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880be39a58
A page for each applet in the kit, plus .so stubs for aliases such as egrep and unxz. Each was written from the pinned busybox-w32 source with the kit's patches and configuration, then checked against the source and by experiment. The NOTES sections cover Windows behavior. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
395 lines
8.5 KiB
Groff
395 lines
8.5 KiB
Groff
.TH RM 1 2026-10-20 "w64devkit" "w64devkit Manual"
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.SH NAME
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rm \- remove files and directories
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B rm
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.RB [ \-fiRrv ]
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.IR file ...\&
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.B rm
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removes each
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.IR file ,
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and with
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.B \-r
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each directory and everything in it.
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It is the
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.BR busybox (1)
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applet, which has fewer options than GNU
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.BR rm ;
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see
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.BR NOTES .
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.PP
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Removal is permanent.
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Nothing goes to the Recycle Bin; for that, use
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.BR recycle (1).
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.SS Operands
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Without
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.BR \-r ,
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a directory operand is an error.
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With
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.BR \-r ,
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a directory is emptied recursively and then removed.
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A symbolic link, junction, or app execution alias is removed itself,
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with or without
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.BR \-r ,
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and never followed, even with a trailing slash.
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Such a link found inside a directory is removed the same way.
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.PP
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Trailing slashes and backslashes are removed from each operand first,
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down to a root such as
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.BR c:/ .
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An operand whose last component is
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.B .\&
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or
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.BR .. ,
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or that is only a drive, such as
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.BR c: ,
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is refused, even with
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.BR \-f ,
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and the other operands are still processed; see
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.BR NOTES .
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No other operand is protected:
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.B rm \-r c:/
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removes everything it can from the root of the drive.
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.PP
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With no operand,
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.B rm
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writes a usage message on standard error and exits with status 1.
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With no operand and
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.BR \-f ,
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it does nothing and exits with status 0.
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.SS Order and failures
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.B rm
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handles the operands in order.
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It reports a failure, goes on with the remaining operands, and exits
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with status 1 at the end.
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The entries of a directory are removed in the order Windows lists them,
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each before the directory itself.
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If any entry could not be removed, the directory is left alone with no
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further message, though
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.B \-i
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still asks about it and
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.B \-v
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still reports it removed.
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A directory that cannot be opened for reading is left alone with status
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1 and no message.
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.SS Prompting
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With
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.BR \-i ,
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.B rm
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asks before removing each file, and for each directory it asks before
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entering it and again before removing it.
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Without
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.BR \-f ,
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it also asks before removing a read-only file, but only when standard
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input is a console.
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It does not ask about a link this way.
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Windows reports every directory as writable, even one with the read-only
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attribute, so a directory is asked about only with
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.BR \-i .
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.PP
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The questions are written on standard error, with no newline after the
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question mark:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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rm: remove \(aqfile\(aq?
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rm: descend into directory \(aqdir\(aq?
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rm: remove directory \(aqdir\(aq?
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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.B rm
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then reads a line from standard input.
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The answer is yes if the first character of the line that is not a
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space or tab is
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.B y
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or
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.BR Y .
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Anything else, including the end of input, is no, which skips the item
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and is not an error.
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A no to the question about descending leaves the directory and its
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contents alone.
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A no for a file in a directory followed by a yes for the directory
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leaves the directory not empty, so its removal fails with
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.BR "Directory not empty" ,
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and the exit status is 1.
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.SS Output
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.B rm
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writes each error on standard error, preceded by its name and a colon.
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The messages are:
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.TP
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.BI "can\(aqt remove \(aq" path "\(aq: " reason
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The path does not exist and
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.B \-f
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was not given, or Windows would not remove it.
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.TP
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.BI "can\(aqt stat \(aq" path "\(aq: " reason
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The path could not be examined, for a reason other than that it does not
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exist.
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.TP
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.BI \(aq dir "\(aq is a directory"
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A directory operand without
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.BR \-r .
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.TP
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.B "can\(aqt remove \(aq.\(aq or \(aq..\(aq"
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An operand was refused.
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.PP
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Only
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.B \-v
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and
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.B \-\-help
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write to standard output.
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.SH OPTIONS
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Options may be grouped, as in
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.BR \-rf ,
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and may follow operands, unless
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.B POSIXLY_CORRECT
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is set.
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.B \-\-
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ends the options.
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Apart from
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.BR \-\-help ,
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there are no long options.
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.TP
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.B \-i
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Ask before every removal; see
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.BR Prompting .
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Of
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.B \-f
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and
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.BR \-i ,
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only the last given takes effect.
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.TP
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.B \-f
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Never ask.
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Ignore an operand that does not exist, with no message and no error.
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Every other error is still reported, with status 1, such as a directory
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without
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.BR \-r ,
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an operand of
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.BR .\& ,
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.BR .. ,
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or only a drive, and a failed removal.
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Of
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.B \-f
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and
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.BR \-i ,
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only the last given takes effect.
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.TP
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.BR \-R ", " \-r
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Remove directories and their contents recursively.
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.TP
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.B \-v
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Write
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.BI removed\ \(aq file \(aq
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on standard output after each file or link is removed, and
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.BI removed\ directory:\ \(aq dir \(aq
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after each directory, which comes after its contents.
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Nothing is written for an item that is skipped or fails, but a
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directory left in place because an entry in it could not be removed is
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still reported as removed.
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The usage message omits this option.
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.TP
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.B \-\-help
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As the first argument only, write a usage message on standard output
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and exit with status 0.
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The message omits
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.BR \-v .
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.SH ENVIRONMENT
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.TP
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.B BB_GLOBBING
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Unless it is
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.BR 0 ,
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wildcards in the arguments are expanded when busybox starts, for a caller
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such as
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.B cmd.exe
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that does not expand them.
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When it is unset, busybox sets it to
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.B 0
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for the programs it starts, so commands run from the kit's shell get the
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shell's expansion only.
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.TP
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.B POSIXLY_CORRECT
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If set, the first operand ends the options.
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.PP
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Startup and messages written to a console also depend on
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.BR BB_CRITICAL_ERROR_DIALOGS ,
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.BR BB_SKIP_ANSI_EMULATION ,
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.BR BB_TERMINAL_MODE ,
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.BR LANG ,
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.BR LC_ALL ,
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and
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.BR LC_CTYPE ,
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as for every busybox applet; see
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.BR busybox (1).
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.SH EXIT STATUS
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.TP
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.B 0
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Success, including
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.B \-\-help
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as the first argument, operands skipped by an answer to a question,
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operands that do not exist with
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.BR \-f ,
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and no operands with
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.BR \-f .
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.TP
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.B 1
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An invalid command line, with a usage message on standard error, or any
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operand or directory entry that could not be removed.
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.SH EXAMPLES
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Remove the object files:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm *.o
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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Remove a build directory and everything in it, without asking:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm \-rf build
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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Ask before removing each backup file:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm \-i *.bak
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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Remove a tree that holds a/b/f and g, and list each removal:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm \-rv v
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removed \(aqv/a/b/f\(aq
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removed directory: \(aqv/a/b\(aq
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removed directory: \(aqv/a\(aq
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removed \(aqv/g\(aq
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removed directory: \(aqv\(aq
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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Remove a file whose name begins with a dash:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm \-\- \-x
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.EE
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.RE
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.PP
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Remove a junction or symbolic link to a directory, which needs no
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.BR \-r ,
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leaving the directory it points to alone:
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.PP
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.RS 4
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.EX
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$ rm link
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.EE
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.RE
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.SH NOTES
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Differences from GNU
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.BR rm :
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.IP \(bu 2
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Only
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.BR \-f ,
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.BR \-i ,
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.BR \-R ,
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.BR \-r ,
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and
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.B \-v
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exist.
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Every other option is invalid, including
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.BR \-d ,
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.BR \-I ,
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and every long option but
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.BR \-\-help .
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.IP \(bu 2
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There is no
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.BR \-\-preserve\-root .
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Only an operand ending in
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.B .\&
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or
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.BR .. ,
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or one that is only a drive, is refused.
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.PP
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.B rm
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clears the read-only attribute of a file before it removes it, and of a
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directory once the directory is empty, so read-only items are removed.
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If the removal then fails, the attribute stays cleared.
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Hidden and system files are removed like any other.
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.PP
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Windows does not remove a file that another program has open without
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allowing deletion, or a directory that is the current directory of a
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running program, such as a shell.
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The removal fails with
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.BR "Permission denied" .
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With
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.BR \-r ,
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the rest of the tree is still removed, apart from the directories that
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hold the item.
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.PP
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A full path of 260 or more characters, counting the current directory
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for a relative path, cannot be reached.
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Without
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.BR \-f ,
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.B rm
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reports
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.B "No such file or directory"
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for it.
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With
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.BR \-f ,
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it skips it silently, and the directory that holds it then fails with
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.BR "Directory not empty" .
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A directory whose full path has 258 or more characters cannot be listed,
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and is left alone with status 1 and no message.
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Either way the directories above it are left too, and
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.B rm
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goes on.
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.PP
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An operand may have a drive letter and backslashes.
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The names found in a directory are joined to the operand with
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.BR / ,
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so
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.B rm \-rv \(aqc:\etmp\ex\(aq
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writes names such as
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.IR c:\etmp\ex/y .
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Names may contain any Unicode character on Windows 10 version 1903 and
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later; see
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.BR busybox (1).
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.PP
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An operand that is only a drive, such as
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.BR c: ,
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names the current directory of that drive, as
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.B c:.\&
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does, and is refused in the same way.
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.PP
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From
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.BR cmd.exe ,
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or any caller that leaves
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.B BB_GLOBBING
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unset,
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.B rm
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expands wildcards in its operands itself, even quoted ones.
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A pattern that matches nothing is left as it is, so
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.B rm
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reports
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.B "No such file or directory"
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for it, or with
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.B \-f
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quietly succeeds.
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To delete the files that a search selects, see
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.B find \-delete
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in
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.BR find (1).
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.SH SEE ALSO
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.BR busybox (1),
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.BR find (1),
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.BR recycle (1),
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.BR rmdir (1)
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