find: Database Locations
4.1 Database Locations
======================
There can be multiple file name databases. Users can select which
databases 'locate' searches using the 'LOCATE_PATH' environment variable
or a command line option. The system administrator can choose the file
name of the default database, the frequency with which the databases are
updated, and the directories for which they contain entries. File name
databases are updated by running the 'updatedb' program, typically
nightly.
In networked environments, it often makes sense to build a database
at the root of each filesystem, containing the entries for that
filesystem. 'updatedb' is then run for each filesystem on the
fileserver where that filesystem is on a local disk, to prevent
thrashing the network.
⇒Invoking updatedb, for the description of the options to
'updatedb'. These options can be used to specify which directories are
indexed by each database file.
The default location for the locate database depends on how findutils
is built, but the findutils installation accompanying this manual uses
the default location '/var/cache/locate/locatedb'.
If no database exists at '/var/cache/locate/locatedb' but the user
did not specify where to look (by using '-d' or setting 'LOCATE_PATH'),
then 'locate' will also check for a "secure" database in
'/var/lib/slocate/slocate.db'.
Info Catalog
find: Databases
find: Database Formats