codiceovvio / diff-orphans

Bash script to efficiently identify orphaned files in large trees. Useful for sanity-checking after copying large trees. This script should be capable of running in OS X or in Linux.

diff-orphans

This is a Bash script that efficiently identifies orphan files in large trees. (An orphan file is a file that exists in one tree but not another.) The script is useful for sanity-checking after copying large trees, without diff'ing the file contents of the entire tree. This script should be capable of running in OS X or in Linux.

This method operates by creating sorted file listings for each of the trees, and then using the standard diff tool on the file listings. While this method does not detect differences in file contents, it does identify any missing files in either tree.

Environment

• Any OS having a Bash environment
• The following tools must be installed, executable, and in the PATH:
  • readlink
  • basename
  • find
  • sort
  • sed
  • diff
  • rm

Installation

Simply copy diff-orphans.sh to a directory of your choosing. Don't forget to make it executable:

chmod +x diff-orphans.sh

Usage

./diff-orphans.sh <leftTree> <rightTree>

Example usage

The following example shows that the "right" directory has an (extra) orphan file named "file5":

user@computer:~$ ./diff-orphans.sh left/ right/
[+] Testing dependencies...
[+] Validating arguments...
[+] Performing diff of trees...
2d1
< file5
[*] Success

The following example shows identical "left" and "right" directories (no orphans):

user@computer:~$ ./diff-orphans.sh left/ right/
[+] Testing dependencies...
[+] Validating arguments...
[+] Performing diff of trees...
[*] No orphans found
[*] Success