How do I get unix to search inside ALL files for a the string "hello"?
I've tried the following but it doesn't work:
sudo grep "hello" | find / -name "*" 2>/dev/null
Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thank you.
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3 Answers
Maybe this one?
sudo cd / && grep -rn "hello" *
EDIT: the 'n' option of course is not needed - it simply displays the line numbers and I find it nice. The 'r' option tells grep to perform recursive search within directories.
answered Jun 25, 2012 at 10:09
Ivaylo Strandjev
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4 Comments
Evert
Specifying
. may be preferable over * if there are a lot of files in the directory. (You can hit a too many arguments error)
Ivaylo Strandjev
@NBenatar thought about this solution but I think this solution is a bit easier to understand. Could be that I am wrong.
sorpigal
@izomorphius: You have three bugs. First,
cd will be executed with sudo and switch to /, but grep wont be executed as the sudo'd user (IOW, not as root). Second, because cd / was in another shell the actual working directory won't change and grep will not run in / (unless / was the working directory already, in which case why cd?). Thirdly, grep -r '' * will not search all files since * will not expand hidden files and directories (those with a leading .) unless shopt -s dotglob is in effect (bash only).
Jerfov2
how would I do this but just search .html files?
Use
grep -r 'pattern' /
If your grep supports -r, (GNU grep does); if not use
find / -type f -exec grep 'pattern' {} +
If your find supports -exec with +, otherwise use
find / -type f -printf '%p\0' | xargs -0 grep 'pattern'
If your find supports -printf and your xargs supports -0, or
find / -type f -print0 | xargs -0 grep 'pattern'
If your find supports only -print0 and your xargs supports -0. In all other cases fall back on
find / -type f | xargs grep 'pattern'
This is maximally compatible, with the caveat that certain unusual file names will fail to be grepped and crafted file names could pose a security risk.
Note that you will have to be root in order to be sure of searching all files and that the search will be case-sensitive unless you add -i to grep.
1 Comment
LeoPucciBr
find / -type f | xargs grep 'pattern' ==> works for aix!
This?
find . -exec grep -H "hello" {} \;
