rm(1) rm(1)
NAME
rm - remove files
SYNOPSIS
rm [-firR] file ...
DESCRIPTION
rm removes the entries for one or more files from a directory.
If a file has no write permission and the standard input is a
terminal, the full set of permissions (in octal) for the file
are printed to stderr, followed by a question mark. This is a
prompt for confirmation. If the answer is an affirmative
response, the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains.
[The form of an affirmative response is locale dependent: y in
the C locale, see LANG on environ (5)].
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 permissions in the
directory.
Note that if the standard input is not a terminal, the command
will operate as if the -f option is in effect.
OPTIONS
-f This option causes the removal of all files (whether
write-protected or not) in a directory without prompting
the user. In a write-protected directory, however, files
are never removed (whatever their permissions are), but
no messages are displayed. If the removal of a write-
protected directory is attempted, this option will not
suppress an error message.
-i With this option, confirmation of removal of any write-
protected file occurs interactively. It remains in
effect even if the standard input is not a terminal. If
both -i and -f options are present on the command line,
the last option takes precedence.
-r This option causes the recursive removal of any
directories 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 prompting,
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 1
rm(1) rm(1)
however, if the -f option is used, or if the standard
input is not a terminal and the -i option is not used.
Symbolic links that are encountered with this option will
not be traversed.
If the removal of a non-empty, write-protected directory
is attempted, the command will always fail (even if the
-f option is used), resulting in an error message.
-R This option is the same as -r.
FILES
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore.abi
language-specific message file [See LANG on environ
(5).]
REFERENCES
rmdir(2), unlink(2)
DIAGNOSTICS
All messages are generally self-explanatory.
If either the files "." and ". ." are specified as the
basename portion of an operand (that is, the final pathname
component), rm writes a diagnostic message to standard error
and does nothing more with such operands. The message tells
you that rm can't remove the current directory or "..".
NOTICES
A -- permits the user to mark explicitly the end of any
command line options, allowing rm to recognize filename
arguments that begin with a -. As an aid to BSD migration, rm
will accept - as a synonym for --. This migration aid may
disappear in a future release. If a -- and a - both appear on
the same command line, the second will be interpreted as a
filename.
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 2