How can delete all files except one from a directory?

Question

I need to delete all files, except one (its name is defined), from a given directory.

How can I do this from the terminal in OS X? Can I do this with one single command?

shk · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:57:09Z

up vote 4 down vote accepted

shopt -s extglob && rm !(non_delete_file)

or

rm -f !(non_delete_file)

or

find . ! -name non_delete_file -delete

answered May 30 '12 at 7:57

shk
1685

	+1, you arrived just a second before me with find command :) – DonCallisto May 30 '12 at 8:00
	@DonCallisto, sorry, i don't know, next time i'll wait you :) – shk May 30 '12 at 8:02

Christian Varga · Answer 2 · 2012-05-30 07:57:13Z

up vote 1 down vote

Try

rm `ls | grep -v '^defined$'`

answered May 30 '12 at 7:57

Christian Varga
1114

	And what about `not_defined`? – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams May 30 '12 at 7:58
	Fixed with anchors. – Christian Varga May 30 '12 at 8:00

migrated from stackoverflow.com May 31 '12 at 8:40