find command in python failing with "missing argument to -exec"

Question

I am trying to find files older than certain number of days and remove them

subprocess.call(['find', DIRECTORY, '-mtime', '+5', '-exec', 'rm', '{}', r'\ '])

Why is this call giving me missing argument to -exec error message

Be careful, your command will delete directories as well as files. — Burhan Khalid
– Burhan Khalid, Commented May 14, 2013 at 13:26

devnull · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-14 12:25:36Z

3

While using exec, you need a semicolon to indicate the end of the command.

subprocess.call(['find', DIRECTORY, '-mtime', '+5', '-exec', 'rm', '{}', ';'])

answered May 14, 2013 at 12:25

devnull

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2 Comments

glglgl Over a year ago

Or a + if you want to minimize the # of new processes.

devnull Over a year ago

@Drt When issuing the command in a shell you need to escape ; to avoid the shell interpreting it as a command separator. Since you aren't invoking a shell script, escaping is not required.

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