Situatie
In Linux, grep and find are two powerful command-line tools that, when combined, allow you to quickly search and locate files and content on your system.
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findhelps you search for files and directories based on various criteria, such as name, size, modification date, and more. grepis used to search for specific content within files, making it perfect for finding text patterns or keywords inside files.
it’s a must-know skill for navigating and searching in Linux
Goal:
Find specific files or content inside files — fast.
Solutie
A. Finding Files by Name with find
# Find all files named “config.php” starting from root
find / -name “config.php” 2>/dev/null
#(info:2>/dev/null hides permission errors.)
# Find all .txt files in your home directory
find ~/ -type f -name “*.txt”
# Find files modified in the last 1 day
find /var/log -type f -mtime -1
B. Finding Text Inside Files with grep
# Recursively search for “password” in files under /etc
grep -rnw ‘/etc’ -e ‘password’
# r = recursive, n = show line number, w = match whole word
# Search for “admin” in all .log files
grep “admin” *.log
# Case-insensitive search
grep -i “username” /etc/passwd
Combo Time: find + grep
# Find all .php files and search for “mysql” inside them
find . -name “*.php” -exec grep -inH “mysql” {} \;
-exec runs a command on each file found.
{} is a placeholder for the filename.
\; ends the command.
Example Use Case
Let’s say you’re on a compromised machine and want to look for credentials:
# Look for “password” in all readable .env files
find / -name “.env” 2>/dev/null -exec grep -i “password” {} \;
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