Rmdir

Command:

    rmdir

Description:

    The command rmdir is used to remove a directory that is specified by the directory parameter.
    Rmdir only removes directories that are empty and you must have permission to write in its 
    parent directory to do so.

Syn/Syp:

    rmdir  [OPTION]...DIRECTORY...

Options:

    -p or --parents

Use -p to remove a directory and all of its ancestors.
Parent directories must be empty and the user must have write permission in the parent directories before removal.

    -v or --verbose

Prints a description of every process that is completed

    -ignore-fail-on-non-empty

This option does not report a failure that occurs if the directory chosen is non-empty

    -version

Displays the version information and exits

Use Case:

    Use rmdir when removing a directory that we expect to be empty, 
    so that it will fail if there are still files in it.

Examples:

Example 1 -

To remove a single empty directory, use the following syntax:

    rmdir emptyDirectory

Example 2 -

To remove multiple directories, use the following syntax:

    rmdir mydir1 mydir2 mydir3

Example 3 -

To remove a directory and all of its subdirectories, use the following syntax:

    rmdir -p mydir1/myfolder1/myfile1

Example 4 -

To display a message with a description of the action you entered into the command line , use the following syntax:

    rmdir -v mydir1

Example 5 -

To remove multiple directories that contain the same expression in their name, use the following syntax:

    rmdir -v mydir*
    rmdir: removing directory, 'mydir1'
    rmdir: removing directory, 'mydir2'
    rmdir: removing directory, 'mydir3'

Example 6 -

For this example, mydir1 will contain an empty subdirectory myfolder1. To remove the parent directory and subdirectory of that parent without -p option, use the following syntax:

    rmdir -v mydir1/myfolder1 mydir1

Example 7 -

This example shows what an error message looks like when trying to use rmdir on a non-empty directory:

    rmdir notEmptyDirectory
    rmdir: failed to remove ‘notEmptyDirectory’: Directory not empty

Example 8 -

To make it so there is no error message when trying to remove a non-empty directory, use the following syntax:

    rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty mydir1
    ls
    (output)
    mydir1

Example 9 -

To get to the manual page for the rmdir command and to exit the manual use the q key:

    man rmdir

Example 10 -

Alternatively, you can get more information on the command by:

    rmdir --help