NAME¶
fdupes - finds duplicate files in a given set of directories
SYNOPSIS¶
fdupes [
options ]
DIRECTORY ...
DESCRIPTION¶
Searches the given path for duplicate files. Such files are found by comparing
file sizes and MD5 signatures, followed by a byte-by-byte comparison.
OPTIONS¶
- -r --recurse
- for every directory given follow subdirectories encountered within
- -R --recurse:
- for each directory given after this option follow subdirectories
encountered within (note the ':' at the end of option; see the Examples
section below for further explanation)
- -s --symlinks
- follow symlinked directories
- -H --hardlinks
- normally, when two or more files point to the same disk area they are
treated as non-duplicates; this option will change this behavior
- -n --noempty
- exclude zero-length files from consideration
- -f --omitfirst
- omit the first file in each set of matches
- -A --nohidden
- exclude hidden files from consideration
- -1 --sameline
- list each set of matches on a single line
- -S --size
- show size of duplicate files
- -m --summarize
- summarize duplicate files information
- -q --quiet
- hide progress indicator
- -d --delete
- prompt user for files to preserve, deleting all others (see CAVEATS
below)
- -N --noprompt
- when used together with --delete, preserve the first file in each set of
duplicates and delete the others without prompting the user
- -v --version
- display fdupes version
- -h --help
- displays help
SEE ALSO¶
md5sum(1)
NOTES¶
Unless
-1 or
--sameline is specified, duplicate files are listed
together in groups, each file displayed on a separate line. The groups are
then separated from each other by blank lines.
When
-1 or
--sameline is specified, spaces and backslash
characters (
\) appearing in a filename are preceded by a backslash
character.
EXAMPLES¶
- fdupes a --recurse: b
- will follow subdirectories under b, but not those under a.
- fdupes a --recurse b
- will follow subdirectories under both a and b.
CAVEATS¶
If fdupes returns with an error message such as
fdupes: error invoking
md5sum it means the program has been compiled to use an external program
to calculate MD5 signatures (otherwise, fdupes uses internal routines for this
purpose), and an error has occurred while attempting to execute it. If this is
the case, the specified program should be properly installed prior to running
fdupes.
When using
-d or
--delete, care should be taken to insure against
accidental data loss.
When used together with options
-s or
--symlink, a user could
accidentally preserve a symlink while deleting the file it points to.
Furthermore, when specifying a particular directory more than once, all files
within that directory will be listed as their own duplicates, leading to data
loss should a user preserve a file without its "duplicate" (the file
itself!).
AUTHOR¶
Adrian Lopez <adrian2@caribe.net>