutorialpro/

Linux Command Manual

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