NAME

rm, rmdir − remove files or directories

SYNOPSIS

rm [−f] [−i] file ... 

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

rmdir [−p] [−s] dirname ... 

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, the full set of permissions (in octal) for the file are printed followed by a question mark.  This is a prompt for confirmation.  If the answer begins with y (for yes), 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. 

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 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 was attempted, this option cannot suppress an error message. 

−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, however, if the −f option is used, or if the standard input is not a terminal and the −i option is not used.  Note that the −r option does not cause rm to follow symbolic links to directories.  If the removal of a non-empty, write-protected directory was attempted, the command will always fail (even if the −f option is used), resulting in an error message. 

−i With this option, confirmation of removal of any write-protected file occurs interactively.  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 dirname 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. 

DIAGNOSTICS

All messages are generally self-explanatory. 
It is forbidden to remove the files "." and ".." in order to avoid the consequences of inadvertently doing something like the following:

rm −r .∗

Both rm and rmdir return exit codes of 0 if all the specified directories are removed successfully.  Otherwise, they return a non-zero exit code. 

SEE ALSO

unlink(2), rmdir(2). 

September 02, 1992