OS Manuals

/usr/bin/readlink

GNU core utilities

From coreutils 9.12-r7 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running readlink --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage: /usr/bin/readlink [OPTION]... FILE...
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 if POSIXLY_CORRECT is not set)
  -v, --verbose
         report error messages
         (on by default if POSIXLY_CORRECT is set)
  -z, --zero
         end each output line with NUL, not newline
      --help
         display this help and exit
      --version
         output version information and exit

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'
Options (10)
OptionDescriptionSource
-f, --canonicalizecanonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively;help + man
-e, --canonicalize-existingcanonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively;help + man
-m, --canonicalize-missingcanonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, without requirements on components existencehelp + man
-n, --no-newlinedo not output the trailing delimiterhelp + man
-q, --quiethelp + man
-s, --silentsuppress most error messages (on by default if POSIXLY_CORRECT is not set)help + man
-v, --verbosereport error messages (on by default if POSIXLY_CORRECT is set)help + man
-z, --zeroend each output line with NUL, not newlinehelp + man
--helpdisplay this help and exithelp + man
--versionoutput version information and exithelp + man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.