RM(1)                                                       RM(1)



NAME

       rm - remove files or directories


SYNOPSIS

       rm [options] file...

       POSIX options: [-fiRr] [--]

       GNU  options  (shortest  form): [-dfirvR] [--help] [--ver-
       sion] [--]


DESCRIPTION

       rm removes each given  file.   By  default,  it  does  not
       remove  directories.   But  when  the  -r  or -R option is
       given, the  entire  directory  tree  below  the  specified
       directory  is removed (and there are no limitations on the
       depth of directory trees that can be removed by `rm  -r').
       It  is  an  error  when the last path component of file is
       either . or ..  (so as to avoid unpleasant surprises  with
       `rm -r .*' or so).

       If  the  -i  option  is given, or if a file is unwritable,
       standard input is a terminal, and the  -f  option  is  not
       given, rm prompts the user for whether to remove the file,
       writing a question to stderr and reading  an  answer  from
       stdin.   If  the  response is not affirmative, the file is
       skipped.


POSIX OPTIONS

       -f     Do not prompt for confirmation. Do not write  diag-
              nostic  messages.   Do  not produce an error return
              status if the only errors were nonexisting files.

       -i     Prompt for confirmation.  (In case both -f  and  -i
              are given, the last one given takes effect.)

       -r or -R
              Recursively remove directory trees.

       --     Terminate option list.


SVID DETAILS

       The  System  V Interface Definition forbids removal of the
       last link to an executable binary file that is being  exe-
       cuted.


GNU DETAILS

       The  GNU  implementation  (in fileutils-3.16) is broken in
       the sense that there is an upper limit  to  the  depth  of
       hierarchies  that can be removed. (If necessary, a utility
       `deltree' can be used to remove very deep trees.)


GNU OPTIONS





GNU fileutils 4.0         November 1998                         1





RM(1)                                                       RM(1)


       -d, --directory
              Remove  directories  with  unlink(2)   instead   of
              rmdir(2), and don't require a directory to be empty
              before trying to unlink it.  Only works if you have
              appropriate privileges.  Because unlinking a direc-
              tory causes any files in the deleted  directory  to
              become  unreferenced,  it  is  wise  to fsck(8) the
              filesystem after doing this.

       -f, --force
              Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user.

       -i, --interactive
              Prompt whether to remove each file. If the response
              is not affirmative, the file is skipped.

       -r, -R, --recursive
              Remove the contents of directories recursively.

       -v, --verbose
              Print the name of each file before removing it.


GNU STANDARD OPTIONS

       --help Print a usage message on standard output  and  exit
              successfully.

       --version
              Print  version information on standard output, then
              exit successfully.

       --     Terminate option list.


ENVIRONMENT

       The  variables  LANG,  LC_ALL,  LC_COLLATE,  LC_CTYPE  and
       LC_MESSAGES have the usual meaning.


CONFORMING TO

       POSIX  1003.2, except for the limitation on file hierarchy
       depth.


NOTES

       This page describes rm as found in the fileutils-4.0 pack-
       age; other versions may differ slightly.  Mail corrections
       and additions to aeb@cwi.nl.  Report bugs in  the  program
       to fileutils-bugs@gnu.ai.mit.edu.












GNU fileutils 4.0         November 1998                         2