readlink(1) User Commands readlink(1)
NAME
readlink - print resolved symbolic links or canonical file names
SYNOPSIS
readlink [OPTION]... FILE...
DESCRIPTION
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 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
AUTHOR
Written by Dmitry V. Levin.
REPORTING BUGS
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/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2026 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.
SEE ALSO
readlink(1), realpath(1), realpath(3)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'
GNU coreutils 9.10 March 2026 readlink(1)
coreutils 9.10 - Generated Thu Apr 2 15:50:08 CDT 2026