There will be times when you know a file or directory exists but you
will not know where to find it. Searching for a file or directory can be
easier with the locate command.
With locate, you will see every related file or
directory that matches our search criterion. Let's say you want to
search for all files related to the finger
command (finger tells you who is using your computer).
The locate command uses a database to check for files
and directories that match the string finger.
 | More About Locate |
|---|
| | To learn more about locate, read the
locate man page (type man
locate at a shell prompt).
|
The locate command that works very quickly, as long as
the database is up to date. That database is automatically updated on a
nightly basis, from
cron. Cron is a small
program that runs in the background, performing various tasks, such as
updating the locate database, at regularly
scheduled intervals.
| More About Cron |
|---|
| | cron is a daemon that
executes tasks at regularly scheduled intervals. Daemons handle tasks
in the background. To read the cron man page,
type man cron at the shell prompt.
|
If you have more than one operating system on your machine and switch
between them (causing Red Hat Linux to halt and restart), or if you shutdown
your machine at the end of the day, cron rarely
has a chance to update the slocate database,
which is used to catalog file location.
To update the database manually, log in as root (type
su at a shell prompt and then your root password),
and then type updatedb.
After a few minutes, the slocate
database will be current.
 | Update Automatically with Anacron |
|---|
| | You can run anacron to have your system execute
commands periodically, with a frequency specified in days. Unlike
cron, it does not assume that the machine is
running continuously. Hence, it can be used on machines that are not running 24
hours a day, to control daily, weekly, and monthly jobs
that are usually controlled by cron.
Read the man or info page on anacron (type man
anacron or info anacron at the
command line) for more information.
|
