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
     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 ter-
     minal,  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, 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  direc-
          tory  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



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User Commands                                               RM(1)



     -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 direc-
     tory, 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 possi-
     ble 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-coreutils@gnu.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  redistri-
     bute  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



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User Commands                                               RM(1)



          info coreutils rm invocation

     should give you access to the complete manual.




















































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