CONDOR_PREEN(1)

NAME
condor_preen - HTCondor Manual

remove extraneous files from HTCondor directories

SYNOPSIS

condor_preen [-mail ] [-remove ] [-verbose ] [-debug ] [-log <filename>]

DESCRIPTION

condor_preen examines the directories belonging to HTCondor, and removes extraneous files and directories which may be left over from HTCondor processes which terminated abnormally either due to internal errors or a system crash. The directories checked are the LOG <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#LOG">, EXECUTE <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#EXECUTE">, and SPOOL <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#SPOOL"> directories as defined in the HTCondor configuration files. condor_preen is intended to be run as user root or user condor periodically as a backup method to ensure reasonable file system cleanliness in the face of errors. This is done automatically by default by the condor_master daemon. It may also be explicitly invoked on an as needed basis.

When condor_preen cleans the SPOOL <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#SPOOL"> directory, it always leaves behind the files specified in the configuration variables VALID_SPOOL_FILES <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#VALID_SPOOL_FILES"> and SYSTEM_VALID_SPOOL_FILES <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#SYSTEM_VALID_SPOOL_FILES">, as given by the configuration. For the LOG <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#LOG"> directory, the only files removed or reported are those listed within the configuration variable INVALID_LOG_FILES <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#INVALID_LOG_FILES"> list. The reason for this difference is that, in general, the files in the LOG <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#LOG"> directory ought to be left alone, with few exceptions. An example of exceptions are core files. As there are new log files introduced regularly, it is less effort to specify those that ought to be removed than those that are not to be removed.

OPTIONS

            -mail
                Send mail to the user defined in the PREEN_ADMIN <href="../admin-manual/configuration-macros.html#PREEN_ADMIN"> configuration variable, instead of writing to the standard output.

            -remove
                Remove the offending files and directories rather than reporting on them.

            -verbose
                List all files or directories found in the Condor directories and considered for deletion, even those which are not extraneous. This option also modifies the output produced by the -debug and -log options

            -debug
                Print extra debugging information to stderr as the command executes.

            -log <filename>
                Write extra debugging information to <filename> as the command executes.

EXIT STATUS

condor_preen will exit with a status value of 0 (zero) upon success, and it will exit with a non-zero value upon failure. An exit status of 2 indicates that condor_preen attempted to send email about deleted files but was unable to. This usually indicates an error in the configuration for sending email. An exit status of 1 indicates a general failure.

Author
HTCondor Team

Copyright
1990-2026, Center for High Throughput Computing, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, US. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.