# Install findutils with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper Collection of GNU find, xargs, and locate. Version 4.10.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:findutils ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install findutils ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install findutils ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/findutils/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add findutils ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: findutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install findutils ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: findutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install findutils ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: findutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#findutils ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: findutils from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S findutils ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: findutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install findutils ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: findutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ### Windows - Chocolatey (92%): ```sh choco install findutils ``` Evidence: Chocolatey community package catalog: findutils from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','fah' - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/findutils ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/findutils.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:findutils - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 4.10.0 - **Source summary:** Collection of GNU find, xargs, and locate - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - find (cli) - locate (cli) - updatedb (cli) - xargs (cli) - find (alias) - locate (alias) - updatedb (alias) - xargs (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Caveats: All commands have been installed with the prefix "g". If you need to use these commands with their normal names, you can add a "gnubin" directory to your PATH from your bashrc like: PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/findutils/libexec/gnubin:$PATH" - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 4.10.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage GNU findutils is the GNU collection of file-searching utilities: find, xargs, locate, and updatedb. It is one of the classic Unix-style packages that turns filesystem traversal, file selection, and command construction into scriptable command-line primitives. ### Project history The findutils NEWS file traces the beginning of findutils history to 1987, with known releases from 1.0 in June 1990 onward. The distribution was renamed to findutils in release 4.1 in November 1994, after earlier 1.x, 2.x, and 3.x releases had already established the GNU versions of find-related tools. Release 4.0 in November 1994 added a Texinfo manual, man pages for updatedb and locate database formats, find performance work, symlink-loop handling improvements, locate database changes, updatedb command-line options, xargs performance improvements, and a test suite for xargs. Those notes show the package maturing from separate Unix utilities into a maintained GNU distribution. The modern package continues to evolve around compatibility and edge cases rather than novelty. GNU findutils 4.10.0, released in June 2024, changed xargs signal behavior to improve POSIX compliance, fixed xargs parallel-execution behavior, improved diagnostics, rejected obsolete year-2038-unsafe configurations, and updated translations. ### Adoption history GNU findutils became a baseline package because find and xargs are core building blocks for shell scripts, build systems, package recipes, cleanup jobs, and system administration. Its utilities are used directly by humans and indirectly by scripts that need portable traversal, filtering, batching, and deletion behavior. On GNU/Linux systems, GNU findutils is typically the default implementation behind find, xargs, locate, and updatedb. On macOS and other Unix-like systems it is often installed explicitly when users need GNU options or behavior rather than the platform's BSD-derived tools. ### How it is used find traverses directory trees and selects files by name, type, time, permissions, ownership, size, path, expression logic, and many other predicates. It can print matches, delete files, execute commands, or pass NUL-delimited output into other tools. xargs turns input lists into command invocations, often pairing with find -print0 for safe processing of filenames containing whitespace or special characters. locate and updatedb provide the faster database-backed counterpart: updatedb builds the filename database and locate searches it. ### Why package nerds care GNU findutils is package-nerd bedrock because it is both infrastructure and user interface. Package builds, source cleanups, test runners, release scripts, and sysadmin snippets constantly rely on find and xargs semantics, so small behavior changes can matter across thousands of downstream projects. It is also a classic example of GNU userland divergence: users on BSD/macOS often install it specifically to get GNU find behavior, while Linux distributions treat it as part of the expected base command set. ### Timeline - 1987: Beginning of findutils history recorded in the GNU findutils NEWS file. - 1990: GNU findutils 1.0 release date is recorded as June 22. - 1994: Release 4.0 adds the Texinfo manual, updatedb and locatedb man pages, find improvements, locate database changes, and xargs tests. - 1994: Release 4.1 renames the distribution to findutils. - 2003: Release 4.1.20 marks James Youngman as the new maintainer. - 2015: Release 4.6.0 is described as the first stable release since 4.4.2. - 2024: Release 4.10.0 ships POSIX-related xargs changes, diagnostics improvements, year-2038 build checks, documentation updates, and translation updates. ### Related projects - GNU grep, GNU sed, GNU coreutils, and GNU tar are neighboring command-line packages in the same GNU userland culture. - BSD find and BSD xargs are the comparison point on macOS and BSD systems. - mlocate and plocate are related locate-style tools in the broader filename-database search family. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** findutils - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - findutils - 4.10.0-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: findutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | utilities for finding files--find, xargs | https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/findutils/ - Debian apt - locate - 4.10.0-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: locate from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | maintain and query an index of a directory tree | https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/findutils/ - Nix - findutils: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: findutils from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - Ubuntu apt - findutils - 4.9.0-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: findutils from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | utilities for finding files--find, xargs | https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/findutils/ - Ubuntu apt - locate - 4.9.0-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: locate from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | maintain and query an index of a directory tree | https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/findutils/ - apk - findutils - 4.10.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: findutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | GNU utilities for finding files | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - apk - findutils-doc - 4.10.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: findutils-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | GNU utilities for finding files (documentation) | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - apk - findutils-locate - 4.10.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: findutils-locate from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | locate and updatedb from findutils | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - apk - findutils-locate-doc - 4.10.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: findutils-locate-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | locate and updatedb from findutils (documentation) | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - dnf - findutils - 4.10.0-7.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: findutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | The GNU versions of find utilities (find and xargs) | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - pacman - findutils - 4.10.0-3: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: findutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz | GNU utilities to locate files | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - zypper - findutils - 4.10.0-2.5: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: findutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | The GNU versions of find utilities (find and xargs) | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - zypper - findutils-lang - 4.10.0-2.5: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: findutils-lang from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Translations for package findutils | https://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ - MacPorts - findutils: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/findutils/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Chocolatey - findutils: normalized package name match | Chocolatey community package catalog: findutils from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','fah' - Scoop - main/findutils: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/findutils.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Matched curated package taxonomy and local package facts. - [renameutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/renameutils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, gnu, system. - [stow](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/stow/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, gnu, system. - [dust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dust/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, system. - [dutree](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dutree/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, system. - [facad](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/facad/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, filesystem, system. - [fcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, system. - [fdupes](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fdupes/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, system. - [jdupes](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jdupes/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, file-management, filesystem, system. - [coreutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/coreutils/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, file, gnu, system. - [shepherd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/shepherd/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, gnu, management, system. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/findutils.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/findutils.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph