# Delete old version folder **URL:** \ **Category:** Shell Programming and Scripting\ **Created:** [June 23, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193 "2010-06-23T06:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![uday26](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/uday26/32/6_22734026db12803ebb3e059622ac3534.png) [@uday26](https://community.unix.com/u/uday26)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/1 "2010-06-23T06:21:42Z")
In one directory,I have 4 folders with names as version numbers as 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.12 1.0.0.13 1.0.0.13a I have to keep the latest one and delete the older ones.I can't use code to delete the files that are n days old as these folders can be of same day...1 day before or 2 mnths before... Can anybody help me developing this script..one of my automation tool needs this script and I m trying to develop it since a long time... ---
**Author:** ![Leion](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/leion/32/4676_2.png) [@Leion](https://community.unix.com/u/Leion)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/2 "2010-06-23T07:49:17Z")
I assume 1.0.0.13a is newer than 1.0.0.13. If so, you can consider the below: ```nohighlight leion [454]> ls 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.12 1.0.0.13 1.0.0.13a leion [455]> ls | sort 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.12 1.0.0.13 1.0.0.13a leion [456]> ls | sort | sed '$d' 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.12 1.0.0.13 leion [457]> ls | sort | sed '$d' | xargs rm -rf {} \; leion [458]> ls 1.0.0.13a ``` ---
**Author:** ![uday26](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/uday26/32/6_22734026db12803ebb3e059622ac3534.png) [@uday26](https://community.unix.com/u/uday26)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/3 "2010-06-23T08:28:24Z")
I really appreciate your reply... one more question. If there is another directory with name "current" which is pointing one of the version folders. You can say that it's soft-linked with one of the version named folders. I don't want current to be deleted as well as the version folder to which current is linked. Any help in this regard please??????? ---
**Author:** ![dr.house](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/dr.house/32/6_22734026db12803ebb3e059622ac3534.png) [@dr.house](https://community.unix.com/u/dr.house)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/4 "2010-06-23T09:08:27Z")
Based on Leion's code: ```nohighlight C=$( ls -l | grep 'curr' | awk -F "-> " '{print $NF}' ); \ ls -1 | sort | sed -e "/$C/d" -e '$d' | xargs rm -rf {} \; ``` ---
**Author:** ![Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/scrutinizer/32/1216_2.png) [@Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/u/Scrutinizer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/5 "2010-06-23T09:25:04Z")
Try: ```nohighlight ls -d 1.* | sort -nt. | sed '$d' | xargs rm -rf ``` Note that this will not work with names that contain spaces.. @Leion, dr.house I think xargs got mixed up with find syntax a bit there, no? For directory names with spaces one could use this: ```nohighlight ls -d 1.* | sort -nt. | sed '$d' | while read line; do rm -rf "$line"; done ``` ---
**Author:** ![uday26](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/uday26/32/6_22734026db12803ebb3e059622ac3534.png) [@uday26](https://community.unix.com/u/uday26)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/6 "2010-06-23T11:06:37Z")
Thanks alot guys.... Still I am not getting to the solution.. @Leion,Your command is working but I need to keep a folder named Current also which is soft linked to the latest version. A little modification in your code will work.Please reply if you can.. @dr.House,with your code line,only current folder is remaining but I need to keep a folder named Current also which is soft linked to the latest version.Please give your valuable suggestion. @Scrutinizer,with your code,only the latest version folder is remaining but not the one with the name Current. ---
**Author:** ![dr.house](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/dr.house/32/6_22734026db12803ebb3e059622ac3534.png) [@dr.house](https://community.unix.com/u/dr.house)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/7 "2010-06-23T11:17:03Z")
```nohighlight C1='Current'; C2=$( ls -l | grep $C1 | awk -F "-> " '{print $NF}' ); \ ls -1 | sort | sed -e "/$C1/d" -e "/$C2/d" -e '$d' | xargs rm -rf {} \; ``` ---
**Author:** ![Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/scrutinizer/32/1216_2.png) [@Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/u/Scrutinizer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/8 "2010-06-23T12:24:08Z")
```nohighlight ls -d 1.* |egrep -v "$(ls -ld Current | awk '{print $NF}' )|$(ls -d 1.* | sort -nt. | tail -1)" | xargs rm -rf ``` ---
**Author:** ![Leion](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/leion/32/4676_2.png) [@Leion](https://community.unix.com/u/Leion)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/9 "2010-06-28T01:28:55Z")
Sorry Something cropped up and I did not check my emails. are you saying your current link is already pointing to the latest version? if so you can try this: ```plaintext ls | grep -v Current | sort | sed '$d' | xargs rm -rf ``` If not, you can try this: ```plaintext ls | grep -v Current | grep -v `ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}'` | sort | sed '$d' | xargs rm -rf ``` Sorry for the double grep -v. Maybe someone can help to combine them.. ---------- Post updated at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous update was at 01:09 PM ---------- > [@scrutinizer](#): > > Try: > > ```plaintext > ls -d 1.* | sort -nt. | sed '$d' | xargs rm -rf > > ``` > > Note that this will not work with names that contain spaces.. > > @Leion, dr.house I think xargs got mixed up with find syntax a bit there, no? > > For directory names with spaces one could use this: > > ```plaintext > ls -d 1.* | sort -nt. | sed '$d' | while read line; do rm -rf "$line"; done > > ``` oh yar thanks for pointing out the syntax part 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/scrutinizer/32/1216_2.png) [@Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/u/Scrutinizer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/10 "2010-06-28T03:29:50Z")
> [@leion](#): > > Maybe someone can help to combine them.. You could combine like so for instance: ```plaintext ls | egrep -v "Current$|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" ``` The $ character is important to make sure that the patterns the grep matches are at the end of the line. ---
**Author:** ![Leion](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/leion/32/4676_2.png) [@Leion](https://community.unix.com/u/Leion)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/11 "2010-06-28T03:39:45Z")
> [@scrutinizer](#): > > You could combine like so for instance: > > ```plaintext > ls | egrep -v "Current$|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" > > ``` > > The $ character is important to make sure that the patterns the grep matches are at the end of the line. The Current$ does not work for me as I used a alias to do a ```plaintext ls -F ``` ```plaintext leion > ls -ltr total 0 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 leion group 8 Jun 28 17:33 Current -> 1.0.0.12 0 -rw-r--r-- 1 leion group 0 Jun 28 17:33 1.0.0.13a 0 -rw-r--r-- 1 leion group 0 Jun 28 17:33 1.0.0.13 0 -rw-r--r-- 1 leion group 0 Jun 28 17:33 1.0.0.12 0 -rw-r--r-- 1 leion group 0 Jun 28 17:33 1.0.0.11 leion > ls | egrep -v "Current$|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.13 1.0.0.13a Current@ leion > ls | egrep -v "Current|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" 1.0.0.11 1.0.0.13 1.0.0.13a ``` However the combine of my twin grep -v using egrep -v helps. Thank you for sharing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/scrutinizer/32/1216_2.png) [@Scrutinizer](https://community.unix.com/u/Scrutinizer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/12 "2010-06-28T03:52:04Z")
Hi, you're welcome... To temporarily bypass an alias you can use a backslash: ```nohighlight \ls | egrep -v "Current$|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" ``` ---
**Author:** ![Leion](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/leion/32/4676_2.png) [@Leion](https://community.unix.com/u/Leion)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/delete-old-version-folder/268193/13 "2010-06-28T03:54:43Z")
> [@scrutinizer](#): > > Hi, you're welcome... > To temporarily bypass an alias you can use a backslash: > > ```plaintext > \ls | egrep -v "Current$|$(ls -l Current | awk '{print $NF}')$" > > ``` Nice! :b: Learnt another thing from you today