READLINK(1) General Commands Manual READLINK(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

readlink - Print value of a symbolic link or canonical file name.

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**readlink** \[OPTION]... \[FILE]...

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Print value of a symbolic link or canonical file name.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**-f**, **--canonicalize**](#f)

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

[**-e**, **--canonicalize-existing**](#e)

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

[**-m**, **--canonicalize-missing**](#m)

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

[**-n**, **--no-newline**](#n)

do not output the trailing delimiter

[**-q**, **--quiet**](#q)

suppress most error messages

[**-s**, **--silent**](#s)

suppress most error messages

[**-v**, **--verbose**](#v)

report error message

[**-z**, **--zero**](#z)

separate output with NUL rather than newline

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

Print help

[**-V**, **--version**](#V)

Print version

<*files*>

# [VERSION](#VERSION)

v(uutils coreutils) 0.12.0

2026-10-29

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Document: readlink(1) from uutils 0.12.0-r5 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/uutils/coreutils