Questions tagged [files]

For questions concerning specifics about the files on Ubuntu. If your question is about the file manager called "Files" in Ubuntu, use the [nautilus] tag instead.

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8 votes
1 answer
3k views

What is .gksu.lock file

I have been trying to find out what exactly /home/user/.gksu.lock is. What does the file do? If I remove or edit the file, will it affect my system in any way?
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

How do I make one folder accessible to multiple users? [duplicate]

I have a folder called servers, and I need to make it, and all its contents accessible to both surge and minecraft. I tried chmod -R minecraft+surge servers it replies chmod: invalid mode: ‘...
1 vote
2 answers
148 views

Upgraded from 14.10 to 17.10 now getting strange /dev/nul file

I updated Ubuntu from 14.01 to 17.10. Now I get a file named /dev/nul with the following text in it. ############# error: conflicting format options Usage: ps [options] Try 'ps --help <simple|...
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

How to filter content in the currently opened folder?

There is one thing I'm missing since I've been forced to move from OSX to Ubuntu. For OSX there is a wonderful file browser named Path Finder which has very handy filter function built-in. The ...
3 votes
2 answers
9k views

unzip unable to find file with spaces in file name [duplicate]

I'm a psychology student at the VU Amsterdam. For my statistic courses this software called IBM SPSS statistics is required andabsolutly neccesary. I bought it of the official website and downloaded ...
1 vote
3 answers
891 views

Rename files according to the parent folders and move to new location [closed]

I have a directory structure like this: ./BBC_english/ 2017-09-19.20.00.3-0.rec/00001.mpeg 2017-09-19.21.00.3-0.rec/00001.mpeg 2017-09-19.22.00.3-0.rec/00001.mpeg 2017-09-19.23.00.3-0.rec/00001....
5 votes
1 answer
4k views

I have to use sudo to edit every file - no permissions to do anything

I need to execute every command with sudo proceeding it and I can't edit any text file without running gedit with sudo gedit, even files I've created myself. I just want to be able to open a project ...
18 votes
1 answer
7k views

Difference between three and four digit file permissions?

I was recently wondering what is the difference between three and four digit numerical file permissions. I obtain the numerical permissions by running stat --format "%a" $file_name.What is the ...
0 votes
2 answers
305 views

Windows backup to ext3 to NTFS & file/path name length limits

I backup a work laptop to a home Ubuntu server (16.04.3). I backup the server to an external drive which came formatted in ntfs and I didn't change it. At any rate, I've not gotten errors when copying ...
3 votes
3 answers
777 views

How to count the total number of files in all sub-directories?

l have a directory called /data/ which contains two sub-directories: /data/train/ and /data/test/. train and test each contain 101 sub-directories (101 directories in train and 101 in test). These ...
0 votes
0 answers
179 views

wine for ubuntu

I installed a fresh copy of ubuntu 17.10; I tried installing wine and was successful up until which version it wanted me to install. (stable, development and what ever the last one was). It said could ...
-1 votes
1 answer
164 views

Searching for filenames containing specific word [duplicate]

How do i search for filenames containing a word (or multiple words), starting from some directory (not case sensitive) ?
6 votes
2 answers
7k views

Find the properties of an mp3 file via command line [duplicate]

Is it possible, via command line (shell command), to check for properties of a file (like when I right click on a file via Nautilus). Specifically, given an mp3 audio file, I would like to know how I ...
1 vote
2 answers
95 views

Script showing file type?

I want to make a script that shows what type of file is for example : ./file.sh haha test lala ssss haha --> file test --> directory lala --> symbolic link ssss --> executable Im ...
-2 votes
1 answer
1k views

How to find duplicate names in a text file and display them?

I have a document named names.txt . I want to write a command that finds the most repeated name and shows me how many times this name has been repeated.In case of a the, it will show a random name of ...
6 votes
3 answers
7k views

Find files with capital letters before the extension and lowercase letters in the extension

I need to find files in remote location (/mnt/) and alert if a file name matches these criteria: The file name must contain only capital letters or digits. The file extension must contain only small ...
4 votes
1 answer
211 views

Mysterious file appeared on Desktop

While browsing the Internet I suddenly came across this file on my desktop. I tried finding out what was in the file but found that I did not have permission to open it. Can anyone help out?
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

My files are gone after I upgraded to Ubuntu 17.10

I was using Ubuntu 16.04 then I downloaded Ubuntu 17.10, put it on a bootable flash drive and installed it. During the installation the system asked me if I want to Delete everything and reinstall the ...
0 votes
0 answers
660 views

Cannot create a new file in the file manager on 17.10 [duplicate]

I have a problem since the update of Ubuntu 17.10 I cannot create a new file from the GUI. I have to create the files from the console. Any idea?
0 votes
1 answer
502 views

Executable Text File set to execute

So I downloaded AutoMouseClick because I need the software. I downloaded the zip file, extracted it and made sure that under my Preferences settings in File are set to "Ask Each Time" whenever I ...
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is there any significant difference between `if [ -a FILE ]` and `if [ -e FILE ]`

I only want to check in bash if a certain FILE exists. On this page two options are mentioned to use with if: [ -a FILE ] - True if FILE exists [ -e FILE ] - True if FILE exists Are they equivalent ...
7 votes
0 answers
163 views

How can I disable type-to-search in 17.10 Files? [duplicate]

I don't like how Files automatically starts searching when I start typing - I want it to quickly select a folder in my current folder. How can I go back to the old behaviour where typing would select ...
27 votes
2 answers
10k views

How do I list folders with underscores first?

So as pretty much everyone, before using Ubuntu I used a Windows machine, and one of the things I got used to in Windows was to use the underscore as the first character of a folder name as some sort ...
0 votes
2 answers
257 views

Delete recursively all files which have a specific HEX content

I need to delete recursively all files which have the following HEX content: \xDE\xAD\xBA\xAD Can you please suggest a terminal command which will do that?
6 votes
1 answer
941 views

Why can't I rename a file from 'NAME' to 'name'?

I am unable to rename a file from RELEASE to release which is currently located on my USB flash drive. If I try to rename it through the file manager (Nautilus), it shows the error message as follows:...
14 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can Nautilus display a .desktop file by its real name?

The ability of a .desktop file to display a "human-readable" alias rather than its (perhaps) clinical real name, has merit... and as the .desktop filetype suggests, I assume that this ability is ...
39 votes
2 answers
45k views

Split a large file into smaller files and then integrate them to get the original file [duplicate]

How do I split a 7GB (movie) file into smaller files of (say) 1GB, and then (in another Ubuntu computer) integrate them to get the original file (using just bash commands)?
0 votes
6 answers
4k views

How to share files between two machines in a network with a router?

I have a notebook with ubuntu 13.04 and a desktop with Debian 7.1.0 and I want to know how can I share files between the two machines, I'm using a router and the notebook is connected to the wireless ...
0 votes
0 answers
62 views

Filename with red writing and black background with arrow pointing to another file, does anyone know what this means? [duplicate]

Trying to figure out what this means -> see image, any help is greatly appreciated!
0 votes
0 answers
86 views

What are the commands for for fine-grained control for file permissions? (other than the usual read-write-execute[rwx])

I am using Ubuntu 14.04.5. I want to implement some permissions using Terminal. The usual file permissions are: read (r), write (w), execute (x) . What are the other permissions available? How to set ...
4 votes
1 answer
25k views

How to show all files created on a specific date?

On 16/05/2015 at 17:18 I visited a malicious website. And I suspect a drive-by-download, so I want to check my machine to see since that time in order of creation which files have been created or ...
2 votes
2 answers
688 views

How do I recursively get all directories that contain a txt file with the same name as the containing directory in Bash?

Let's say I have the following: ./ Dir1/ Sub1/ Sub1.jpg Sub2/ Sub2.jpg Sub2.png Sub2.txt Dir2/ Sub1/ Sub1.doc ...
55 votes
4 answers
735k views

How to write the path of a folder with space in its name? [duplicate]

I can't figure out how to write the path of a folder that includes spaces in its name (in Terminal). I tried: cd /path/path/path/"A Folder"/file cd /path/path/path/'A Folder/file cd /path/path/...
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can I move all java source files to their respective package directory?

I am new to linux and don't know much about linux commands. My scenario is that, I have so many java source files with different package name in a directory. I want to move all these java source ...
0 votes
0 answers
80 views

Xubuntu 17.04 bluetooth unable to transfer files (transfer settings grayed out), gnome-user-share not an option [duplicate]

Since upgrade to 17.04 I am unable to properly set-up receiving files via bluetooth, because in the "transfer settings" everything is grayed out. It used to work just fine before. What can be done to ...
51 votes
6 answers
47k views

Is there a file explorer/manager for the command line?

I would like to know if there is something like DOS interface for Ubuntu. I mean a "GUI" that can run from the console (for example if you are using Ubuntu Server). Some file explorer like Nautilus ...
0 votes
1 answer
127 views

How to find files by user property

I need to print the files in /var directory which have "m" as first letter . I did like that find /var -type f -name "m*" But the files' user must not be root. How can I add/do this?
5 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why do only some of my logs get rotated?

I'm using Ubuntu 14.04. I have the following in my /etc/logrotate.conf file ... /home/rails/myproject/log { daily rotate 3 compress delaycompress missingok ...
2 votes
0 answers
2k views

Ubuntu stuck Copying large files from internal hard disk to external

When ever I try to copy large files from internal hard disk to external the copy will just start fine but then it will stuck at some point. Last night I tried copying 45GB file to my USB 3 harddisk ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do I segregate multiple files based on file size into a sub directory?

I have a bunch of video files which I would like to segregate based on file size I have decided. Example: Folder BB has 15 files of various file size. I have sub folder set as: less than 100 MB ...
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

External drive is considered read-only on shell and in Nautilus [duplicate]

I am connecting an external drive from Intenso to my Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Both in Nautilus and on the command line I am not allowed to write/delete/change files and folders. For instance, mkdir says: ...
0 votes
0 answers
309 views

Issues with selecting multiple files in Ubuntu 16 LTS

Want to select multiple files with keyboard but can't see my current position (supposed to be dotted line or box) when navigating using the arrow keys. Could be a theme issue or bug. Using default ...
2 votes
3 answers
4k views

looking for file catalog application (GUI) [duplicate]

I'm looking for a Linux application to catalog the files on my many external HDs and search them. I'm using Ubuntu, so i prefer a normal deb in the repositories but i can't find one. After some ...
0 votes
0 answers
57 views

Is it possible to browse the file system and download files from my laptop to my Android phone using bluetooth?

Is it possible to browse the files on the computer and download specific files using Bluetooth? I know already, of course, that I can download files from my laptop to my phone using Bluetooth. But I ...
19 votes
2 answers
25k views

Executables vs Shared objects

I noticed something while doing find /bin -exec file {} \; : the file command reports some entries in /bin are shared objects , while others as executables . For instance, /bin/ntfsck: ELF 64-...
1 vote
1 answer
76 views

View content of an archive from package without installing it

I'm trying to find the apache.conf file of the phpmyadmin package to see the contents, but I don't want to install it because I've installed phpmyadmin manually (to solve the mysql-client-5.6 ...
8 votes
2 answers
8k views

CRON is changing encoding?

I have a legacy Java program that outputs an SQL script. I then use Apache Derby to run that SQL on the target database (which is not on the same server as CRON). When run via putty, this works fine. ...
0 votes
1 answer
777 views

`du` shows non zero size of empty catalog [duplicate]

I know, that when I create empty catalog it has his own size: mkdir test && du -h test gives: 4,0K test But this case is another. I had catalog with 1e6 files (74 GB) on external HDD (...
3 votes
1 answer
326 views

Where can I change settings/preferences for Files?

I need to change how files are displayed. I want to use a list/details view rather than the icon view. For whatever reason there isn't a traditional File|Settings type menu. How do I change the ...
0 votes
1 answer
727 views

cannot change file content owned by me (system file)

I'm trying to change content of system file, buy without success. chown by me. i m able to open and save file, but once o open again, it resets. echo 5>/sys/class/drm/card0/device/pp_sclk_od ...

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