tldr/pages/linux/inotifywait.md

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inotifywait

Waits for changes to one or more files.

  • Run a command when a file changes:

while inotifywait {{path/to/file}}; do {{command}}; done

  • Be quiet about watching for changes:

while inotifywait --quiet {{path/to/file}}; do {{command}}; done

  • Watch a directory recursively for changes:

while inotifywait --recursive {{path/to/directory}}; do {{command}}; done

  • Exclude files matching a regular expression:

while inotifywait --recursive {{path/to/directory}} --exclude '{{regular_expression}}'; do {{command}}; done

  • Wait at most 30 seconds:

while inotifywait --timeout {{30}} {{path/to/file}}; do {{command}}; done

  • Only watch for file modification events:

while inotifywait --event {{modify}} {{path/to/file}}; do {{command}}; done