

For example, I wish to grep for " test" string but only in files which contain " lvm" or " linux" in the filename. We can also define filename in plain text format or regex which should be searched to grep the provided pattern. Grep for a string only in pre-defined files To get all the files which contains exact pattern " test" string under /tmp/dir, you can use # grep -rw test /tmp/dir/*Īnd grep for your string # grep -rw test. The general syntax would be: grep Įxample 1: Grep for exact match recursively

So assuming now we only wish to grep the files which contains " test", but we should not get the output from matching patterns such as " testing", " latest" etc. In this example we will grep for exact pattern instead of all the matching words containing our string. Grep exact match in a file recursively inside all sub-directories This command will search for all the strings containing " test" such as " latest", " testing" etcĢ. Navigate inside the target path # cd /tmp/dir To get all the files which contains " test" string under /tmp/dir, you can use # grep -r test /tmp/dir/* The general syntax here would be: grep Įxample 1: Search for string “test” inside /tmp/dir recursively For this we can just use " grep -r" without any additional arguments. The first scenario which we will cover is where in you have to grep for a string inside all sub-directories.

Grep for string in a file recursively inside all sub-directories In this tutorial I will share multiple methods with examples to grep recursively for different scenarios and you can choose the best one which suits your requirement.ġ. Read all files under each directory, recursively. Note that if no file operand is given, grep searches the working directory. Read all files under each directory, recursively, following symbolic links only if they are on the command line. With grep utility we have two arguments which can help you perform grep recursively, from the man page of grep How do I grep for a pattern inside all directories and sub-directories of my Linux server? Is it possible to perform grep recursively? Can you show me some examples to grep for a pattern or a string recursively across multiple directories? Example 1: Grep for “test” string under any symlinks and file under /tmp/dir.Grep recursively for files with symbolic links Example 2: Grep for multiple strings in single file.Example 1: Grep multiple patterns inside directories and sub-directories.Grep for multiple patterns with recursive search Method 4: using find with xargs (prune).Method 3: using find with xargs (NOT operator).Method 1: using find with exec (NOT operator).Grep for string by excluding pre-defined files Example 1: Grep for exact match recursively.Example 1: Search for string “test” inside /tmp/dir recursively.
