fdupes.1

.TH FDUPES 1
.\" NAME should be all caps, SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
.\" other parms are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
.SH NAME
fdupes \- finds duplicate files in a given set of directories
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B fdupes
[
.I options
]
.I DIRECTORY
\|.\|.\|.

.SH "DESCRIPTION"
Searches the given path for duplicate files. Such files are found by
comparing file sizes and MD5 signatures, followed by a 
byte-by-byte comparison.

.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B -r --recurse
For every directory given follow subdirectories encountered within.
.TP
.B -R --recurse:
For each directory given after this option follow subdirectories
encountered within (note the ':' at the end of option; see the
Examples section below for further explanation).
.TP
.B -s --symlinks
Follow symlinked directories.
.TP
.B -H --hardlinks
Normally, when two or more files point to the same disk area they are
treated as non-duplicates; this option will change this behavior.
.TP
.B -G --minsize\fR=\fISIZE\fR
Consider only files greater than or equal to SIZE in bytes.
.TP
.B -L --maxsize\fR=\fISIZE\fR
Consider only files less than or equal to SIZE in bytes.
.TP
.B -c --cache
Speed up file comparisons by keeping track of their signatures in a
database; additional parameters may be provided using one or more
cache parameters (as indicated below). Please note that this option
may not be available on some systems.
.TP
.B -x cache.\fIOPTION\fR
Supply an optional cache parameter, where OPTION is one of the keywords
below and multiple options may be supplied via successive -x arguments:

  \fIreadonly\fR
    read but do not update file signatures

  \fIprune\fR
    look through entire cache and delete orphaned entries

  \fIclear\fR
    clear all entries from cache

  \fIvacuum\fR
    reduce size of DB file, if possible

The options prune, clear, and vacuum may be employed without
supplying a DIRECTORY argument, and will take effect even if readonly
is also specified. The order of operations is always clear, prune,
update signatures (unless readonly), and vacuum.
.TP
.B -n --noempty
Exclude zero-length files from consideration.
.TP
.B -A --nohidden
Exclude hidden files from consideration.
.TP
.B -f --omitfirst
Omit the first file in each set of matches.
.TP
.B -1 --sameline
List each set of matches on a single line.
.TP
.B -S --size
Show size of duplicate files.
.TP
.B  -t --time
Show modification time of duplicate files.
.TP
.B -m --summarize
Summarize duplicate file information.
.TP
.B -q --quiet
Hide progress indicator.
.TP
.B -d --delete
Prompt user for files to preserve, deleting all others (see
.B CAVEATS
below).
.TP
.B -D --deferconfirmation
In interactive mode, defer byte-for-byte confirmation of
duplicates until just before file deletion.
.TP
.B -P --plain
With --delete, use a line-based prompt (as with older versions of
fdupes) instead of the new screen-mode interface. On installations
where the screen-mode interface is not supported, fdupes will
default to a line-based prompt.
.TP
.B -N --noprompt
When used together with \-\-delete, preserve the first file in each
set of duplicates and delete the others without prompting the user.
.TP
.B -I --immediate
Delete duplicates as they are encountered, without
grouping into sets; implies --noprompt.
.TP
.B -p --permissions
Don't consider files with different owner/group or permission bits as duplicates.
.TP
.B -o --order\fR=\fIWORD\fR
Order files according to WORD:
time - sort by modification time, ctime - sort by status change time, name - sort by
filename.
.TP
.B -i --reverse
Reverse order while sorting.
.TP
.B -l --log\fR=\fILOGFILE\fR
Log file deletion choices to LOGFILE.
.TP
.B -v --version
Display fdupes version.
.TP
.B -h --help
Display help.
.SH NOTES
Unless
.B -1
or
.B --sameline
is specified, duplicate files are listed
together in groups, each file displayed on a separate line. The
groups are then separated from each other by blank lines.

When
.B -1
or
.B --sameline
is specified, spaces and backslash characters  (\fB\e\fP) appearing
in a filename are preceded by a backslash character.

.SH EXAMPLES
.TP
.B fdupes a --recurse: b
Will follow subdirectories under b, but not those under a.
.TP
.B fdupes a --recurse b
Will follow subdirectories under both a and b.

.SH CAVEATS
When using
.B \-d
or
.BR \-\-delete ,
care should be taken to insure against
accidental data loss.

When used together with options
.B \-s
or
.BR \-\-symlink ,
a user could accidentally
preserve a symlink while deleting the file it points to.

Furthermore, when specifying a particular directory more than
once, all files within that directory will be listed as their
own duplicates, leading to data loss should a user preserve a
file without its "duplicate" (the file itself!).

.SH AUTHOR
Adrian Lopez <adrianlopezroche@gmail.com>