readlink

Examples (TL;DR)

• Get the actual file to which the symlink points: readlink filename
• Get the absolute path to a file: readlink -f filename

tldr.sh

Synopsis

readlink [OPTION]... FILE...

Description

Note realpath(1) is the preferred command to use for canonicalization functionality.

Print value of a symbolic link or canonical file name

-f, --canonicalize

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively; all but the last component must exist

-e, --canonicalize-existing

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, all components must exist

-m, --canonicalize-missing

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, without requirements on components existence

-n, --no-newline

do not output the trailing delimiter

-q, --quiet

-s, --silent

suppress most error messages (on by default)

-v, --verbose

report error messages

-z, --zero

end each output line with NUL, not newline

--help

display this help and exit

--version

output version information and exit

Author

Written by Dmitry V. Levin.

Reporting Bugs

GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

Copyright

Copyright © 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

See Also

readlink(2), realpath(1), realpath(3)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'

Referenced By

basename(1), dirname(1), iftab(5), namespaces(7), readlink(2), realpath(1), unshare(2).