NAME

rm, rmdir  − remove (unlink) files or directories

SYNOPSIS

rm [ −f ] [ −r ] [ −i ] [ − ] file ... 

rmdir dir ... 

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.  No questions are asked and no errors are reported when the −f (force) option is given. 

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. 

If the −i (interactive) option is in effect, rm asks whether to delete each file, and, under −r, whether to examine each directory. 

The null option − indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as file names.  This allows the specification of file names starting with a minus. 

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

SEE ALSO

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

NEWS-OSRelease 4.2.1R