TMPWATCH(8)                                       System Administrator's Manual                                      TMPWATCH(8)



NAME
       tmpwatch - removes files which haven't been accessed for a period of time

SYNOPSIS
       tmpwatch [-u|-m|-c] [-MUadfqstvx] [--verbose] [--force] [--all]
                      [--nodirs] [--nosymlinks] [--test] [--fuser] [--quiet]
                      [--atime|--mtime|--ctime] [--dirmtime] [--exclude path]
                      [--exclude-user user] time dirs


DESCRIPTION
       tmpwatch  recursively removes files which haven't been accessed for a given time.  Normally, it's used to clean up direc-
       tories which are used for temporary holding space such as /tmp.

       When changing directories, tmpwatch is very sensitive to possible race conditions and will exit with an error if  one  is
       detected.  It  does  not  follow symbolic links in the directories it's cleaning (even if a symbolic link is given as its
       argument), will not switch filesystems, skips lost+found directories owned by the  root  user,  and  only  removes  empty
       directories, regular files, and symbolic links.

       By default, tmpwatch dates files by their atime (access time), not their mtime (modification time). If files aren't being
       removed when ls -l implies they should be, use ls -u to examine their atime to see if that explains the problem.

       If the --atime, --ctime or --mtime options are used in combination, the decision about deleting a file will be  based  on
       the  maximum  of these times.  The --dirmtime option implies ignoring atime of directories, even if the --atime option is
       used.

       The time parameter defines the threshold for removing files.  If the file has not been accessed for  time,  the  file  is
       removed.   The  time argument is a number with an optional single-character suffix specifying the units: m for minutes, h
       for hours, d for days.  If no suffix is specified, time is in hours.

       Following this, one or more directories may be given for tmpwatch to clean up.



OPTIONS
       -u, --atime
              Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's atime (access time). This is the default.

              Note that the periodic updatedb file system scans keep the atime of directories recent.


       -m, --mtime
              Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's mtime (modification time) instead of the atime.


       -c, --ctime
              Make the decision about deleting a file based on the file's ctime (inode change time) instead of  the  atime;  for
              directories, make the decision based on the mtime.


       -M, --dirmtime
              Make  the  decision  about  deleting a directory based on the directory's mtime (modification time) instead of the
              atime; completely ignore atime for directories.


       -a, --all
              Remove all file types, not just regular files, symbolic links and directories.


       -d, --nodirs
              Do not attempt to remove directories, even if they are empty.


       -f, --force
              Remove files even if root doesn't have write access (akin to rm -f).


       -l, --nosymlinks
              Do not attempt to remove symbolic links.


       -q, --quiet
              Report only fatal errors.


       -s, --fuser
              Attempt to use the "fuser" command to see if a file is already open before removing it.  Not enabled  by  default.
              Does  help in some circumstances, but not all.  Dependent on fuser being installed in /sbin.  Not supported on HP-
              UX or Solaris.


       -t, --test
              Don't remove files, but go through the motions of removing them. This implies -v.


       -U, --exclude-user=user
              Don't remove files owned by user, which can be an user name or numeric user ID.


       -v, --verbose
              Print a verbose display. Two levels of verboseness are available -- use this option twice to get the most  verbose
              output.


       -x, --exclude=path
              Skip  path; if path is a directory, all files contained in it are skipped too.  If path does not exist, it must be
              an absolute path that contains no symbolic links.


       -X, --exclude-pattern=pattern
              Skip paths matching pattern; if a directory matches pattern, all files contained in it are skipped  too.   pattern
              must match an absolute path that contains no symbolic links.


SEE ALSO
       cron(1), ls(1), rm(1), fuser(1)


WARNINGS
       GNU-style long options are not supported on HP-UX.


AUTHORS
       Erik Troan <ewtATredhat.com>
       Preston Brown <pbrownATredhat.com>
       Nalin Dahyabhai <nalinATredhat.com>
       Miloslav Trmac <mitrATredhat.com>



4th Berkeley Distribution                                  2009-10-15                                                TMPWATCH(8)