Mass renaming, *nix version

Posted by Paolo B. on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Paolo B.
Published on 2009-08-19T06:57:35Z Indexed on 2011/01/12 0:55 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 314

Filed under:

unix

|

file

|

shell

|

rename

|

bsd

I was looking for a way to rename a huge number of similarly-named files, much like this one (a Windows-related question) except that I'm using *nix (Ubuntu and FreeBSD, separately). Just to sum up, while using the shell (Bash, CSH, etc.) how do I mass-rename a number of files such that, for example, the following files:

Beethoven - Fur Elise.mp3
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata.mp3
Beethoven - Ode to Joy.mp3
Beethoven - Rage Over the Lost Penny.mp3

will be renamed like these?

Fur Elise.mp3
Moonlight Sonata.mp3
Ode to Joy.mp3
Rage Over the Lost Penny.mp3

The reason I want to do this is that these collection of files will go under a directory named "Beethoven" (i.e. the filenames' prefix), and having this information on the filename itself will be redundant.

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about unix

polkit: disable all users except those in group wheel?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Is it possible to do the following using 1 polkit .pkla file? Disable all users except those in the wheel group from using polkit. The users in the wheel group will need to provide the root password when using polkit. /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/wheel-only.pkla [disable all users… >>> More
How to find other end of unix socket connection?

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a process (dbus-daemon) which has many open connection over UNIX sockets. One of these connections is fd #36: =$ ps uw -p 23284 USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND depesz 23284 0.0 0.0 24680 1772 ? Ss 15:25 0:00 /bin/dbus-daemon --fork… >>> More
Meaning of directories on Unix and Unix like systems

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I've been using Linux for a couple of years now but I still haven't figured out what the origin or meaning of some the directory names are on Unix and Unix like systems. E.g. what does etc stand for or var? Where does the opt name come from? And while we're on the topic anyway. Can someone give a… >>> More
Easy understanding of UNIX and UNIX shell scripting!!

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi All, I am beginner to UNIX,UNIX Shell Scripting. Can you please guide me through any excellent sites for unix(which are easy to understand),some study materials(tutorials),video tutorials. Please help!! Thanks! >>> More
Is Mac OS X a licensed Unix or Unix-like clone that conforms to Unix specification?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Is Mac OS X developed on a licensed Unix or is it a Unix-like clone that, unlike Linux, conforms to Unix specification well enough to be registered as a Unix OS. Not until Leopard, Mac OS X did not gain the Unix certification. But in Leopard, Terminal still print: GNU bash, version 3.2.48(1)-release… >>> More

Related posts about file

NTFS Corruption: Files created in Linux corrupted when Windows Boots

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I'm getting some file loss and corruption on my Win7/Ubuntu 12.04 dual boot setup. I have a large shared NTFS partition. I have my Windows Docs/Music/etc. directories on that file and have the comparable directors in Linux setup as a sym. link. I'm using ntfs-3g on the linux side of things to… >>> More
Prevent malicious vulnerability scan increasing load on a server

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
Hi all, this week we have been suffering some malicious vulnerability scans to our servers, increasing the load on them, making them nearly unusable. The attack is easy to defend, just blocking the offending ip, but only after discovering it. Is there any form of prevent it? Is it normal that… >>> More
yum update failed

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have problem doint yum update on my OpenVZ VPS i get this error message : (56/69): glibc-devel-2.5-81.el5_8.7.x86_64.rpm | 2.4 MB 00:00 (57/69): libstdc++-devel-4.1.2-52.el5_8.1.x86_64.rpm | 2.8 MB 00:00 (58/69): binutils-2.17.50.0.6-20.el5_8.3.x86_64.rpm | 2.9 MB … >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Opening a file opens the folder the file is in, not the file itself

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Whenever I try to open a file (such as an .odt, or .doc) from say, the Dash or the Firefox Downloads, Ubuntu 11.10 opens Nautilus to the the folder where the file is, rather than just going to the application and loading the file straight away. In previous releases, when I clicked on a downloaded… >>> More