1updatedb(8) System Manager's Manual updatedb(8)
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6 udpatedb - update a database for mlocate
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10 updatedb [OPTION]...
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14 updatedb creates or updates a database used by locate(1). If the data‐
15 base already exists, its data is reused to avoid rereading directories
16 that have not changed.
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18 updatedb is usually run daily by cron(8) to update the default data‐
19 base.
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23 updatedb returns with exit status 0 on success, 1 on error.
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27 The PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS, PRUNEFS and PRUNEPATHS variables, which are mod‐
28 ified by some of the options, are documented in detail in updat‐
29 edb.conf(5).
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32 -f, --add-prunefs FS
33 Add entries in white-space-separated list FS to PRUNEFS.
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36 -e, --add-prunepaths PATHS
37 Add entries in white-space-separated list PATHS to PRUNEPATHS.
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40 -U, --database-root PATH
41 Store only results of scanning the file system subtree rooted at
42 PATH to the generated database. The whole file system is
43 scanned by default.
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45 locate(1) outputs entries as absolute path names which don't
46 contain symblic links, regardless of the form of PATH.
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49 -h, --help
50 Write a summary of the available options to standard output and
51 exit sucessfully.
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54 -o, --output FILE
55 Write the database to FILE instead of using the default data‐
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59 --prune-bind-mounts FLAG
60 Set PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS to FLAG, overriding the config file.
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63 --prunefs FS
64 Set PRUNEFS to FS, overriding the config file.
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67 --prunepaths PATHS
68 Set PRUNEPATHS to PATHS, overriding the config file.
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71 -l, --require-visibility FLAG
72 Set the “require file visibility before reporting it” flag in
73 the generated database to FLAG.
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75 If FLAG is 0 or no, locate(1) outputs the database entries even
76 if the user running locate(1) could not have read the directory
77 necessary to find out the file described by the database entry.
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79 If FLAG is 1 or yes (the default), locate(1) checks the permis‐
80 sions of parent directories of each entry before reporting it to
81 the invoking user. To make the file existence truly hidden from
82 other users, the database group is set to slocate and the data‐
83 base permissions prohibit reading the database by users using
84 other means than locate(1), which is sgid slocate.
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87 -v, --verbose
88 Output path names of files to standard output, as soon as they
89 are found.
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92 -V, --version
93 Write information about the version and licence of locate on
94 standard output and exit sucessfully.
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98 /etc/updatedb.conf
99 A configuration file. See updatedb.conf(5).
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102 /var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db
103 The database updated by default.
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107 Databases built with --require-visibility no allow users to find names
108 of files and directories of other users, which they would not otherwise
109 be able to do.
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113 The accompanying locate(1) utility was designed to be compatible to
114 slocate and attempts to be compatible to GNU locate where possible.
115 This is not the case for updatedb.
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119 Miloslav Trmac <mitr@redhat.com>
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123 locate(1), mlocate.db(5), updatedb.conf(5)
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127mlocate Jul 2005 updatedb(8)