Remove all files except some from a directory

Question

When using sudo rm -r, how can I delete all files, with the exception of the following:

textfile.txt
backup.tar.gz
script.php
database.sql
info.         


        

Answer 1

You can do this with two command sequences. First define an array with the name of the files you do not want to exclude:

files=( backup.tar.gz script.php database.sql info.txt )

After that, loop through all files in the directory you want to exclude, checking if the filename is in the array you don't want to exclude; if its not then delete the file.

for file in *; do
  if [[ ! " ${files[@]} " ~= "$file"  ]];then
    rm "$file"
  fi
done