How can I rename all the existing carrierwave uploaded files? - rename

Question

I have been using Carrierwave for file uploads for some time. I did not try to rename the files as they got uploaded. Now I want to give each file a random name and a file extension that's consistent with the content type. I read the wiki and other sites, and it was recommended that in the uploader, I could:
def filename
"#{secure_token}.#{file.extension}" if original_filename.present?
end
private
def secure_token
#implement the secure token
end
It worked fine on files uploaded after these additions to the uploader. But I got many files that were uploaded before this change. I was wondering if someone could tell me how to migrate the old files.
I tried adding a method to the uploader:
def rename_file!
model.update_attribute mounted_as, "#{secure_token}.#{file.extension}"
recreate_versions!
end
then in the rails console, I tried calling this on an model with attachment. However, I found that the mounted_as column of the model never got updated, though on the file system, various versions of the file were created with the new name. When I inspected the mounted_as field of the model, it did not get updated. The log actually said the column was updated with the old value.
How can I get the mounted_as column on the model updated?
In addition, it seemed like the old files with the old names were still on the file system. Is there a way to remove them? I tried adding a line:
file.move_to File.join("#{File.dirname file.path}, "#{secure_token}.#{file.extension}")
in the rename_file! method. It renamed the files, but did not update the mounted_as column on the model. So accessing its URL resulted in a 404.

Answer 1

I know this is a little old now, but perhaps useful for others.
After updating your Uploader with the filename method, like you have, you could run this from the Rails console;
Post.all.each do |p|
p.avatar.recreate_versions!
p.save!
end
In the current version of CarrierWave, this will both rename the file and update the model record.
Post of course is the model name and avatar the column on which you are mounting the uploader, so change those as required.