Search for files by content in Linux
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14.04.2023, 02:43
The contents of files in Linux are data that is stored in a file and can be read or modified using various utilities and the command line. Often they require a file search, then we'll tell you how to do it.
What is the content in Linux OS
The contents of the files can be text or binary, depending on what type of data it stores. Text files contain characters and strings that can be read by a human. Binary files contain binary data, such as executable code, images, video and audio files. The contents of the files can be displayed in the terminal using the cat or less command, as well as edited using text editors such as vi, nano or emacs.
What is the search for?
File search by content in Linux is needed to quickly search for files containing a specific text, word, phrase or symbol. This can be useful for searching configuration files, logs, and other files in large directories with many subdirectories. Also, it can be useful when exploring the file system in search of files containing a certain virus or unwanted code. Thanks to the powerful and flexible file search by content, you can quickly find the files you need and work with them conveniently
Command syntax
To search for files by content in Linux, you can use the grep command.
The syntax of the grep command:
grep [options] [template] [files]Usage examples:
Find all files in the /home/user folder containing the string "hello":
grep -r "hello" /home/user
Detect files in the /etc folder and its subfolders containing the word "network":
grep -R "network" /etc
Find objects in the /var/log folder containing the "error" message:
grep -R "error" /var/log
Find files with the extension .txt containing the string "important" in the /home/user folder:
grep "important" /home/user/*.txt
Search for objects containing the word "password" in the /etc folder and save the results in the passwords.log file:
grep -R "password" /etc > passwords.log
In the grep command, you can use various options to configure the search:
-i – ignore the case of characters when searching-n – output line numbers containing the necessary information-c – output only the number of lines containing the necessary information-v – search for lines that do not contain the necessary information.
In addition to the grep command, you can use the find command to search for files with certain contents in the specified folders. However, the search using this command is slower than using the grep command.
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