Installation<\/h2>\n
FSearch is packaged and available in an Ubuntu PPA. That makes things a bit more complicated on other distributions, but it\u2019s very simple on Ubuntu. Debian users can also take advantage of the PPA with a bit of extra work.<\/p>\n
Ubuntu<\/h3>\n
The FSearch PPA is like any other. Import it with Apt, and update your sources.<\/p>\n
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:christian-boxdoerfer\/fsearch-daily
\nsudo apt update<\/p>\n
Debian<\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re on Debian, you can use the PPA, but it\u2019ll just require a bit of extra work to get set up. First, open a terminal and create a new .list file with sudo.<\/p>\n
sudo touch \/etc\/apt\/sources.list.d\/fsearch.list<\/p>\n
Open the file with your text editor of choice, and add in the following two lines.<\/p>\n
deb http:\/\/ppa.launchpad.net\/christian-boxdoerfer\/fsearch-daily\/ubuntu cosmic main
\ndeb-src http:\/\/ppa.launchpad.net\/christian-boxdoerfer\/fsearch-daily\/ubuntu cosmic main<\/p>\n
Now, import the keys for the repository.<\/p>\n
sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys 75555AFF5215AD9DBFD8CDB952B2FFB2DC496F40<\/p>\n
The only thing left to do is update Apt.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re ready to start installing FSearch.<\/p>\n
sudo apt install fsearch-trunk<\/p>\n
Arch<\/h3>\n
FSearch is actually available in the AUR. You can use whichever AUR install process you\u2019re most comfortable with to add it to your system. You can find the details on FSearch\u2019s AUR page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fedora users are going to need to build FSearch from its source. This method is officially supported, so you shouldn\u2019t run into any hangups.<\/p>\n Start by installing the build requirements.<\/p>\n sudo dnf install automake autoconf intltool libtool autoconf-archive pkgconfig glib2-devel gtk3-devel git<\/p>\n Next, clone the source and change into the resulting directory.<\/p>\n git clone https:\/\/github.com\/cboxdoerfer\/fsearch.git Build FSearch and install it.<\/p>\n .\/autogen.sh Now, you should have a working FSearch install that you can launch graphically.<\/p>\n Open up FSearch. When the window first pops open, you\u2019ll see a search field at the top, a big blank area with instructions to add a database, and not much else. FSearch is a search utility. It was built to do that one thing and do it well. In order to move as quickly as it does, FSearch relies on a database that it creates from the directories that you want to be able to search. The last step in getting set up is adding that directory.<\/p>\n Click on \u201cEdit\u201d on the menu along the top of your FSearch window. Pick \u201cPreferences\u201d in the resulting dropdown menu.<\/p>\n A new window will open with a series of tabs across the top. Click on the \u201cDatabase\u201d tab. The main body of the tab is occupied by a big white space.<\/p>\n To the left of that space are two tabs for \u201cInclude\u201d and \u201cExclude.\u201d They\u2019re exactly what they sound like. The \u201cInclude\u201d tab lists folders to include in your searches. The \u201cExclude\u201d tab lists subfolders you want to exclude from the included folders.<\/p>\n On the right you\u2019ll find two buttons to add or remove directories. Click the one to add a directory. It will open a file browser window. Choose a directory that you want searchable and confirm. You can absolutely just add your whole \/home directory, which works pretty well.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re done, FSearch will scan through the directory and build its database. This is surprisingly fast and actually won\u2019t slow down your computer too much.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice that the big blank space on the main screen now has a magnifying glass icon faded into the background to signify that you\u2019re ready to start searching. Start typing the name of a file or folder that you know you\u2019ll find in your search directory. You\u2019ll immediately see FSearch start populating the big empty space with possible results in order of accuracy.<\/p>\n Try a few more searches. You should also notice that FSearch gives you complete paths to your files in order to make it easy for you to access them after you\u2019re done searching.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re finding too many erroneous results coming from a cache folder or something similar, you can always return to the database tab under the Preferences menu and add the problem directory to the exclusion list.<\/p>\n There\u2019s not much else to it. FSearch follows the Unix philosophy of \u201cDo one thing and do it well,\u201d and it really does do that one thing very well. FSearch is insanely fast, and it will find you your files without you needing to wait too long, or at all.<\/p>\n Is this article useful?<\/p>\nFedora<\/h3>\n
\ncd fsearch<\/p>\n
\n.\/configure
\nmake
\nsudo make install<\/p>\nAdd Your Database<\/h2>\n
![\"Open](\"https:\/\/imgcdn.maketecheasier.com\/2018\/10\/fsearch-firstrun.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"FSearch](\"https:\/\/imgcdn.maketecheasier.com\/2018\/10\/fsearch-edit.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Add](\"https:\/\/imgcdn.maketecheasier.com\/2018\/10\/fsearch-preferences.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSearching with FSearch<\/h2>\n
![\"FSearch](\"https:\/\/imgcdn.maketecheasier.com\/2018\/10\/fsearch-ready.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"FSearch](\"https:\/\/imgcdn.maketecheasier.com\/2018\/10\/fsearch-results.jpg\")
<\/p>\n