Linux / UNIX: For Loop To Remove Files

To remove a set of files using a for loop in a Unix or Linux shell, you can use the rm command. The rm command is used to delete files or directories in Unix and Linux systems.

Here is an example of how to use a for loop to remove a set of files:

# Remove all files ending in .tmp
for file in *.tmp; do
  rm "$file"
done

This will delete all files in the current directory that have a .tmp extension. The rm command will be executed for each file matching the pattern *.tmp. The "$file" variable will be replaced with the name of the current file in each iteration of the loop.

You can also use the find command to search for files and delete them using a for loop. For example:

# Remove all .tmp files in the /tmp directory and its subdirectories
find /tmp -name "*.tmp" -exec rm {} \;

This will find all files in the /tmp directory and its subdirectories that have a .tmp extension and delete them using the rm command. The {} placeholder will be replaced with the name of the current file in each iteration of the loop.

It is important to use caution when deleting files using a for loop, as the rm command does not have an undelete function. Make sure that you do not accidentally delete important files.