unix - FTP - Only want to keep latest 10 files - delete LRU

Question

I have created a shell script to backup my webfiles + database dump, put it into a tar archive and FTP it offsite. Id like to run it X times per week however I only want to keep the latest 10 backups on the FTP site.

How can I do this best? Should I be doing this work on the shell script side, or is there an FTP command to check last modified and admin things that way?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Answer 1

One way to do something like this would be to use the day of the week in the filename:

• backup-mon.tgz
• backup-tue.tgz
• etc.

Then, when you backup, you would delete or overwrite the backup file for the current day of the week.

(Of course, this way you only get the latest 7 files, but it's a pretty simple method)