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File::Path(3pm)        Perl Programmers Reference Guide        File::Path(3pm)



NAME

       File::Path - Create or remove directory trees


VERSION

       2.18 - released November 4 2020.


SYNOPSIS

           use File::Path qw(make_path remove_tree);

           @created = make_path('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang');
           @created = make_path('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang', {
               verbose => 1,
               mode => 0711,
           });
           make_path('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang', {
               chmod => 0777,
           });

           $removed_count = remove_tree('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang', {
               verbose => 1,
               error  => \my $err_list,
               safe => 1,
           });

           # legacy (interface promoted before v2.00)
           @created = mkpath('/foo/bar/baz');
           @created = mkpath('/foo/bar/baz', 1, 0711);
           @created = mkpath(['/foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 0711);
           $removed_count = rmtree('foo/bar/baz', 1, 1);
           $removed_count = rmtree(['foo/bar/baz', 'blurfl/quux'], 1, 1);

           # legacy (interface promoted before v2.06)
           @created = mkpath('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang', { verbose => 1, mode => 0711 });
           $removed_count = rmtree('foo/bar/baz', '/zug/zwang', { verbose => 1, mode => 0711 });


DESCRIPTION

       This module provides a convenient way to create directories of
       arbitrary depth and to delete an entire directory subtree from the
       filesystem.

       The following functions are provided:

       make_path( $dir1, $dir2, .... )
       make_path( $dir1, $dir2, ...., \%opts )
           The "make_path" function creates the given directories if they
           don't exist before, much like the Unix command "mkdir -p".

           The function accepts a list of directories to be created. Its
           behaviour may be tuned by an optional hashref appearing as the last
           parameter on the call.

           The function returns the list of directories actually created
           during the call; in scalar context the number of directories
           created.

           The following keys are recognised in the option hash:

           mode => $num
               The numeric permissions mode to apply to each created directory
               (defaults to 0777), to be modified by the current "umask". If
               the directory already exists (and thus does not need to be
               created), the permissions will not be modified.

               "mask" is recognised as an alias for this parameter.

           chmod => $num
               Takes a numeric mode to apply to each created directory (not
               modified by the current "umask"). If the directory already
               exists (and thus does not need to be created), the permissions
               will not be modified.

           verbose => $bool
               If present, will cause "make_path" to print the name of each
               directory as it is created. By default nothing is printed.

           error => \$err
               If present, it should be a reference to a scalar.  This scalar
               will be made to reference an array, which will be used to store
               any errors that are encountered.  See the "ERROR HANDLING"
               section for more information.

               If this parameter is not used, certain error conditions may
               raise a fatal error that will cause the program to halt, unless
               trapped in an "eval" block.

           owner => $owner
           user => $owner
           uid => $owner
               If present, will cause any created directory to be owned by
               $owner.  If the value is numeric, it will be interpreted as a
               uid; otherwise a username is assumed. An error will be issued
               if the username cannot be mapped to a uid, the uid does not
               exist or the process lacks the privileges to change ownership.

               Ownership of directories that already exist will not be
               changed.

               "user" and "uid" are aliases of "owner".

           group => $group
               If present, will cause any created directory to be owned by the
               group $group.  If the value is numeric, it will be interpreted
               as a gid; otherwise a group name is assumed. An error will be
               issued if the group name cannot be mapped to a gid, the gid
               does not exist or the process lacks the privileges to change
               group ownership.

               Group ownership of directories that already exist will not be
               changed.

                   make_path '/var/tmp/webcache', {owner=>'nobody', group=>'nogroup'};

       mkpath( $dir )
       mkpath( $dir, $verbose, $mode )
       mkpath( [$dir1, $dir2,...], $verbose, $mode )
       mkpath( $dir1, $dir2,..., \%opt )
           The mkpath() function provide the legacy interface of make_path()
           with a different interpretation of the arguments passed.  The
           behaviour and return value of the function is otherwise identical
           to make_path().

       remove_tree( $dir1, $dir2, .... )
       remove_tree( $dir1, $dir2, ...., \%opts )
           The "remove_tree" function deletes the given directories and any
           files and subdirectories they might contain, much like the Unix
           command "rm -rf" or the Windows commands "rmdir /s" and "rd /s".

           The function accepts a list of directories to be removed. (In point
           of fact, it will also accept filesystem entries which are not
           directories, such as regular files and symlinks.  But, as its name
           suggests, its intent is to remove trees rather than individual
           files.)

           remove_tree()'s behaviour may be tuned by an optional hashref
           appearing as the last parameter on the call.  If an empty string is
           passed to "remove_tree", an error will occur.

           NOTE:  For security reasons, we strongly advise use of the hashref-
           as-final-argument syntax -- specifically, with a setting of the
           "safe" element to a true value.

               remove_tree( $dir1, $dir2, ....,
                   {
                       safe => 1,
                       ...         # other key-value pairs
                   },
               );

           The function returns the number of files successfully deleted.

           The following keys are recognised in the option hash:

           verbose => $bool
               If present, will cause "remove_tree" to print the name of each
               file as it is unlinked. By default nothing is printed.

           safe => $bool
               When set to a true value, will cause "remove_tree" to skip the
               files for which the process lacks the required privileges
               needed to delete files, such as delete privileges on VMS. In
               other words, the code will make no attempt to alter file
               permissions. Thus, if the process is interrupted, no filesystem
               object will be left in a more permissive mode.

           keep_root => $bool
               When set to a true value, will cause all files and
               subdirectories to be removed, except the initially specified
               directories. This comes in handy when cleaning out an
               application's scratch directory.

                   remove_tree( '/tmp', {keep_root => 1} );

           result => \$res
               If present, it should be a reference to a scalar.  This scalar
               will be made to reference an array, which will be used to store
               all files and directories unlinked during the call. If nothing
               is unlinked, the array will be empty.

                   remove_tree( '/tmp', {result => \my $list} );
                   print "unlinked $_\n" for @$list;

               This is a useful alternative to the "verbose" key.

           error => \$err
               If present, it should be a reference to a scalar.  This scalar
               will be made to reference an array, which will be used to store
               any errors that are encountered.  See the "ERROR HANDLING"
               section for more information.

               Removing things is a much more dangerous proposition than
               creating things. As such, there are certain conditions that
               "remove_tree" may encounter that are so dangerous that the only
               sane action left is to kill the program.

               Use "error" to trap all that is reasonable (problems with
               permissions and the like), and let it die if things get out of
               hand. This is the safest course of action.

       rmtree( $dir )
       rmtree( $dir, $verbose, $safe )
       rmtree( [$dir1, $dir2,...], $verbose, $safe )
       rmtree( $dir1, $dir2,..., \%opt )
           The rmtree() function provide the legacy interface of remove_tree()
           with a different interpretation of the arguments passed. The
           behaviour and return value of the function is otherwise identical
           to remove_tree().

           NOTE:  For security reasons, we strongly advise use of the hashref-
           as-final-argument syntax, specifically with a setting of the "safe"
           element to a true value.

               rmtree( $dir1, $dir2, ....,
                   {
                       safe => 1,
                       ...         # other key-value pairs
                   },
               );

   ERROR HANDLING
       NOTE:
           The following error handling mechanism is consistent throughout all
           code paths EXCEPT in cases where the ROOT node is nonexistent.  In
           version 2.11 the maintainers attempted to rectify this
           inconsistency but too many downstream modules encountered problems.
           In such case, if you require root node evaluation or error checking
           prior to calling "make_path" or "remove_tree", you should take
           additional precautions.

       If "make_path" or "remove_tree" encounters an error, a diagnostic
       message will be printed to "STDERR" via "carp" (for non-fatal errors)
       or via "croak" (for fatal errors).

       If this behaviour is not desirable, the "error" attribute may be used
       to hold a reference to a variable, which will be used to store the
       diagnostics. The variable is made a reference to an array of hash
       references.  Each hash contain a single key/value pair where the key is
       the name of the file, and the value is the error message (including the
       contents of $! when appropriate).  If a general error is encountered
       the diagnostic key will be empty.

       An example usage looks like:

         remove_tree( 'foo/bar', 'bar/rat', {error => \my $err} );
         if ($err && @$err) {
             for my $diag (@$err) {
                 my ($file, $message) = %$diag;
                 if ($file eq '') {
                     print "general error: $message\n";
                 }
                 else {
                     print "problem unlinking $file: $message\n";
                 }
             }
         }
         else {
             print "No error encountered\n";
         }

       Note that if no errors are encountered, $err will reference an empty
       array.  This means that $err will always end up TRUE; so you need to
       test @$err to determine if errors occurred.

   NOTES
       "File::Path" blindly exports "mkpath" and "rmtree" into the current
       namespace. These days, this is considered bad style, but to change it
       now would break too much code. Nonetheless, you are invited to specify
       what it is you are expecting to use:

         use File::Path 'rmtree';

       The routines "make_path" and "remove_tree" are not exported by default.
       You must specify which ones you want to use.

         use File::Path 'remove_tree';

       Note that a side-effect of the above is that "mkpath" and "rmtree" are
       no longer exported at all. This is due to the way the "Exporter" module
       works. If you are migrating a codebase to use the new interface, you
       will have to list everything explicitly. But that's just good practice
       anyway.

         use File::Path qw(remove_tree rmtree);

       API CHANGES

       The API was changed in the 2.0 branch. For a time, "mkpath" and
       "rmtree" tried, unsuccessfully, to deal with the two different calling
       mechanisms. This approach was considered a failure.

       The new semantics are now only available with "make_path" and
       "remove_tree". The old semantics are only available through "mkpath"
       and "rmtree". Users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to at least 2.08
       in order to avoid surprises.

       SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

       There were race conditions in the 1.x implementations of File::Path's
       "rmtree" function (although sometimes patched depending on the OS
       distribution or platform). The 2.0 version contains code to avoid the
       problem mentioned in CVE-2002-0435.

       See the following pages for more information:

           http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=286905
           http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2005/01/msg97623.html
           http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-696

       Additionally, unless the "safe" parameter is set (or the third
       parameter in the traditional interface is TRUE), should a "remove_tree"
       be interrupted, files that were originally in read-only mode may now
       have their permissions set to a read-write (or "delete OK") mode.

       The following CVE reports were previously filed against File-Path and
       are believed to have been addressed:

       o   <http://cve.circl.lu/cve/CVE-2004-0452>

       o   <http://cve.circl.lu/cve/CVE-2005-0448>

       In February 2017 the cPanel Security Team reported an additional
       vulnerability in File-Path.  The chmod() logic to make directories
       traversable can be abused to set the mode on an attacker-chosen file to
       an attacker-chosen value.  This is due to the time-of-check-to-time-of-
       use (TOCTTOU) race condition
       (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_check_to_time_of_use>) between
       the stat() that decides the inode is a directory and the chmod() that
       tries to make it user-rwx.  CPAN versions 2.13 and later incorporate a
       patch provided by John Lightsey to address this problem.  This
       vulnerability has been reported as CVE-2017-6512.


DIAGNOSTICS

       FATAL errors will cause the program to halt ("croak"), since the
       problem is so severe that it would be dangerous to continue. (This can
       always be trapped with "eval", but it's not a good idea. Under the
       circumstances, dying is the best thing to do).

       SEVERE errors may be trapped using the modern interface. If the they
       are not trapped, or if the old interface is used, such an error will
       cause the program will halt.

       All other errors may be trapped using the modern interface, otherwise
       they will be "carp"ed about. Program execution will not be halted.

       mkdir [path]: [errmsg] (SEVERE)
           "make_path" was unable to create the path. Probably some sort of
           permissions error at the point of departure or insufficient
           resources (such as free inodes on Unix).

       No root path(s) specified
           "make_path" was not given any paths to create. This message is only
           emitted if the routine is called with the traditional interface.
           The modern interface will remain silent if given nothing to do.

       No such file or directory
           On Windows, if "make_path" gives you this warning, it may mean that
           you have exceeded your filesystem's maximum path length.

       cannot fetch initial working directory: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to determine the initial directory by
           calling "Cwd::getcwd", but the call failed for some reason. No
           attempt will be made to delete anything.

       cannot stat initial working directory: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to stat the initial directory (after having
           successfully obtained its name via "getcwd"), however, the call
           failed for some reason. No attempt will be made to delete anything.

       cannot chdir to [dir]: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to set the working directory in order to
           begin deleting the objects therein, but was unsuccessful. This is
           usually a permissions issue. The routine will continue to delete
           other things, but this directory will be left intact.

       directory [dir] changed before chdir, expected dev=[n] ino=[n], actual
       dev=[n] ino=[n], aborting. (FATAL)
           "remove_tree" recorded the device and inode of a directory, and
           then moved into it. It then performed a "stat" on the current
           directory and detected that the device and inode were no longer the
           same. As this is at the heart of the race condition problem, the
           program will die at this point.

       cannot make directory [dir] read+writeable: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to change the permissions on the current
           directory to ensure that subsequent unlinkings would not run into
           problems, but was unable to do so. The permissions remain as they
           were, and the program will carry on, doing the best it can.

       cannot read [dir]: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" tried to read the contents of the directory in order
           to acquire the names of the directory entries to be unlinked, but
           was unsuccessful. This is usually a permissions issue. The program
           will continue, but the files in this directory will remain after
           the call.

       cannot reset chmod [dir]: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree", after having deleted everything in a directory,
           attempted to restore its permissions to the original state but
           failed. The directory may wind up being left behind.

       cannot remove [dir] when cwd is [dir]
           The current working directory of the program is /some/path/to/here
           and you are attempting to remove an ancestor, such as /some/path.
           The directory tree is left untouched.

           The solution is to "chdir" out of the child directory to a place
           outside the directory tree to be removed.

       cannot chdir to [parent-dir] from [child-dir]: [errmsg], aborting.
       (FATAL)
           "remove_tree", after having deleted everything and restored the
           permissions of a directory, was unable to chdir back to the parent.
           The program halts to avoid a race condition from occurring.

       cannot stat prior working directory [dir]: [errmsg], aborting. (FATAL)
           "remove_tree" was unable to stat the parent directory after having
           returned from the child. Since there is no way of knowing if we
           returned to where we think we should be (by comparing device and
           inode) the only way out is to "croak".

       previous directory [parent-dir] changed before entering [child-dir],
       expected dev=[n] ino=[n], actual dev=[n] ino=[n], aborting. (FATAL)
           When "remove_tree" returned from deleting files in a child
           directory, a check revealed that the parent directory it returned
           to wasn't the one it started out from. This is considered a sign of
           malicious activity.

       cannot make directory [dir] writeable: [errmsg]
           Just before removing a directory (after having successfully removed
           everything it contained), "remove_tree" attempted to set the
           permissions on the directory to ensure it could be removed and
           failed. Program execution continues, but the directory may possibly
           not be deleted.

       cannot remove directory [dir]: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to remove a directory, but failed. This may
           be because some objects that were unable to be removed remain in
           the directory, or it could be a permissions issue. The directory
           will be left behind.

       cannot restore permissions of [dir] to [0nnn]: [errmsg]
           After having failed to remove a directory, "remove_tree" was unable
           to restore its permissions from a permissive state back to a
           possibly more restrictive setting. (Permissions given in octal).

       cannot make file [file] writeable: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" attempted to force the permissions of a file to
           ensure it could be deleted, but failed to do so. It will, however,
           still attempt to unlink the file.

       cannot unlink file [file]: [errmsg]
           "remove_tree" failed to remove a file. Probably a permissions
           issue.

       cannot restore permissions of [file] to [0nnn]: [errmsg]
           After having failed to remove a file, "remove_tree" was also unable
           to restore the permissions on the file to a possibly less
           permissive setting. (Permissions given in octal).

       unable to map [owner] to a uid, ownership not changed");
           "make_path" was instructed to give the ownership of created
           directories to the symbolic name [owner], but "getpwnam" did not
           return the corresponding numeric uid. The directory will be
           created, but ownership will not be changed.

       unable to map [group] to a gid, group ownership not changed
           "make_path" was instructed to give the group ownership of created
           directories to the symbolic name [group], but "getgrnam" did not
           return the corresponding numeric gid. The directory will be
           created, but group ownership will not be changed.


SEE ALSO

       o   File::Remove

           Allows files and directories to be moved to the Trashcan/Recycle
           Bin (where they may later be restored if necessary) if the
           operating system supports such functionality. This feature may one
           day be made available directly in "File::Path".

       o   File::Find::Rule

           When removing directory trees, if you want to examine each file to
           decide whether to delete it (and possibly leaving large swathes
           alone), File::Find::Rule offers a convenient and flexible approach
           to examining directory trees.


BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

       The following describes File::Path limitations and how to report bugs.

   MULTITHREADED APPLICATIONS
       File::Path "rmtree" and "remove_tree" will not work with multithreaded
       applications due to its use of "chdir".  At this time, no warning or
       error is generated in this situation.  You will certainly encounter
       unexpected results.

       The implementation that surfaces this limitation will not be changed.
       See the File::Path::Tiny module for functionality similar to File::Path
       but which does not "chdir".

   NFS Mount Points
       File::Path is not responsible for triggering the automounts, mirror
       mounts, and the contents of network mounted filesystems.  If your NFS
       implementation requires an action to be performed on the filesystem in
       order for File::Path to perform operations, it is strongly suggested
       you assure filesystem availability by reading the root of the mounted
       filesystem.

   REPORTING BUGS
       Please report all bugs on the RT queue, either via the web interface:

       <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=File-Path>

       or by email:

           bug-File-Path@rt.cpan.org

       In either case, please attach patches to the bug report rather than
       including them inline in the web post or the body of the email.

       You can also send pull requests to the Github repository:

       <https://github.com/rpcme/File-Path>


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Paul Szabo identified the race condition originally, and Brendan O'Dea
       wrote an implementation for Debian that addressed the problem.  That
       code was used as a basis for the current code. Their efforts are
       greatly appreciated.

       Gisle Aas made a number of improvements to the documentation for 2.07
       and his advice and assistance is also greatly appreciated.


AUTHORS

       Prior authors and maintainers: Tim Bunce, Charles Bailey, and David
       Landgren <david@landgren.net>.

       Current maintainers are Richard Elberger <riche@cpan.org> and James
       (Jim) Keenan <jkeenan@cpan.org>.


CONTRIBUTORS

       Contributors to File::Path, in alphabetical order by first name.

       <bulkdd@cpan.org>
       Charlie Gonzalez <itcharlie@cpan.org>
       Craig A. Berry <craigberry@mac.com>
       James E Keenan <jkeenan@cpan.org>
       John Lightsey <john@perlsec.org>
       Nigel Horne <njh@bandsman.co.uk>
       Richard Elberger <riche@cpan.org>
       Ryan Yee <ryee@cpan.org>
       Skye Shaw <shaw@cpan.org>
       Tom Lutz <tommylutz@gmail.com>
       Will Sheppard <willsheppard@github>


COPYRIGHT

       This module is copyright (C) Charles Bailey, Tim Bunce, David Landgren,
       James Keenan and Richard Elberger 1995-2020. All rights reserved.


LICENSE

       This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the same terms as Perl itself.

perl v5.38.2                      2023-11-28                   File::Path(3pm)

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