Using find - Deleting all files/directories (in Linux ) except any one

Question

If we want to delete all files and directories we use, rm -rf *.

But what if i want all files and directories be deleted at a shot, except one particular fi

Answer 1

In bash you have the !() glob operator, which inverts the matched pattern. So to delete everything except the file my_file_name.txt, try this:

shopt -s extglob
rm -f !(my_file_name.txt)

See this article for more details: http://karper.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/deleting-all-files-in-a-directory-with-exceptions/