Manual: updatedb

updatedb(8)				   System Manager's Manual				 updatedb(8)

NAME
       updatedb - update a database for plocate

SYNOPSIS
       updatedb [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION
       updatedb	 creates  or updates a database used by locate(1).  If the database already exists, its data
       is reused to avoid rereading directories that have not changed.

       updatedb is usually run daily from a systemd.timer(8) to update the default database.

EXIT STATUS
       updatedb returns with exit status 0 on success, 1 on error.

OPTIONS
       The PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS, PRUNEFS, PRUNENAMES and PRUNEPATHS variables, which are modified	by  some  of
       the options, are documented in detail in updatedb.conf(5).

       -f, --add-prunefs FS
	      Add entries in white-space-separated list FS to PRUNEFS.

       -n, --add-prunenames NAMES
	      Add entries in white-space-separated list NAMES to PRUNENAMES.

       -e, --add-prunepaths PATHS
	      Add entries in white-space-separated list PATHS to PRUNEPATHS.

       --add-single-prunepath PATH
	      Add PATH to PRUNEPATHS. Note that this is currently the only way to add a path with a space in
	      it.

       -U, --database-root PATH
	      Store  only  results of scanning the file system subtree rooted at PATH to the generated data‐
	      base.  The whole file system is scanned by default.

	      locate(1) outputs entries as absolute path names which don't contain symbolic  links,  regard‐
	      less of the form of PATH.

       --debug-pruning
	      Write debugging information about pruning decisions to standard error output.

       -h, --help
	      Write a summary of the available options to standard output and exit successfully.

       -o, --output FILE
	      Write the database to FILE instead of using the default database.

       --prune-bind-mounts FLAG
	      Set PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS to FLAG, overriding the configuration file.

       --prunefs FS
	      Set PRUNEFS to FS, overriding the configuration file.

       --prunenames NAMES
	      Set PRUNENAMES to NAMES, overriding the configuration file.

       --prunepaths PATHS
	      Set PRUNEPATHS to PATHS, overriding the configuration file.

       -l, --require-visibility FLAG
	      Set the “require file visibility before reporting it” flag in the generated database to FLAG.

	      If FLAG is 0 or no, or if the database file is readable by "others" or it is not owned by plo‐
	      cate, locate(1) outputs the database entries even if the user running locate(1) could not have
	      read the directory necessary to find out the file described by the database entry.

	      If  FLAG	is 1 or yes (the default), locate(1) checks the permissions of parent directories of
	      each entry before reporting it to the invoking user.  To make the file existence truly  hidden
	      from  other  users, the database group is set to plocate and the database permissions prohibit
	      reading the database by users using other means than locate(1), which is set-gid plocate.

	      Note that the visibility flag is checked only if the database is owned by plocate	 and  it  is
	      not readable by "others".

       -v, --verbose
	      Output path names of files to standard output, as soon as they are found.

       -V, --version
	      Write information about the version and license of locate on standard output and exit success‐
	      fully.

EXAMPLES
       To create a private plocate database as a user other than root, run
	      updatedb -l 0 -o db_file -U source_directory
       Note  that  all	users  that  can  read	db_file can get the complete list of files in the subtree of
       source_directory.

FILES
       /etc/updatedb.conf
	      A configuration file.  See updatedb.conf(5).  Uses exactly the same format as the one used  by
	      mlocate(1)'s updatedb, so they can be shared.

       /var/lib/plocate/plocate.db
	      The database updated by default.

SECURITY
       Databases  built	 with  --require-visibility no allow users to find names of files and directories of
       other users, which they would not otherwise be able to do.

AUTHOR
       Miloslav Trmac 

       Steinar H. Gunderson 

SEE ALSO
       locate(1), updatedb.conf(5)

plocate						  Dec 2020					 updatedb(8)