How to batch rename files in a directory to new filenames with dates in Linux

Introduction

You can use the rename command or a combination of find and mv commands to batch rename files in a directory with new filenames containing dates in Linux.

Today I want to share how to batch rename files in a directory to new filenames with dates in Linux only with one command

For example, in my directory, I have files named like this:

• test123.txt
• test456.txt
• test789.txt

The result after running the command looks like this:

“20230805” is the execution date.

• test123_20230805.txt
• test456_20230805.txt
• test789_20230805.txt

Command to batch rename files in a directory to new filenames with dates

find -name "test[0-9][0-9][0-9].txt" -type f -exec sh -c 'mv -f {} "$(dirname {})/$(basename {} .txt)_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt"' \;

Explain the command

1. find: This command is used to search for files and directories within a specified path. It’s followed by various options that define the search criteria.
2. -name "test[0-9][0-9][0-9].txt": This option specifies a pattern to match filenames. The pattern test[0-9][0-9][0-9].txt will match filenames like test001.txt, test002.txt, up to test999.txt.
3. -type f: This option tells find to only search for regular files (as opposed to directories or other types of files).
4. -exec: This option is used to execute a command on each file that matches the search criteria.
5. sh -c 'mv -f {} "$(dirname {})/$(basename {} .txt)_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt"': This part is the command that is executed for each matched file. Let’s break it down further:
   • sh -c: This runs the sh shell with the -c option, which allows you to provide a shell command as a string.
   • mv -f {} "$(dirname {})/$(basename {} .txt)_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt": This is the shell command being executed. It consists of several parts:
     • mv -f {}: This uses the mv command to move (rename) the matched file indicated by {}. The -f flag forces the move without prompting.
     • "$(dirname {})/$(basename {} .txt)_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt": This part constructs the new filename. Here’s how it works:
       • "$(dirname {})": The dirname command extracts the directory path from the matched file’s path.
       • "$(basename {} .txt)": The basename command extracts the filename without the extension. The .txt extension is removed.
       • "_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt": This adds an underscore followed by the current date in the format YYYYMMDD and the .txt extension to the filename.
6. \;: This semicolon signifies the end of the -exec command for each matched file. It needs to be escaped or quoted to prevent the shell from interpreting it prematurely.

The result is the picture below:

Conclusion

Remember to back up your files before performing batch operations like this, just to be safe. Also, modify the date format and naming convention as per your requirement.

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