Question

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Automatically delete files from webserver

I’m logging some XML content to a text file using file_put_contents() in case I need it for debugging.

How do I delete this file after a certain amount of time?

I’ve got a restrictive .htaccess in the log folder, but I’d rather not leave the info (will have customer’s addresses, etc) up on the web for long.

Answer 1

Well, while agreeing with everyone else that you’re using the wrong tool for the job, your question is pretty straightforward. So here you go:

• write a PHP script that will run from the command line
• use a tool like cron or windows scheduled task
• invoke the cron every minute/five minutes/etc

Your script would be pretty straightforward:

<?php
   $dh = opendir(PATH_TO_DIRECTORY);
   while( ($file = readdir($dh)) !== false ) {
      if( !preg_match('/^[.]/', $file) ) {  // do some sort of filtering on files
         $path = PATH_TO_DIRECTORY . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file;
         if( filemtime($path) < strtotime('-1 hour') ) {  // check how long it's been around
            unlink($path);  // remove it
         }
      }
   }

You could also use find if you’re working in Linux, but I see that @Rawkode posted that while I was writing this so I’ll leave you with his elegant answer for that solution.