Yes, you can disable updatedb.mlocate on an Ubuntu server. This article will guide you through the process and explain why you might want to do so.
Yes, you can disable updatedb.mlocate on an Ubuntu server. There are several ways to do this, such as killing the process, disabling the cron job, or customizing the directories to be indexed. However, keep in mind that disabling updatedb.mlocate will prevent the locate command from providing up-to-date results.
What is updatedb.mlocate?
The updatedb.mlocate process is responsible for updating the database used by the locate command. The locate command is a Unix utility that finds files on your system. It’s faster than the find command because it uses a previously built database, mlocate.db, where all the files’ information is stored. The updatedb.mlocate process updates this database.
However, updatedb.mlocate can consume a significant amount of disk I/O (Input/Output), which can lead to performance issues, especially on servers with high disk I/O usage.
How to Disable updatedb.mlocate
There are several ways to disable updatedb.mlocate on an Ubuntu server:
Killing the process
You can use the killall command to stop the updatedb.mlocate process. Open a terminal and run the following command:
sudo killall updatedb.mlocateThe killall command sends a signal to terminate the process. The sudo command is used to execute the command with root privileges.
Disabling the cron job
updatedb.mlocate is scheduled to run daily by cron, a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. You can disable it by removing the executable permission from the cron job file. Run the following command:
sudo chmod -x /etc/cron.daily/mlocateThe chmod command changes the permissions of a file. The -x option removes the executable permission. The sudo command is used to execute the command with root privileges.
If you want to re-enable it in the future, you can use the following command:
sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/mlocateThe +x option adds the executable permission back.
Customizing the directories to be indexed
If you don’t want updatedb.mlocate to index certain directories, you can edit the /etc/updatedb.conf file and set the PRUNEPATHS variable with the directories you want to exclude from the search. Open the file with a text editor:
sudo nano /etc/updatedb.confFind the line that starts with PRUNEPATHS, and add the directories you want to exclude. Save the file and exit.
Conclusion
Disabling updatedb.mlocate will prevent the locate command from providing up-to-date results. However, if you don’t rely heavily on the locate command or if the excessive disk I/O is causing performance issues, disabling it can be a viable solution.
Remember to consider the potential consequences of disabling updatedb.mlocate and evaluate if it’s the right decision for your specific use case. Always ensure you have a backup of your data before making any significant changes to your system.
Disabling updatedb.mlocate can be useful if the process is causing high disk I/O usage and impacting the performance of your server.
Yes, disabling updatedb.mlocate will prevent the locate command from providing up-to-date results. However, if you don’t heavily rely on the locate command or if the excessive disk I/O is causing performance issues, it may be a viable solution.
You can use the killall command in the terminal with root privileges. Run the following command: sudo killall updatedb.mlocate.
You can disable the cron job by removing the executable permission from the cron job file. Use the command sudo chmod -x /etc/cron.daily/mlocate. To re-enable it in the future, use sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/mlocate.
Yes, you can edit the /etc/updatedb.conf file and set the PRUNEPATHS variable to exclude specific directories from being indexed by updatedb.mlocate. Use the command sudo nano /etc/updatedb.conf to open the file in a text editor.
