TMPWATCH(8)		System Administrator's Manual		  TMPWATCH(8)



NAME
       tmpwatch	 -  removes files which haven't been accessed for a period of
       time

SYNOPSIS
       tmpwatch [-u|-m|-c] [-faqstv] [--verbose] [--force] [--all] [--test]
		      [--fuser] [--atime|--mtime|--ctime] [--quiet]
		      [--exclude ]  


DESCRIPTION
       tmpwatch recursively removes files which haven't been accessed  for  a
       given  number  of  hours.  Normally, it's used to clean up directories
       which are used for temporary holding space such as /tmp.

       When changing directories, tmpwatch is very sensitive to possible race
       conditions and will exit with an error if one is detected. It does not
       follow symbolic links in the directories it's cleaning (even if a sym-
       bolic link is given as its argument), will not switch filesystems,
	and only removes empty directories and regular files.

       By  default,  tmpwatch  dates  files by their atime (access time), not
       their mtime (modification time). If files aren't being removed when ls
       -l  implies they should be, use ls -u to examine their atime to see if
       that explains the problem.

       If the --atime, --ctime or --mtime options are  used  in	 combination,
       the  decision  about  deleting  a file will be based on the maximum of
       these times.

       The hours parameter defines the threshold for removing files.  If  the
       file has not been accessed for hours hours, the file is removed.	 Fol-
       lowing this, one or more directories may	 be  given  for	 tmpwatch  to
       clean up.



OPTIONS
       -u, --atime
	      Make  the	 decision  about  deleting a file based on the file's
	      atime (access time). This is the default.



       -m, --mtime
	      Make the decision about deleting a file  based  on  the  file's
	      mtime (modification time) instead of the atime.


       -c, --ctime
	      Make  the	 decision  about  deleting a file based on the file's
	      ctime (inode change time) instead of the	atime;	for  directo-
	      ries, make the decision based on the mtime.


       -a, --all
	      Remove  all file types, not just regular files and directories.


       -d, --nodirs
	      Do not attempt to remove directories, even if they are empty.


       -f, --force
	      Remove files even if root doesn't have write access (akin to rm
	      -f).


       -t, --test
	      Doesn't  remove files, but goes through the motions of removing
	      them. This implies -v.


       -s, --fuser
	      Attempt to use the "fuser" command to see if a file is  already
	      open  before  removing it.  Not enabled by default.   Does help
	      in some circumstances, but not all.  Dependent on	 fuser	being
	      installed in /sbin.  Not supported on HP-UX or Solaris.


       -v, --verbose
	      Print  a	verbose display. Two levels of verboseness are avail-
	      able -- use this option twice to get the most verbose output.


       -x, --exclude=path
	      Skip absolute path; if path is a directory, all files contained
	      in  it  are skipped too.	The directories to clean up must also
	      be absolute paths.


SEE ALSO
       cron(1), ls(1), rm(1), fuser(1)


WARNINGS
       GNU-style long options are not supported on HP-UX.


AUTHORS
       Erik Troan 
       Preston Brown 
       Nalin Dahyabhai 
       Miloslav Trmac 



4th Berkeley Distribution      Sat Aug 14 2004			  TMPWATCH(8)

UNIX/Linux commands referenced on this page:

1. which
2. as
3. links
4. link
5. ls
6. file
7. more
8. make
9. write
10. fuser