Removing Directories

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  • Essential Linux
    • The Unix File Structure
      • Removing Directories

Once you have several directories in use, you will need to maintain your hierarchy. This will involve removing directories as well as other activities. The rmdir command lets you remove directories. However Unix will not remove a directory that is not empty, so you must first move or remove any files or subdirectories within the directory you want to remove.

The rm command has a recursive option -r that will remove a directory, and any of its subdirectories and files. It should however be used with extreme caution, as it allows in a single command the ability to quickly remove all files you have access to! Many people believe that it is good practice to never use rm -r without also using -i (interactive). The command 'rm -ri' will ask you to confirm each file or directory which is going to be deleted before the deletion is carried out.