UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

i would like to remove a directory and also symlink target inside.

Code:

my_directory
-- file1 -> /targetpath/file1
-- file2 -> /targetpath/file2

rm -rf my_directory will not remove symlink target.
rm -rf "`readlink -f file1`" will only remove target if specifying the symlink is specified

i'm looking for 1 line command with removing directory as well as symlink target.

Test with the following and remove echos if it does what you require

Code:

 for i in my_directory/* ; do if [ -L $i ] ; then echo rm $(readlink $i) ; fi done; echo rm -r my_directory

Note that rm -r my_directory will remove the entire file hierarchy rooted in my_directory, but the for loop will only look for symlinks in my_directory; not for symlinks in subdirectories of my_directory.

Note also that symlinks can contain absolute pathnames or relative pathnames. If a symlink contains a relative pathname, rm "$(redline $i)" won't work unless you execute that command while your current working directory is the directory in which the symlink is located.

In the example given, all of the symlinks contain absolute pathnames and the symlinks shown only appear in the named directory; so Skrynesaver's suggestion should work fine for the given example. But, if the OP's real world conditions are different, the code will need to be more complex.

It is risky to remove symlink targets! Imagine there's a symlink to /etc ...!
The following checks the link target to have at least two /. But e.g. a link to /etc/passwd would still delete /etc/passwd.

Code:

find my_directory -type l |
while IFS="" read -r fname
do
  ltarget=$(readlink "$fname")
  case $ltarget in
  */?*/?*) (cd "$(dirname "$fname")" && rm -r "$ltarget");;
  esac
done
rm -rf my_directory

I would worry that someone could create a link in error to something critical, e.g. You have a directory called /development and someone manages to chop off the end of their command

Code:

ln -s dev /dev

As someone who has moved /dev by accident, I can confirm that the results are rather difficult to deal with. We managed to follow the trace of our job and put it back, but you are looking to remove files.

I would be very wary of letting this run as a script.

Collect the details for sure, but let a human check them before taking action.


Just my thoughts,
Robin