1updatedb.conf(5)              File Formats Manual             updatedb.conf(5)
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NAME

6       /etc/updatedb.conf - a configuration file for updatedb(8)
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DESCRIPTION

10       /etc/updatedb.conf is a text file.  Blank lines are ignored.  A # char‐
11       acter outside of a quoted string starts a comment extending  until  end
12       of line.
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14       Other lines must be of the following form:
15              VARIABLE = "VALUE"
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17       White  space  between  tokens  is ignored.  VARIABLE is an alphanumeric
18       string which does not start with a digit.  VALUE can contain any  char‐
19       acter  except for ".  No escape mechanism is supported within VALUE and
20       there is no way to write VALUE spanning more than one line.
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22       Unknown VARIABLE values are considered an error.  The defined variables
23       are:
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26       PRUNEFS
27              A  whitespace-separated  list  of  file system types (as used in
28              /etc/mtab) which should not be scanned by updatedb(8).  The file
29              system  type  matching is case-insensitive.  By default, no file
30              system types are skipped.
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32              When scanning a file system is skipped, all file systems mounted
33              in  the  subtree  are  skipped  too, even if their type does not
34              match any entry in PRUNEFS.
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37       PRUNENAMES
38              A whitespace-separated list of directory names  (without  paths)
39              which  should  not  be  scanned  by updatedb(8).  By default, no
40              directory names are skipped.
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42              Note that only directories can  be  specified,  and  no  pattern
43              mechanism (e.g.  globbing) is used.
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46       PRUNEPATHS
47              A  whitespace-separated  list of path names of directories which
48              should not be scanned by updatedb(8).  Each path  name  must  be
49              exactly  in the form in which the directory would be reported by
50              locate(1).
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52              By default, no paths are skipped.
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55       PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS
56              One of the strings 0, no, 1 or yes.  If PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS  is  1
57              or  yes,  bind  mounts are not scanned by updatedb(8).  All file
58              systems mounted in the subtree of a bind mount  are  skipped  as
59              well,  even  if they are not bind mounts.  As an exception, bind
60              mounts of a directory on itself are not skipped.
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62              By default, bind mounts are not skipped.
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NOTES

66       When a directory is  matched  by  PRUNEFS,  PRUNENAMES  or  PRUNEPATHS,
67       updatedb(8)  does  not scan the contents of the directory.  The path of
68       the directory itself is, however, entered in the created database.  For
69       example,  if  /tmp  is in PRUNEPATHS, locate(1) will not show any files
70       stored in /tmp, but it can show the /tmp directory.  This behavior dif‐
71       fers from traditional locate implementations.
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73       In  some  updatedb(8) implementations PRUNEPATHS can be used to exclude
74       non-directory files.  This is not the case in this implementation.
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76       /etc/updatedb.conf is a shell script  in  some  implementations,  which
77       allows  much  more  flexibility  in defining the variables.  Equivalent
78       functionality can be achieved by  using  the  command-line  options  to
79       updatedb(8).
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AUTHOR

83       Miloslav Trmac <mitr@redhat.com>
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SEE ALSO

87       locate(1), updatedb(8)
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91mlocate                            Jun 2008                   updatedb.conf(5)
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