[SOLVED] searching exact match in a file using grep and awk command in linux

Issue

I am new to linux and trying to learn some commands.

In a directory I have so many files

-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u        16440 Aug  3 08:57 mnpcOutboundAdapter.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      11394510 Aug  3 08:57 x400.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      3838561 Aug  3 08:57 performance_cm_workflow.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u       216723 Aug  3 08:57 controllerProcess.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      4192538 Aug  3 08:57 SP117Process.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      25689061 Aug  3 08:57 cmserver.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      1783658 Aug  3 08:57 receiverProcess.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      8132403 Aug  3 08:57 performance_outbound_adapter.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u       949876 Aug  3 08:57 mnpcOutboundAdapter.log.1
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      5499756 Aug  3 08:57 cm_http_server.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u       587538 Aug  3 08:57 mrdbSenderProcess.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      8716088 Aug  3 08:57 performance_mrdb.log

I have skipped files to reduce length.

In this directory for a particular file name like performance_mrdb.log, it has files like performance_mrdb.log.1, performance_mrdb.log.2, etc.

So, when I use simple grep command

 ls -lrt |grep performance_mrdb.log
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240007 Jul 11 10:18 performance_mrdb.log.10
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240033 Jul 11 10:30 performance_mrdb.log.9
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240007 Jul 11 10:41 performance_mrdb.log.8
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240033 Jul 11 10:51 performance_mrdb.log.7
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240007 Jul 11 11:02 performance_mrdb.log.6
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240033 Jul 11 11:13 performance_mrdb.log.5
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240026 Jul 15 00:03 performance_mrdb.log.4
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240078 Jul 20 10:14 performance_mrdb.log.3
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240053 Jul 26 09:24 performance_mrdb.log.2
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      10240023 Jul 30 00:28 performance_mrdb.log.1
-rw-rw----   1 mnp8u      mnp8u      8716652 Aug  3 08:58 performance_mrdb.log

It is showing all the files that have performance.mrdb.log in their name. But I want to see only performance_mrdb.log file.

Is there any option by which I can search for exact match using grep command. Please suggest answer for awk command also.

Solution

Please suggest answer for awk command also.

Try

your_ls_command | awk '$NF=="performance_mrdb.log"'

Explanation: print only lines where content of last column ($NF) is performance_mrdb.log. This use awks default understanding of column, i.e. it does assume that columns are sheared by 1 or more whitespaces. NF is one of built-in awk variables, if you want to know more read 8 Powerful Awk Built-in Variables – FS, OFS, RS, ORS, NR, NF, FILENAME, FNR.

(tested in gawk 4.2.1)

Answered By - Daweo

Answer Checked By - Pedro (WPSolving Volunteer)