50 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Search System"
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tags: [ "data", "search", "locate", "plocate" ]
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requires: "cron"
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---
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You can search every file on the computer instantly by installing `plocate`.
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Once installed, run `sudo updatedb` to create the database of (nearly) every file on the computer.
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Check how big the database is:
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```sh
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du -h /var/lib/plocate/plocate.db
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```
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Once you have the database, you can find nearly any file instantly.
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- Search for gifs: `locate .gif`
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- Search for gifs in the `/usr/` directory: `locate /usr/ .gif`
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- Search for jpg images with 'dog' or 'Dog' in the name: `locate -i dog jpg`
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- Search for videos: `plocate --regex '.mp4$|.mkv$|.wmv$|.webm$|.mov$|.avi$'`
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For best results, run `updatedb` regularly, perhaps in [crontab](../system/cron.md).
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## Search More Places
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`plocate` will not search `/tmp/`, because nobody cares about those files, and won't search inside `/mnt/`, because that's where USB sticks get mounted, so the files keep changing as USB sticks come and go.
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Change where `plocate` searches by editing the configuration file at `/etc/updatedb.conf`.
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By default, the `/mnt` directory is 'pruned' from the database.
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So if you want to search `/mnt` for videos, remove the word `/mnt` from the configuration file.
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```bash
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su root
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cat /etc/updatedb.conf
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sed -i 's#/mnt/##' /etc/updatedb.conf
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updatedb
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exit
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```
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Now you can search in `/mnt` for films:
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```sh
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plocate --regex '.mp4$|.mkv$|.wmv$|.webm$|.mov$|.avi$'
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```
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