Linux "readlink" Command Line Options and Examples

read value of a symbolic link

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

Usage:

readlink [OPTION]... FILE...

Command Line Options:

-f

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


                            readlink -f ...

-e

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


                            readlink -e ...

-m

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, withoutrequirements on components existence


                            readlink -m ...

-n

do not output the trailing delimiter


                            readlink -n ...

-s

suppress most error messages (on by default)


                            readlink -s ...

-v

report error messages


                            readlink -v ...

-z

end each output line with NUL, not newline


                            readlink -z ...

--help

display this help and exit


                            readlink --help ...

--version

output version information and exitAUTHORWritten by Dmitry V. Levin.REPORTING BUGSGNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>Report readlink translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>COPYRIGHTCopyright © 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent per‐mitted by law.


                            readlink --version ...