execute find command with xargs in bash script

Question

I'm trying to execute this command in in a bash script

find /var/log/apache2/access*.gz -type f -newer ./tmpoldfile ! -newer ./tmpnewfile | xargs zcat | grep -E '$MONTH\/$YEAR.*GET.*ad=$ADVERTISER HTTP\/1' -c

If i execute it directly or assign it to a variable it returns 0

But if i do a echo of the command (with the variables replaced by the script) and execute it in the command line it works.

echo "find /var/log/apache2/access*.gz -type f -newer ./tmpoldfile ! -newer ./tmpnewfile | xargs zcat | grep -E '$MONTH\/$YEAR.*GET.*ad=$ADVERTISER HTTP\/1' -c"

How shold i code it for work

You don't need xargs at all. Check out the -exec argument for find — Emil Vikström
– Emil Vikström, Commented Jun 6, 2012 at 11:10

shellter · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-06 11:41:08Z

1

Variables aren't expanded inside of single quotes, i.e. '...$NOT_EXPANDED ...'. Try

find /var/log/apache2/access*.gz -type f -newer ./tmpoldfile ! -newer ./tmpnewfile \
| xargs zcat | grep -E "$MONTH\/$YEAR.*GET.*ad=$ADVERTISER HTTP\/1" -c
# newstuff ------------^------------------------------------------^-----------

Same for "or assign it to a variable "

varCount=$(find /var/log/apache2/access*.gz -type f -newer ./tmpoldfile ! -newer ./tmpnewfile \
| xargs zcat | grep -E "$MONTH\/$YEAR.*GET.*ad=$ADVERTISER HTTP\/1" -c )

Also, I must comment on -exec. Many finds now support find ... -exec ... \+ which is (I assume) the equivalent of xargs, but not all OS's have GNU find as their first tool. If you're sure you'll never work in a Solaris, AIX, or HPUX shop, then use the improved features. Also, if you're using new OS's, then xargs likely supports parallel processing, which I don't think find ... -exec ... \+ will do.

I hope this helps.

edited Jun 6, 2012 at 11:41

answered Jun 6, 2012 at 11:29

shellter

37.6k7 gold badges87 silver badges96 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

rekobeko Over a year ago

Great! Thats was the problem.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

execute find command with xargs in bash script

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related