rm(1) rm(1)
NAME
rm, rmdir - remove files or directories
SYNOPSIS
rm [ -f ] [ -i ] file ...
rm -r [ -f ] [ -i ] directory ... [ file ... ]
rmdir [ -p ] [ -s ] directory ...
DESCRIPTION
rm removes the entries for one or more files from a direc-
tory. If an entry was the last link to the file, the file
is destroyed. Removal of a file requires write permission
in its directory, but neither read nor write permission on
the file itself.
If a file has no write permission, the -f option is not
used, and the standard input is a terminal, its permissions
are printed (in octal) and a line is read from the standard
input. If that line begins with y, or the locale's
equivalent for affirmation, the file is deleted, otherwise
the file remains. Note that if the standard input is not a
terminal, the command will operate as if the -f option is in
effect.
If file is a symbolic link, the link will be removed but the
file or directory to which it refers will not be deleted. A
user does not need write permission on a symbolic link to
remove it, provided they have write permission in the direc-
tory.
rmdir removes the named directories, which must be empty.
Three options apply to rm:
-f This option causes the removal of all files (whether
write-protected or not) in a directory without prompt-
ing the user. In a write-protected directory, however,
files are never removed (whatever their permissions
are), but no messages are displayed.
-r This option causes the recursive removal of any direc-
tories and subdirectories in the argument list. The
directory will be emptied of files and removed. Note
that the user is normally prompted for removal of any
write-protected files which the directory contains.
The write-protected files are removed without prompt-
ing, however, if the -f option is used, or if the stan-
dard input is not a terminal and the -i option is not
used.
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rm(1) rm(1)
Symbolic links that are encountered with this option
will not be traversed.
If the removal of a non-empty, write-protected direc-
tory was attempted, the command will always fail (even
if the -f option is used), resulting in an error mes-
sage.
-i With this option, rm asks whether to remove each file.
It overrides the -f option and remains in effect even
if the standard input is not a terminal.
Two options apply to rmdir:
-p This option allows users to remove the directory direc-
tory and its parent directories which become empty. A
message is printed on standard output as to whether the
whole path is removed or part of the path remains for
some reason.
-s This option is used to suppress the message printed on
standard error when -p is in effect.
SECURITY FEATURES
If the security label on a file or directory is not dom-
inated by the user's current operating label and the stan-
dard input is a terminal, rm notifies the user that the file
or directory is "classified" and prompts with a question
mark for permission to remove. If the answer begins with y
(or locale's equivalent, for yes), the deletion is
attempted, otherwise the file or directory remains. If the
user attempts to remove a classified directory with rm -r,
and the directory is not empty, the removal will fail since
the user is not operating with a label that allows the
recursive removal of files within the directory. If the
directory is empty and the current directory is writable by
the user, the directory is removed as is allowed by the
security policy. The effect is as if rmdir had been used.
SEE ALSO
unlink(2), rmdir(2) in the CX/UX Programmer's Reference
Manual.
DIAGNOSTICS
Generally self-explanatory. Diagnostic messages usually
mean you cannot remove the file.
Both rm and rmdir return exit codes of 0 if all the speci-
fied directories are removed successfully. Otherwise, they
return a non-zero exit code.
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