NAME

rm, rmdir − remove (unlink) files or directories

SYNOPSIS

rm [ options ] files

rmdir dirs

DESCRIPTION

Rm removes the entries for one or more files from a directory.  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 and the standard input is a terminal, its permissions are printed and a line is read from the standard input.  If that line begins with “y” the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains. 

Rmdir removes entries for the named directories, which must be empty. 

OPTIONS

− Indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as filenames.  This allows the specification of filenames starting with a minus sign. 

−f Forces removal of files without write permission.  No questions are asked and no errors are reported when this option is given. 

−i Interactive option.  Rm asks for confirmation before deleting each file. When this option is used with −r, rm asks whether to examine each directory. 

−r If a designated file is a directory, an error comment is printed unless the optional argument −r has been used.  In that case, rm recursively deletes the entire contents of the specified directory, and the directory itself. 

SEE ALSO

rm(1), unlink(2), rmdir(2)

4th Berkeley Distribution  —  1 August 1985