How would I use inotifywait to execute a command if a file in a directory is created, deleted or modified?
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0
Here is the shell script I've got so far. I want it to check recursively, hence the following options:
-rfor recursive-mfor monitoring-efor event notification and tracking
For a reason unknown to me, this approach isn't working. I'm creating/modifying/deleting files using rm/nano/touch etc and in the terminal I ran the script I get a message saying that a particular operation has been used, where it was used and the file it was used on e.g. /home/stephen/ CREATE test where test is the file I've created using touch.
#!/bin/sh
while inotifywait -mre create,delete,modify /home;do
echo "test"
done
shell-script inotify
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
|
show 2 more comments
0
Here is the shell script I've got so far. I want it to check recursively, hence the following options:
-rfor recursive-mfor monitoring-efor event notification and tracking
For a reason unknown to me, this approach isn't working. I'm creating/modifying/deleting files using rm/nano/touch etc and in the terminal I ran the script I get a message saying that a particular operation has been used, where it was used and the file it was used on e.g. /home/stephen/ CREATE test where test is the file I've created using touch.
#!/bin/sh
while inotifywait -mre create,delete,modify /home;do
echo "test"
done
shell-script inotify
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
1
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29
|
show 2 more comments
0
0
0
Here is the shell script I've got so far. I want it to check recursively, hence the following options:
-rfor recursive-mfor monitoring-efor event notification and tracking
For a reason unknown to me, this approach isn't working. I'm creating/modifying/deleting files using rm/nano/touch etc and in the terminal I ran the script I get a message saying that a particular operation has been used, where it was used and the file it was used on e.g. /home/stephen/ CREATE test where test is the file I've created using touch.
#!/bin/sh
while inotifywait -mre create,delete,modify /home;do
echo "test"
done
shell-script inotify
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
Here is the shell script I've got so far. I want it to check recursively, hence the following options:
-rfor recursive-mfor monitoring-efor event notification and tracking
For a reason unknown to me, this approach isn't working. I'm creating/modifying/deleting files using rm/nano/touch etc and in the terminal I ran the script I get a message saying that a particular operation has been used, where it was used and the file it was used on e.g. /home/stephen/ CREATE test where test is the file I've created using touch.
#!/bin/sh
while inotifywait -mre create,delete,modify /home;do
echo "test"
done
shell-script inotify
shell-script inotify
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
edited Dec 14 at 6:32
Rui F Ribeiro
38.8k1479129
38.8k1479129
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
asked Dec 14 at 1:18
Stephen
62
62
Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
1
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29
|
show 2 more comments
Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
1
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29
Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
1
1
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29
|
show 2 more comments
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
0
I believe inotifywait -m does not exit causing the while-loop not to run as expected.
while inotifywait -r /home -e create,delete,modify; do echo "test"; ; done however should work as you expect it.
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done
– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
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0
I believe inotifywait -m does not exit causing the while-loop not to run as expected.
while inotifywait -r /home -e create,delete,modify; do echo "test"; ; done however should work as you expect it.
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done
– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
add a comment |
0
I believe inotifywait -m does not exit causing the while-loop not to run as expected.
while inotifywait -r /home -e create,delete,modify; do echo "test"; ; done however should work as you expect it.
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done
– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
add a comment |
0
0
0
I believe inotifywait -m does not exit causing the while-loop not to run as expected.
while inotifywait -r /home -e create,delete,modify; do echo "test"; ; done however should work as you expect it.
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
I believe inotifywait -m does not exit causing the while-loop not to run as expected.
while inotifywait -r /home -e create,delete,modify; do echo "test"; ; done however should work as you expect it.
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
answered Dec 14 at 1:36
What
938
938
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done
– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
add a comment |
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done
– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
hmmm, I've just tested this and seems like you're right. Do you know of a way for this to repeat the echo "test" any time a new modification/deletion or creation is made?
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:39
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
Do you want to omit the message of inotifywait and only echo from inside of the loop? The current command does already output echo. You can always use -q to silence inotifywait.
– What
Dec 14 at 1:46
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.
while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
@Stephen and if you do not want any output from inotifywait, you can use /dev/zero to get rid of the event.
while $(inotifywait -q -r . -e create,delete,modify >/dev/null); do echo "TEST"; ; done– What
Dec 14 at 1:47
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
I think I've just found my solution, I did what you suggested but put that in a while true loop and it works as I hoped, Thank you very much. One final question is there a way to omit the /home/stephen/ CREATE (dir/filename), -q removed the "setting up watches" and "watches setup", Just wondering if I can remove this "/home/stephen/ ......" part
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:52
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
Nvm just re-read the man page, tyvm
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:57
add a comment |
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Welcome to Unix.SE! Can you show exactly how you create, delete or modify files to trigger this? Because "not working" is usually not specific enough for anyone else to debug the issue. Other possible issues include whether you have access to the files and remote filesystems.
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:21
Just updated my origional post explaining what's going on. Thank you for your quick response.
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:26
OK, so it prints the expected message when you create a file. What is not working?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:27
It's not printing my "test" message
– Stephen
Dec 14 at 1:27
1
"/home/stephen/ CREATE test" means that "/home/stephen/test" was created. Is that the confusing thing?
– l0b0
Dec 14 at 1:29