Shells, Scripting and Data Management →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

LPIC-1 Shells, Scripting and Data Management Practice Question

A directory contains files with spaces and special characters in their names. An administrator wants to delete all files older than 30 days using find and xargs. Which command is safe?

⚠ Common exam trap

A common mix-up: candidates choose option C, overlooking the fact that default xargs splits on whitespace and interprets quotes, making it unsafe for filenames with spaces or special characters, while `-print0` and `-0` are the correct safe approach.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

find /path -type f -mtime +30 -print0 | xargs -0 rm

It uses `-print0` with `find` to output null-delimited filenames, and `xargs -0` to process them safely. This handles spaces, newlines, and special characters in filenames without word-splitting or shell interpretation, ensuring all matching files older than 30 days are deleted reliably.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
find /path -type f -mtime +30 -delete
Why it's wrong here
Safe and efficient but does not use xargs.
✗
find /path -type f -mtime +30 -exec rm {} \;
Why it's wrong here
Safe but does not use xargs, and is less efficient for many files.
✗
find /path -type f -mtime +30 | xargs rm
Why it's wrong here
Does not handle spaces or special characters; xargs may break filenames.
✓
find /path -type f -mtime +30 -print0 | xargs -0 rm
Why this is correct
Uses null delimiter to safely handle any filename.

Go deeper

LPIC-1 Shells, Scripting and Data Management Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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