tldr/pages/linux/inotifywait.md

inotifywait

Waits for changes to one or more files. More information: https://manned.org/inotifywait.

• 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