Linux file delete script

How To Delete File In Linux?

Deleting files in Linux can be sometimes tricky. We have a tool named rm which is the shortcut for the word remove. In this tutorial, we will look at how to remove or delete a file in Linux with different examples and ways.

rm Command Syntax

rm command syntax is the same as the most the Linux command. We can provide options before specifying the file and directories we cant to operate or delete.

• OPTINS states the behavior of the rm command as we will see below in detail.
• FILENAME is the file or directory name we want to delete or operate.

rm Command Help

rm command help information can be printed to the console with the —help command which is like below. Help information will provide some popular options and usages.

Delete Single File with rm Command

We will start with simple steps just deleting a single file. We will just specify the file name we want to delete. In order to remove the file successfully, we should have privileges to modify a file. For example, if we try to remove the file owned by root with a regular user we will get an error and would not delete the file. In this example, we will delete the file named foo.txt

Delete Multiple Files with rm Command

We have the ability to delete multiple files in a single rm command. We will just put file names we want to delete by separating them with space. In this example, we will delete file names foo.txt and bar.txt but we can add more if we need it.

Delete Files According To Their Extensions/Types with rm Command

Linux bahs provides the glob or asterisk in order to specify the files with a specific name or extension. We can use glob * in order to specify a specific extension like *.txt , *.pdf , *.tmp etc. We can use this extension or name specification in order to delete specific files. In this example, we will delete all *.deb extensions.

We can also specify names like deleting all files which name starts with pof like below.

Delete Files Recursively

rm command provides the ability to delete or remove files recursively. Recursive removal will check subdirectories for files to remove with the directories. We will remove the directory name ndiff with all sub-directories and files in this example. We will use -R option for the recursive operation.

Delete File with Prompt Before Every Removal

While removing files and directories we may need approval for each file to delete. In this case, we can use -i option which will prompt to accept or deny deletion of the given file.

Print Verbose Output About Delete Operation

While deleting files and directories we may want to see details of the removal operation. rm command provides a verbose option which will list information about each deletion of file or directory. We will use -v option for this.

Delete empty Directories or Folders with rmdir Command

In some cases, we need to delete empty folders. rm without options will not work in this case as we can see this in the following screenshot. We case use rmdir command to remove an empty directory or folder.

Read File Names From Text File For Delete or Removal

Another interesting use case for rm command is providing file or directory names from a list like a text file. We will use xargs command to-read the list and redirect to the rm command.

Delete File Names Starts with Dash —

Another interesting case is dash or — problem where file or directory names starting with dash . As we know Linux commands options are specified with dash . So how can rm recognize file name from option? We will use — or double dash were to specify the file or directory name start. For example we have a file named -file.txt and we want to remove. We will use the following command. As we can see the file name is specified after double dash. Options are specified before the double dash.

Delete Files By Reading Their Names From A File/List

In some cases, we may need to read a list that contains the file names we want to delete. This is generally a simple text file where each file name with their path is specified line by line. We can use xargs command to redirect the list contents to the rm command which will delete them one by one. In this example, we will read the list file names file-list.txt .

Delete Files By Finding them with find Command

find is a very useful command which is used to find files and folders. find command also provides some options like running commands on the search results. We can also remove or delete files found by the find command. In this example, we will delete files that are older than 3 days.

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Как удалить файл через терминал Linux

Эта небольшая заметка ориентирована на совсем начинающих. Сегодня мы рассмотрим как удалить файл linux через терминал. Для более опытных пользователей это элементарная задача, но новичкам надо с чего-то начинать. Знать как работать с файлами в консоли очень важно.

К тому же удаление из консоли дает много преимуществ и большую гибкость. Например, с помощью специальной команды вы можете полностью стереть файл с жесткого диска, так что его уже ни за что невозможно будет восстановить или одной командой с помощью специальных символов, условий или регулярных выражений удалить сотни ненужных файлов в одном каталоге или подкаталогох соответствующих определенному критерию.

В Linux для удаления файлов предусмотрена стандартная утилита rm. Как и все остальные, стандартные утилиты в имени rm тоже заложена определенная идея. Это сокращение от английского слова Remove.

Удаление файлов в Linux

Чтобы удалить файл linux достаточно передать в параметрах команде адрес файла в файловой системе:

Чтобы удалить все файлы, начинающиеся на слово file можно использовать специальный символ *, означает любой символ в любом количестве:

Эта команда удаления файла в linux должна использоваться очень осторожно, чтобы не удалить ничего лишнего. В утилите есть опция -i, которая заставляет программу спрашивать пользователя перед тем, как удалить файл linux:

rm: удалить пустой обычный файл «/home/user/file»?

Если файлов очень много, вы уверены в правильности команды и отвечать каждый раз y неудобно, есть противоположная опция — f. Будут удалены все файлы без вопросов:

rm -f /home/user/file*

Для удаления директорий, вместе с файлами и поддиректориями используется опция -R, например:

rm -Rf /home/user/dir

Будет удалено все что находиться в папке dir, и эта папка. Только будьте бдительны, чтобы не получился знаменитый патч Бармина:

Не стоит выполнять эту команду в своей системе, как видите, она удаляет все файлы в файловой системе Linux.

Удаление файла в linux также возможно с помощью утилиты find. Общий синтаксис find:

find папка критерий действие

Например, мы хотим удалить файл linux по имени:

find . -type f -name «file» -exec rm -f <> \;

Будут найдены все файлы с именем file в текущей папке и для них вызвана команда rm -f. Можно не вызывать стороннюю утилиту, а использовать действие delete:

find . -type f -name «file» -delete

Удалить все файлы в текущей директории, соответствующие определенному регулярному выражению:

find . -regex ‘\./[a-f0-9\-]\.bak’ — delete

Или удалить файлы старше определенного строка, может быть полезно для удаления старых логов:

find /path/to/files* -mtime +5 -exec rm <> \;

Будет выполнено удаление файлов через терминал все файлы в папке старше 5-ти дней.

Чтобы полностью стереть файл, без возможности восстановления используйте команду shred. Во время удаления файлов с помощью утилиты rm удаляется только ссылка на файл, само же содержимой файла по-прежнему находиться на диске, пока система не перезапишет его новыми данными, а пока этого не случится файл можно легко восстановить. Принцип действия утилиты такой — после удаления файла, его место на диске несколько раз перезаписывается.

Опцией -n — можно указать количество перезаписей диска, по умолчанию используется 3. А если указать опцию -z программа при последней перезаписи запишет все нулями чтобы скрыть, уничтожение файла.

Выводы

Вот и все. Теперь вы знаете как удалить файл в Ubuntu, как видите, делать это не так уж сложно. Если у вас остались вопросы, пишите в комментариях!

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How To: Linux / UNIX delete a file using rm command

H ow do I delete a file under a Linux / UNIX / *BSD / AIX / HP-UX operating system using command line options?

To remove or delete a file or directory in Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, macOS, or Unix-like operating systems, use the rm command or unlink command. This page explains how to delete a given file on a Linux or Unix like system using the command line option.

Tutorial details
Difficulty level	Easy
Root privileges	No
Requirements	rm and unlink command on Linux or Unix
Est. reading time	4 minutes

Syntax: rm command to remove a file

rm (short for remove) is a Unix / Linux command which is used to delete files from a filesystem. Usually, on most filesystems, deleting a file requires write permission on the parent directory (and execute permission, in order to enter the directory in the first place). The syntax is as follows to delete the specified files and directories:

• -f : Forcefully remove file
• -r : Remove the contents of directories recursively

When rm command used just with the file names, rm deletes all given files without confirmation by the user.

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Warning : Be careful with filenames as Unix and Linux, by default, won’t prompt for confirmation before deleting files. Always keep verified backups of all critical files and data.

Unix Remove or delete a file example

Say you have a file named abc.txt and you want to remove it:
$ rm abc.txt

Linux delete multiple files

Delete three files named foo.mp4, bar.doc, and demo.txt, run:

Linux recursively delete all files

Remove all files and sub-directories from a directory (say deltree like command from MS-DOS world), enter:
$ rm -rf mydir

Linux delete a file and prompt before every removal

To request confirmation before attempting to remove each file pass the -i option to the rm command:
$ rm -i filename
Sample outputs:

Gif 01: rm command demo

Force rm command to explain what is being done with file

Pass the -v option as follows:
$ rm -v moiz.list.txt bios-updates.doc
removed ‘moiz.list.txt’
removed ‘bios-updates.doc’

How to delete empty directories

To remove empty directory use rmdir command and not the rm command:
$ rmdir mydirectory
$ rmdir dirNameHere
$ rmdir docs

How to read a list of all files to delete from a text file

The rm command is often used in conjunction with xargs to supply a list of files to delete. Create a file called file.txt:
$ cat file.txt
List of to delete:

Now delete all file listed in file.txt, enter:
$ xargs rm

How do I delete a file named -foo.txt or a directory named -bar?

To delete a file called -foo.txt :
rm — -foo.txt
OR
rm — ./-foo.txt
To delete a directory called -bar :
rm -r -f — -bar
The two — dashes tells rm command the end of the options and rest of the part is nothing but a file or directory name begins with a dash.

Never run rm -rf / as an administrator or normal UNIX / Linux user

WARNING! These examples will delete all files on your computer if executed.

$ rm -rf /
$ rm -rf *

rm -rf (variously, rm -rf /, rm -rf *, and others) is frequently used in jokes and anecdotes about Unix disasters. The rm -rf / variant of the command, if run by an administrator, would cause the contents of every writable mounted filesystem on the computer to be deleted. Do not try these commands.

Conclusion

You learned how to delete files on Linux and Unix-like operating systems. Here are all important options for GNU rm command (read man page here)

Remove files command summary

Option	Description
-f	Ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt
-i	Prompt before every file 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[=all]	do not remove ‘/’ (default); with ‘all’, reject any command line argument on a separate device from its parent
-r	remove directories and their contents recursively
-R	same as above
-d	rmove empty directories
-v	Explain what is being done

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How to delete a file in bash

Delete the file using `rm` command:

`rm` command can be used with option and without the option for the different types of delete. The syntax of the `rm` command is given below.

Syntax:

‘-i’ option can be used with `rm` command to provide a prompt before deleting any file to prevent accidental deletion. ‘-f’ option can be used with `rm` command to remove any file forcefully. The different uses of the `rm` command are shown below.

Example-1: Delete the file using `rm` command without the option

You can apply the ‘rm’ command to remove an existing file. In the following script, an empty file is created by using the ‘touch’ command to test ‘rm‘ command. Next, ‘rm’ command is used to remove the file, test.txt.

# Set the filename
filename = ‘test.txt’
# Create an empty file
touch $filename
# Check the file is exists or not
if [ -f $filename ] ; then
rm test.txt
echo » $filename is removed»
fi

Output:

Example-2: Delete the file using `rm` command with -i option

The following script will ask for permission from the user before removing the file for ‘-i’ option. Here, the filename will be taken from the user as input. If the file exists and the user press ‘n’ then the file will not remove otherwise the file will remove.

# Take the filename
read -p ‘Enter the filename to delete: ‘ filename

# Check the file is exists or not
if [ -f $filename ] ; then
# Remove the file with permission
rm -i » $filename »
# Check the file is removed or not
if [ -f $filename ] ; then
echo » $filename is not removed»
else
echo » $filename is removed»
fi
else
echo «File does not exist»
fi

Output:

Example-3: Delete the file using `rm` command with -v option

The following script will take the filename by a command-line argument. If the file exists then, it will print a remove message with the filename for ‘-v’ option.

# Check the file is exists or not
if [ [ $1 ! = «» && -f $1 ] ] ; then
# Print remove message
rm -v $1
else
echo «Filename is not provided or filename does not exist»
fi

Output:

Example-4: Delete multiple files using `rm` command

More than one file can be deleted by using ‘rm’ command and separating the filenames with space. In the following script, multiple filenames will be taken from the command line arguments. If any file does not exist, then it will show a message otherwise filenames will be combined by the space and stored into the variable named ‘files’. Next, the rm command will be executed with the ‘files’ variable to remove multiple files.

# Check the multiple filenames are given or not
if [ $# > 2 ] ; then
# Reading argument values using loop
for argval in «[email protected]»
do
if [ -f $argval ] ; then
files+= $argval $space
else
echo » $argval does not exist»
fi
done

# Remove files
rm $files
echo «files are removed.»
else
echo «Filenames are not provided, or filename does not exist»
fi

Output:

Conclusion:

The above examples show the different types of ways to delete the file using a bash script to help bash users to do this type of task easily.

About the author

Fahmida Yesmin

I am a trainer of web programming courses. I like to write article or tutorial on various IT topics. I have a YouTube channel where many types of tutorials based on Ubuntu, Windows, Word, Excel, WordPress, Magento, Laravel etc. are published: Tutorials4u Help.

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