RotateFile.sh

Bash script that automates file deletion in a directory according to configurable criteria.

Features

• Automatic rotation of files in a directory
• File selection using regular expressions (pattern)
• Option to keep only a specific number of recent files
• Silent and dry-run modes for safe testing
• Detailed and customizable output

Usage

bash RotateFile.sh --source <directory> [--keep <N>] [--pattern <regex>] [--dry-run] [--silent] [--help]

Options

• --source <directory>: (Required) Source directory where files will be rotated.
• --keep <N>: Number of files to keep (default: 3).
• --pattern <regex>: Regular expression to select files (default: generic backup pattern).
• --dry-run: Show actions without actually deleting files.
• --silent: Reduce output verbosity.
• --help, -h, ?: Show help and available options.

Examples

Keep only the last 5 .zip files in /var/backups:

bash RotateFile.sh --source /var/backups --keep 5 --pattern '.*\.zip$'

Simulate actions without deleting anything:

bash RotateFile.sh --source /var/backups --dry-run

Scheduled Execution with Crontab:
to run the script every day at 2:00 AM, keeping only the last 7 .tar.gz files in /var/backups and suppressing output (--silent):

0 2 * * * /bin/bash /path/to/RotateFile.sh --source /var/backups --keep 7 --pattern '.*\.tar\.gz$' --silent

Requirements

• Bash 4+
• Standard Unix commands: find, grep, sort, awk, rm

Security Notes

• The script does not contain hardcoded credentials.
• Always verify the directory and pattern before performing actual deletions.

Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome!
Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Author

CtrlAltJon