scrub-files(1) GNU Telephony scrub-files(1)NAME
scrub-files - securely erase files by filling with random data first.
SYNOPSIS
scrub [options] paths...
DESCRIPTION
This command is used to securely erase files. This is accomplished by filling the file with random data in pre-sized chunks. Multiple
passes of random data may also be used. The pre-sized chunks are used to remove information about exact original file size. Other options
include random renaming of the original file before deletion and the use of truncation to break down meta-data on what blocks in the file
system were originally associated with a securely deleted file. This is specifically intended to make it harder to perform forensic analy-
sis on securely erased files.
OPTIONS --blocksize size
Set the default block size (in 1 k increments) for scrub-files to use when writing random data. This effects both the final file
length, which will be aligned to the specified size, and the way the truncate option decomposes files. The default is 1k.
--follow
Dereference and follow symlinks, erasing the target file.
--passes=count
The number of passes used when writing random data. The default is 1 pass.
--recursive
If argument is a directory, recursively scan directory and any subdirectory contents as arguments.
--rename
Rename the file randomly before deletion to clear persistant inode data.
--truncate
Decompose the file through truncation to break down file system page maps.
--verbose
Display each file being processed to the console.
--help Outputs help screen for the user.
AUTHOR
scrub-files was written by David Sugar <dyfet@gnutelephony.org>.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to bug-commoncpp@gnu.org.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2010 David Sugar, Tycho Softworks.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICU-
LAR PURPOSE.
GNU uCommon January 2010 scrub-files(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
SHRED(1) FSF SHRED(1)NAME
shred - delete a file securely, first overwriting it to hide its contents
SYNOPSIS
shred [OPTIONS] FILE [...]
DESCRIPTION
Overwrite the specified FILE(s) repeatedly, in order to make it harder for even very expensive hardware probing to recover the data.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-f, --force
change permissions to allow writing if necessary
-n, --iterations=N
Overwrite N times instead of the default (25)
-s, --size=N
shred this many bytes (suffixes like K, M, G accepted)
-u, --remove
truncate and remove file after overwriting
-v, --verbose
show progress
-x, --exact
do not round file sizes up to the next full block
-z, --zero
add a final overwrite with zeros to hide shredding
- shred standard output
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
Delete FILE(s) if --remove (-u) is specified. The default is not to remove the files because it is common to operate on device files like
/dev/hda, and those files usually should not be removed. When operating on regular files, most people use the --remove option.
CAUTION: Note that shred relies on a very important assumption: that the filesystem overwrites data in place. This is the traditional way
to do things, but many modern filesystem designs do not satisfy this assumption. The following are examples of filesystems on which shred
is not effective:
* log-structured or journaled filesystems, such as those supplied with
AIX and Solaris (and JFS, ReiserFS, XFS, Ext3, etc.)
* filesystems that write redundant data and carry on even if some writes
fail, such as RAID-based filesystems
* filesystems that make snapshots, such as Network Appliance's NFS server
* filesystems that cache in temporary locations, such as NFS
version 3 clients
* compressed filesystems
In addition, file system backups and remote mirrors may contain copies of the file that cannot be removed, and that will allow a shredded
file to be recovered later.
AUTHOR
Written by Colin Plumb.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICU-
LAR PURPOSE.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for shred is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and shred programs are properly installed at your site,
the command
info shred
should give you access to the complete manual.
shred (coreutils) 4.5.3 February 2003 SHRED(1)