CLRI(1M) (Essential Utilities) CLRI(1M)
NAME
clri - clear i-node
SYNOPSIS
/etc/clri special i-number ...
DESCRIPTION
clri writes nulls on the 64 bytes at offset i-number from
the start of the i-node list. This effectively eliminates
the i-node at that address. Special is the device name on
which a file system has been defined. After clri is
executed, any blocks in the affected file will show up as
``not accounted for'' when fsck(1M) is run against the
file-system. The i-node may be allocated to a new file.
Read and write permission is required on the specified
special device.
This command is used to remove a file which appears in no
directory; that is, to get rid of a file which cannot be
removed with the rm command.
SEE ALSO
fsck(1M), fsdb(1M), ncheck(1M).
fs(4) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
rm(1) in the User's Reference Manual.
WARNINGS
If the file is open for writing, clri will not work. The
file system containing the file should NOT be mounted.
If clri is used on the i-node number of a file that does
appear in a directory, it is imperative to remove the entry
in the directory at once, since the i-node may be allocated
to a new file. The old directory entry, if not removed,
continues to point to the same file. This sounds like a
link, but does not work like one. Removing the old entry
destroys the new file.
Page 1 May 1989