Automatically remove prefix from files in folder

Quote from elsmandino

I was hoping to do it things automatically on my Linux server.

I would run a command on scheduled tasks that does the work as often as you need.

Quote from elsmandino

I have directory called Data, located as follows:

/export/Data

What command would I have to run if I wanted to do the following:

1. Remove the prefix of any directories (within Data) that start with "New:" - i.e. "New: Top Gear", would be come "Top Gear"

2. Remove any directories (again within Data) that were empty and had not been modified in the last 30 days

This is the answer that ChatGPT gives to your question:

To perform these actions on /export/Data, you can use the following commands:

1. Remove the prefix New: from directories:

for dir in /export/Data/New:*; do
    [ -d "$dir" ] && echo mv "$dir" "${dir/New:/}"
done

2. Remove empty directories not modified in the last 30 days:

find /export/Data -type d -empty -mtime +30 -exec rm -r {} +

Combined Commands:

To execute both tasks in sequence:

# Step 1: Rename directories by removing the "New:" prefix
for dir in /export/Data/New:*; do
    [ -d "$dir" ] && mv "$dir" "${dir/New:/}"
done

# Step 2: Delete empty directories older than 30 days
find /export/Data -type d -empty -mtime +30 -exec rm -r {} +

Explanation:

1. Removing the prefix New:

• for dir in /export/Data/New:* : Iterates over directories within /export/Data that start with New:.
• [ -d "$dir" ] : Ensures the current path is a directory.
• mv "$dir" "${dir/New:/}" : Renames the directory, removing the New: prefix using parameter substitution.

2. Removing empty and old directories

• find /export/Data -type d : Searches for directories within /export/Data.
• -empty : Selects only empty directories.
• -mtime +30 : Filters directories not modified in the last 30 days.
• -exec rm -r {} + : Deletes the matching directories.

Precaution:

• Test First: Before running destructive operations, preview the changes:
  • For renaming:
    Code

    for dir in /export/Data/New:*; do
        [ -d "$dir" ] && echo mv "$dir" "${dir/New:/}"
    done

  • For deletion:
    Code

    find /export/Data -type d -empty -mtime +30

• Ensure you have backups or are confident that the data removed is not needed.

To run everything in a single line in the OMV GUI do this:

for dir in /export/Data/New:*; do [ -d "$dir" ] && mv "$dir" "${dir/New:/}"; done; find /export/Data -type d -empty -mtime +30 -exec rm -r {} +

Note: TRY IT BEFORE ANYTHING. Don't assume that ChatGPT is perfect, sometimes it has bugs, I always test what it tells me before accepting it. I would say that those two commands are correct but try it.