readlink - print resolved symbolic links or canonical file
names
readlink [OPTION]... FILE...
realpath(1) is a better command 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
Written by Dmitry V. Levin.
GNU coreutils online help:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to
<https://translationproject.org/team/>
Copyright © 2025 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.
readlink(2), realpath(1), realpath(3)
Full documentation
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'