rm(1)rm(1)Name
rm, rmdir - remove (unlink) files or directories
Syntaxrm [-f] [-r] [-i] [-] file-or-directory-name...
rmdir directory-name...
Description
The command removes the entries for one or more files from a directory.
If there are no links to the file then the file is destroyed. For fur‐
ther information, see
The command removes entries for the named directories, which must be
empty. If they are not empty, the directories remain, and displays an
error message (see EXAMPLES).
To remove a file, you must have write permission in its directory, but
you do not need read or write permission on the file itself. When you
are using from a terminal, and you do not have write permission on the
file, the command asks for confirmation before destroying the file.
If input is redirected from the standard input device (your terminal),
then checks to ensure that input is not coming from your terminal. If
not, sets the -f option, which overrides the file protection, and
removes the files silently, regardless of what you have specified in
the file redirected as input to See EXAMPLES.
Options
- Specifies that the named files have names beginning with a minus
(for example ).
-f Forces the removal of file or directory without first requesting
confirmation. Only system or usage messages are displayed.
-i Prompts for yes or no response before removing each entry. Does
not ask when combined with the -f option. If you type a y, fol‐
lowed by any combination of characters, a yes response is assumed.
-r Recursively removes all entries from the specified directory and,
then, removes the entry for that directory from its parent direc‐
tory.
Examples
The following example shows how to remove a file in your current work‐
ing directory.
rm myfile
This example shows use of the null option to remove a file beginning
with a minus sign.
rm - -gorp
This example shows how a confirmation is requested for removal of a
file for which you do not have write permission.
rm testfile
rm: override protection 400 for testfile? y
This example shows how the combination of -i and -r options lets you
examine all the files in a directory before removing them. In the
example, mydirectory is a subdirectory of the current working direc‐
tory. Note that the last question requests confirmation before remov‐
ing the directory itself. Although the user types ``y'', requesting
removal of the directory, the command does not allow this, because the
directory is not empty; the user typed ``n'' to the question about the
file file2 , so file2 was not removed.
rm-ir mydirectory
rm: remove mydirectory/file1? y
rm: remove mydirectory/file2? n
.
.
.
rm: remove mydirectory? y
rm: mydirectory: Directory not empty
This example illustrates that overrides file protection when input is
redirected from the standard input device. The user creates a file
named ``alfie'', with a read-only file protection. The user then cre‐
ates a file named ``ans'' to contain the character ``n''. The command
following destroys the file ``alfie'', even though the redirected input
file requested no deletion.
cat > alfie
hello
^d
chmod 444 alfie
cat > ans
n
^d
rm < ans alfie
See Alsounlink(2)rm(1)
