File: coreutils.info, Node: unlink invocation, Prev: rmdir invocation, Up: Special file types
12.8 'unlink': Remove files via the unlink syscall
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'unlink' deletes a single specified file name. It is a minimalist
interface to the system-provided 'unlink' function. *Note
(libc)Deleting Files::. Synopsis: It avoids the bells and whistles of
the more commonly-used 'rm' command (*note rm invocation::).
unlink FILENAME
On some systems 'unlink' can be used to delete the name of a
directory. On others, it can be used that way only by a privileged
user. In the GNU system 'unlink' can never delete the name of a
directory.
The 'unlink' command honors the '--help' and '--version' options. To
remove a file whose name begins with '-', prefix the name with './',
e.g., 'unlink ./--help'.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.