rm(1)

NAME

   rm - remove files or directories

SYNOPSIS

   rm [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

   This  manual  page  documents  the  GNU version of rm.  rm removes each
   specified file.  By default, it does not remove directories.

   If the -I or --interactive=once option is given,  and  there  are  more
   than  three  files  or  the  -r,  -R, or --recursive are given, then rm
   prompts the user for whether to proceed with the entire operation.   If
   the response is not affirmative, the entire command is aborted.

   Otherwise,  if  a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and
   the  -f  or   --force   option   is   not   given,   or   the   -i   or
   --interactive=always  option  is given, rm prompts the user for whether
   to remove the file.  If the response is not affirmative,  the  file  is
   skipped.

OPTIONS

   Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

   -f, --force
          ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt

   -i     prompt before every removal

   -I     prompt  once  before  removing  more  than  three files, or when
          removing recursively; less intrusive than -i, while still giving
          protection against most mistakes

   --interactive[=WHEN]
          prompt  according  to  WHEN:  never,  once (-I), or always (-i);
          without WHEN, prompt always

   --one-file-system
          when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any  directory  that
          is  on  a  file  system different from that of the corresponding
          command line argument

   --no-preserve-root
          do not treat '/' specially

   --preserve-root
          do not remove '/' (default)

   -r, -R, --recursive
          remove directories and their contents recursively

   -d, --dir
          remove empty directories

   -v, --verbose
          explain what is being done

   --help display this help and exit

   --version
          output version information and exit

   By default, rm does not remove directories.  Use the --recursive (-r or
   -R)  option to remove each listed directory, too, along with all of its
   contents.

   To remove a file whose name starts with a '-', for example '-foo',  use
   one of these commands:

          rm -- -foo

          rm ./-foo

   Note  that  if  you  use  rm  to remove a file, it might be possible to
   recover some of its contents, given sufficient expertise  and/or  time.
   For  greater  assurance  that  the  contents  are  truly unrecoverable,
   consider using shred.

AUTHOR

   Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M.  Stallman,  and  Jim
   Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS

   GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
   Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

   Copyright    2016  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
   GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
   This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
   There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

   unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)

   Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm>
   or available locally via: info '(coreutils) rm invocation'

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Free and Open Source Software