glib/docs/reference/gio/gio.rst

gio

GIO commandline tool

SYNOPSIS

 **gio** help [COMMAND]
 **gio** version
 **gio** cat LOCATION…
 **gio** copy [OPTION…] SOURCE… DESTINATION
 **gio** info [OPTION…] LOCATION…
 **gio** launch DESKTOP-FILE [FILE-ARG…]
 **gio** list [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]
 **gio** mime MIME-TYPE [HANDLER]
 **gio** mkdir [OPTION…] LOCATION…
 **gio** monitor [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]
 **gio** mount [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]
 **gio** move [OPTION…] SOURCE… DESTINATION
 **gio** open LOCATION…
 **gio** rename LOCATION NAME
 **gio** remove [OPTION…] LOCATION…
 **gio** save [OPTION…] DESTINATION
 **gio** set [OPTION…] LOCATION ATTRIBUTE VALUE…
 **gio** trash [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]
 **gio** tree [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

DESCRIPTION

gio is a utility that makes many of the GIO features available from the commandline. In doing so, it provides commands that are similar to traditional utilities, but let you use GIO locations instead of local files: for example you can use something like smb://server/resource/file.txt as a location.

Plain filenames which contain a colon will be interpreted as URIs with an unknown protocol. To avoid this, prefix them with a path such as ./, or with the file: protocol.

COMMANDS

help COMMAND

Displays a short synopsis of the available commands or provides detailed help on a specific command.

version

Prints the GLib version to which gio belongs.

cat LOCATION…

Concatenates the given files and prints them to the standard output.

The cat command works just like the traditional cat utility.

Mote: just pipe through cat if you need its formatting options like -n, -T or other.

copy [OPTION…] SOURCE… DESTINATION

Copies one or more files from SOURCE to DESTINATION. If more than one source is specified, the destination must be a directory.

The copy command is similar to the traditional cp utility.

Options

-T, --no-target-directory

Don’t copy into DESTINATION even if it is a directory.

-p, --progress

Show progress.

-i, --interactive

Prompt for confirmation before overwriting files.

--preserve

Preserve all attributes of copied files.

-b, --backup

Create backups of existing destination files.

-P, --no-dereference

Never follow symbolic links.

--default-permissions

Use the default permissions of the current process for the destination file, rather than copying the permissions of the source file.

info [OPTION…] LOCATION…

Shows information about the given locations.

The info command is similar to the traditional ls utility.

Options

-w, --query-writable

List writable attributes.

-f, --filesystem

Show information about the filesystem that the given locations reside on.

-a, --attributes=<ATTRIBUTES>

The attributes to get.

Attributes can be specified with their GIO name, e.g. standard::icon, or just by namespace, e.g. unix, or by *, which matches all attributes. Several attributes or groups of attributes can be specified, separated by commas.

By default, all attributes are listed.

-n, --nofollow-symlinks

Don’t follow symbolic links.

launch DESKTOP-FILE [FILE-ARG…]

Launch a desktop file from any location given.

The launch command extends the behavior of the open command by allowing any desktop file to be launched, not only those registered as file handlers.

list [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

Lists the contents of the given locations. If no location is given, the contents of the current directory are shown.

The list command is similar to the traditional ls utility.

Options

-a, --attributes=<ATTRIBUTES>

The attributes to get.

Attributes can be specified with their GIO name, e.g. standard::icon, or just by namespace, e.g. unix, or by *, which matches all attributes. Several attributes or groups of attributes can be specified, separated by commas.

By default, all attributes are listed.

-h, --hidden

Show hidden files.

-l, --long

Use a long listing format.

-n, --nofollow-symlinks

Don’t follow symbolic links.

-d, --print-display-names

Print display names.

-u, --print-uris

Print full URIs.

mime MIME-TYPE [HANDLER]

If no handler is given, the mime command lists the registered and recommended applications for the MIME type. If a handler is given, it is set as the default handler for the MIME type.

Handlers must be specified by their desktop file name, including the extension. Example: org.gnome.gedit.desktop.

mkdir [OPTION…] LOCATION…

Creates directories.

The mkdir command is similar to the traditional mkdir utility.

Options

-p, --parent

Create parent directories when necessary.

monitor [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

Monitors files or directories for changes, such as creation deletion, content and attribute changes, and mount and unmount operations affecting the monitored locations.

The monitor command uses the GIO file monitoring APIs to do its job. GIO has different implementations for different platforms. The most common implementation on Linux uses inotify.

Options

-d, --dir=<LOCATION>

Monitor the given location as a directory. Normally, the file type is used to determine whether to monitor as a file or as a directory.

-f, --file=<LOCATION>

Monitor the given location as a file. Normally, the file type is used to determine whether to monitor as a file or as a directory.

-D, --direct=<LOCATION>

Monitor the file directly. This allows changes made via hardlinks to be captured.

-s, --silent=<LOCATION>

Monitor the file directly, but don’t report changes.

-n, --no-moves

Report moves and renames as simple deleted/created events.

-m, --mounts

Watch for mount events.

mount [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

Provides commandline access to various aspects of GIO’s mounting functionality.

Mounting refers to the traditional concept of arranging multiple file systems and devices in a single tree, rooted at /. Classical mounting happens in the kernel and is controlled by the mount utility. GIO expands this concept by introducing mount daemons that can make file systems available to GIO applications without kernel involvement.

GIO mounts can require authentication, and the mount command may ask for user IDs, passwords, and so on, when required.

Options

-m, --mountable

Mount as mountable.

-d, --device=<ID>

Mount volume with device file, or other identifier.

-u, --unmount

Unmount the location.

-e, --eject

Eject the location.

-t, --stop=<DEVICE>

Stop drive with device file.

-s, --unmount-scheme=<SCHEME>

Unmount all mounts with the given scheme.

-f, --force

Ignore outstanding file operations when unmounting or ejecting.

-a, --anonymous

Use an anonymous user when authenticating.

-l, --list

List all GIO mounts.

-o, --monitor

Monitor mount-related events.

-i, --detail

Show extra information.

--tcrypt-pim

The numeric PIM when unlocking a VeraCrypt volume.

--tcrypt-hidden

Mount a TCRYPT hidden volume.

--tcrypt-system

Mount a TCRYPT system volume.

move [OPTION…] SOURCE… DESTINATION

Moves one or more files from SOURCE to DESTINATION. If more than one source is specified, the destination must be a directory.

The move command is similar to the traditional mv utility.

Options

-T, --no-target-directory

Don’t copy into DESTINATION even if it is a directory.

-p, --progress

Show progress.

-i, --interactive

Prompt for confirmation before overwriting files.

-b, --backup

Create backups of existing destination files.

-C, --no-copy-fallback

Don’t use copy and delete fallback.

open LOCATION…

Opens files with the default application that is registered to handle files of this type.

GIO obtains this information from the shared-mime-info database, with per-user overrides stored in $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications/mimeapps.list.

The mime command can be used to change the default handler for a MIME type.

Environment variables will not be set on the application, as it may be an existing process which is activated to handle the new file.

rename LOCATION NAME

Renames a file.

The rename command is similar to the traditional rename utility.

remove [OPTION…] LOCATION…

Deletes each given file.

This command removes files irreversibly. If you want a reversible way to remove files, see the trash command.

Note that not all URI schemes that are supported by GIO may allow deletion of files.

The remove command is similar to the traditional rm utility.

Options

-f, --force

Ignore non-existent and non-deletable files.

save [OPTION…] DESTINATION

Reads from standard input and saves the data to the given location.

This is similar to just redirecting output to a file using traditional shell syntax, but the save command allows saving to location that GIO can write to.

Options

-b, --backup

Back up existing destination files.

-c, --create

Only create the destination if it doesn’t exist yet.

-a, --append

Append to the end of the file.

-p, --private

When creating, restrict access to the current user.

-u, --unlink

When replacing, replace as if the destination did not exist.

-v, --print-etag

Print the new ETag in the end.

-e, --etag=<ETAG>

The ETag of the file that is overwritten.

set [OPTION…] LOCATION ATTRIBUTE VALUE…

Sets a file attribute on a file.

File attributes can be specified with their GIO name, e.g standard::icon. Note that not all GIO file attributes are writable. Use the --query-writable option of the info command to list writable file attributes.

If the TYPE is unset, VALUE does not have to be specified. If the TYPE is stringv, multiple values can be given.

Options

-t, --type=<TYPE>

Specifies the type of the attribute. Supported types are string, stringv, bytestring, boolean, uint32, int32, uint64, int64 and unset.

If the type is not specified, string is assumed.

-d, --delete

Unsets an attribute (same as setting its type to unset).

-n, --nofollow-symlinks

Don’t follow symbolic links.

trash [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

Sends files or directories to the ‘Trashcan’ or restore them from ‘Trashcan’. This can be a different folder depending on where the file is located, and not all file systems support this concept. In the common case that the file lives inside a user’s home directory, the trash folder is $XDG_DATA_HOME/Trash.

Note that moving files to the trash does not free up space on the file system until the ‘Trashcan’ is emptied. If you are interested in deleting a file irreversibly, see the remove command.

Inspecting and emptying the ‘Trashcan’ is normally supported by graphical file managers such as Nautilus, but you can also see the trash with the command: gio trash --list or gio list trash://.

Options

-f, --force

Ignore non-existent and non-deletable files.

--empty

Empty the trash.

--list

List files in the trash with their original locations.

--restore

Restore a file from trash to its original location. A URI beginning with trash:// is expected here. If the original directory doesn’t exist, it will be recreated.

tree [OPTION…] [LOCATION…]

Lists the contents of the given locations recursively, in a tree-like format. If no location is given, it defaults to the current directory.

The tree command is similar to the traditional tree utility.

Options

-h, --hidden

Show hidden files.

-l, --follow-symlinks

Follow symbolic links.

EXIT STATUS

On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.

SEE ALSO

cat(1), cp(1), ls(1), mkdir(1), mv(1), rm(1), tree(1)