How to Create and Delete Files

Prerequisites

Before creating or deleting files, make sure you have:

• SSH access to your VPS
• Write permissions in the target directory

Create Files - Multiple Methods

Connect to your VPS:

ssh hxroot@YOUR_SERVER_IP -p 22

Method 1: Using touch (Empty File)

touch filename.txt

Create multiple files:

touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

Method 2: Using echo (File with Content)

echo "Hello World" > filename.txt

Append to file:

echo "Another line" >> filename.txt

Method 3: Using cat (Create and Type Content)

cat > filename.txt

Type your content, then press Ctrl+D to save.

Method 4: Using nano/vim (Interactive Editor)

nano filename.txt

Type content, then Ctrl+O, Ctrl+X to save.

Method 5: Using printf (Formatted Content)

printf "Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
" > filename.txt

Method 6: Using truncate (Specific Size)

Create 1MB empty file:

truncate -s 1M filename.img

Delete Files

Method 1: Using rm (Remove File)

rm filename.txt

Remove multiple files:

rm file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

Remove with confirmation prompt:

rm -i filename.txt

Force remove (no confirmation):

rm -f filename.txt

Verbose output (shows what was deleted):

rm -v filename.txt

Method 2: Using unlink (Single File)

unlink filename.txt

Method 3: Delete Files with Pattern

Delete all .txt files:

rm *.txt

Delete files starting with "backup":

rm backup*

Delete files ending with ".log":

rm *.log

Delete files with wildcard (careful!):

rm *  # Deletes ALL files in current directory

Safe Delete Practices

List files before deleting:

ls *.txt
rm *.txt

Use interactive mode:

rm -i *.txt

Create trash function (safer):

alias trash='mv --backup -t ~/.local/share/Trash '

Then use:

trash filename.txt

Delete Files by Age

Delete files older than 30 days:

find /path -type f -mtime +30 -delete

Delete files older than 7 days with confirmation:

find /path -type f -mtime +7 -exec rm -i {} ;

Delete Files by Size

Delete empty files:

find /path -type f -size 0 -delete

Delete files larger than 100MB:

find /path -type f -size +100M -delete

Recover Deleted Files

Important: Deleted files are generally NOT recoverable on Linux without special tools.

If you accidentally deleted a file:

# Stop using the system immediately
# Try using testdisk or photorec
apt install testdisk -y
photorec /dev/sda1

Script Examples

Create numbered files:

#!/bin/bash
for i in {1..10}; do
    touch "file_$i.txt"
    echo "Created file_$i.txt"
done

Delete files with .tmp extension:

find /tmp -type f -name "*.tmp" -mtime +1 -delete

Check File Existence Before Delete

#!/bin/bash
if [ -f "filename.txt" ]; then
    rm filename.txt
    echo "File deleted"
else
    echo "File not found"
fi