mirror of https://github.com/mkerrisk/man-pages
117 lines
3.5 KiB
Groff
117 lines
3.5 KiB
Groff
.\" Copyright Andries Brouwer, Ragnar Hojland Espinosa and A. Wik, 1998.
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.\"
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.\" This file may be copied under the conditions described
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.\" in the LDP GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 1, September 1998
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.\" that should have been distributed together with this file.
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.\"
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.TH RM 1 1998-11 "GNU fileutils 4.0"
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.SH NAME
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rm \- remove files or directories
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.BI "rm [" options "] " file...
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.sp
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POSIX options:
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.B "[\-fiRr] [\-\-]"
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.sp
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GNU options (shortest form):
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.B [\-dfirvR]
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.B "[\-\-help] [\-\-version] [\-\-]"
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B rm
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removes each given
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.IR file .
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By default, it does not remove directories.
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But when the \-r or \-R option is given, the entire directory tree
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below the specified directory is removed (and there are no limitations
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on the depth of directory trees that can be removed by `rm \-r').
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It is an error when the last path component of
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.I file
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is either . or ..
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(so as to avoid unpleasant surprises with `rm \-r .*' or so).
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.PP
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If the \-i option is given, or
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if a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the
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.B "\-f"
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option is not given,
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.B rm
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prompts the user for whether to remove the file, writing a question
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to stderr and reading an answer from stdin. If the response
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is not affirmative, the file is skipped.
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.SH "POSIX OPTIONS"
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.TP
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.B "\-f"
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Do not prompt for confirmation. Do not write diagnostic messages.
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Do not produce an error return status if the only errors were
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non-existent files.
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.TP
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.B "\-i"
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Prompt for confirmation.
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(In case both \-f and \-i are given, the last one given takes effect.)
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.TP
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.BR "\-r" " or " "\-R"
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Recursively remove directory trees.
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.TP
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.B "\-\-"
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Terminate option list.
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.SH "SVID DETAILS"
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The System V Interface Definition forbids removal of the
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last link to an executable binary file that is being executed.
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.SH "GNU DETAILS"
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The GNU implementation (in fileutils-3.16) is broken in the sense
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that there is an upper limit to the depth of hierarchies that can be
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removed. (If necessary, a utility `deltree' can be used to remove
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very deep trees.)
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.SH "GNU OPTIONS"
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.TP
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.B "\-d, \-\-directory"
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Remove directories with
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.BR unlink (2)
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instead of
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.BR rmdir (2),
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and don't
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require a directory to be empty before trying to unlink it. Only
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works if you have appropriate privileges. Because unlinking a
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directory causes any files in the deleted directory to become
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unreferenced, it is wise to
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.BR fsck (8)
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the filesystem after doing this.
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.TP
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.B "\-f, \-\-force"
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Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user.
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.TP
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.B "\-i, \-\-interactive"
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Prompt whether to remove each file. If the response is not affirmative,
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the file is skipped.
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.TP
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.B "\-r, \-R, \-\-recursive"
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Remove the contents of directories recursively.
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.TP
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.B "\-v, \-\-verbose"
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Print the name of each file before removing it.
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.SH "GNU STANDARD OPTIONS"
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.TP
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.B "\-\-help"
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Print a usage message on standard output and exit successfully.
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.TP
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.B "\-\-version"
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Print version information on standard output, then exit successfully.
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.TP
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.B "\-\-"
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Terminate option list.
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.SH ENVIRONMENT
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The variables LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE and LC_MESSAGES have the
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usual meaning.
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.SH "CONFORMING TO"
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POSIX 1003.2, except for the limitation on file hierarchy depth.
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.SH NOTES
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This page describes
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.B rm
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as found in the fileutils-4.0 package;
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other versions may differ slightly.
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.LP
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Sometimes one wishes to recover deleted files.
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It helps to have backups. It helps to use a trash directory,
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so that removed files are only moved to the trash. But actually
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removed files, although gone in principle, can sometimes be recovered.
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For details for the ext2 filesystem, see the Ext2fs-Undeletion mini-Howto.
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