NAME
rmdir – remove directories
SYNOPSIS
rmdir [-pv] directory ...
DESCRIPTION
The rmdir utility removes the directory entry specified by each directory argument, provided it is empty.
Arguments are processed in the order given. In order to remove both a parent directory and a subdirectory of that parent, the subdirectory must be specified first so the parent directory is empty when rmdir tries to remove it.
The following option is available:
- -p
-
Each directory argument is treated as a pathname of which all components will be removed, if they are empty, starting with the last most component. (See rm(1) for fully non-discriminant recursive removal.)
- -v
-
Be verbose, listing each directory as it is removed.
EXIT STATUS
The rmdir utility exits with one of the following values:
- 0
-
Each directory referred to an empty directory and was removed successfully.
- 1
-
An error occurred while attempting to remove one or more directories.
- 2
-
Invalid arguments.
EXAMPLES
Remove the directory foobar, if it is empty:
$ rmdir foobar
Remove all directories up to and including cow, stopping at the first non-empty directory (if any):
$ rmdir -p cow/horse/monkey
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
The rmdir utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) compatible.
The -v option is an extension to that specification.
HISTORY
A rmdir command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.