RM(1)                                                     User Commands                                                    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 direc-
       tories.

       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 affir-
       mative, the file is skipped.

OPTIONS
       Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

       -f, --force
              ignore nonexistent files, 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 cor-
              responding 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

       -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 exper-
       tise 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
       Report rm bugs to bug-coreutilsATgnu.org
       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>;
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>;
       Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>;

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright   (C)   2010   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)

       The  full  documentation for rm is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info and rm programs are properly installed at
       your site, the command

              info coreutils 'rm invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU coreutils 8.5                                         November 2010                                                    RM(1)