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unlink(1)

SYNOPSIS

     rm [-dfiIPRrvW] file ...
     unlink file

DESCRIPTION

     The rm utility attempts to remove the non-directory type files specified
     on the command line.  If the permissions of the file do not permit writ-
     ing, and the standard input device is a terminal, the user is prompted
     (on the standard error output) for confirmation.

     The options are as follows:

     -d 	 Attempt to remove directories as well as other types of
		 files.

     -f 	 Attempt to remove the files without prompting for confirma-
		 tion, regardless of the file's permissions.  If the file does
		 not exist, do not display a diagnostic message or modify the
		 exit status to reflect an error.  The -f option overrides any
		 previous -i options.

     -i 	 Request confirmation before attempting to remove each file,
		 regardless of the file's permissions, or whether or not the
		 standard input device is a terminal.  The -i option overrides
		 any previous -f options.

     -I 	 Request confirmation once if more than three files are being
		 removed or if a directory is being recursively removed.  This
		 is a far less intrusive option than -i yet provides almost
		 the same level of protection against mistakes.

     -P 	 Overwrite regular files before deleting them.	Files are
		 overwritten three times, first with the byte pattern 0xff,
		 then 0x00, and then 0xff again, before they are deleted.

     -R 	 Attempt to remove the file hierarchy rooted in each file
		 argument.  The -R option implies the -d option.  If the -i
		 option is specified, the user is prompted for confirmation
		 before each directory's contents are processed (as well as
		 before the attempt is made to remove the directory).  If the
		 user does not respond affirmatively, the file hierarchy
		 rooted in that directory is skipped.

     -r 	 Equivalent to -R.

     -v 	 Be verbose when deleting files, showing them as they are
		 removed.

     -W 	 Attempt to undelete the named files.  Currently, this option
		 can only be used to recover files covered by whiteouts.

     The rm utility removes symbolic links, not the files referenced by the
     links.

     removed, or if the -f option was specified and all of the existing files
     or file hierarchies were removed.	If an error occurs, rm exits with a
     value >0.

NOTE

     The rm command uses getopt(3) to parse its arguments, which allows it to
     accept the `--' option which will cause it to stop processing flag
     options at that point.  This will allow the removal of file names that
     begin with a dash (`-').  For example:
	   rm -- -filename
     The same behavior can be obtained by using an absolute or relative path
     reference.  For example:
	   rm /home/user/-filename
	   rm ./-filename

SEE ALSO

     chflags(1), rmdir(1), undelete(2), unlink(2), fts(3), getopt(3),
     symlink(7)

BUGS

     The -P option assumes that the underlying file system is a fixed-block
     file system.  UFS is a fixed-block file system, LFS is not.  In addition,
     only regular files are overwritten, other types of files are not.

COMPATIBILITY

     The rm utility differs from historical implementations in that the -f
     option only masks attempts to remove non-existent files instead of mask-
     ing a large variety of errors.  The -v option is non-standard and its use
     in scripts is not recommended.

     Also, historical BSD implementations prompted on the standard output, not
     the standard error output.

STANDARDS

     The rm command conforms to IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'').

     The simplified unlink command conforms to Version 2 of the Single UNIX
     Specification (``SUSv2'').

HISTORY

     A rm command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

FreeBSD 5.4		       January 28, 1999 		   FreeBSD 5.4

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