Why doesn't find command find the directory when run from ~?

Question

There is a directory under /tmp with the name test_copy.

$ ls /tmp/test_copy/
a.sh b.sh  

$ cd /tmp  
/tmp$ find . -name test_copy  
./test_copy

But if I run the following find command it does not return anything.

~/scripts$ find /tmp -name test_copy  
~/scripts$

Why can't find find the directory in the last case?

@xhienne: You are right! It was a symlink to another dir. Can you post it as an answer? — Jim, Jan 4, 2017 at 22:32

xhienne · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-04 23:20:01Z

15

If /tmp is a symbolic link, find won't enter the directory and will just stop, finding nothing.

On the other hand, any of the following commands will work:

find -H /tmp -name test_copy
find /tmp/ -name test_copy

(the ending / dereferences the symlink)

answered Jan 4, 2017 at 23:20

xhienne

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1

This is likely to be the case on macOS in particular. On macOS, /tmp is a symlink to /private/tmp or some such.
– kojiro
Jan 5, 2017 at 3:08

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