18.5 realpath: Print the resolved file name.

realpath expands all symbolic links and resolves references to ‘/./’, ‘/../’ and extra ‘/’ characters. By default, all but the last component of the specified files must exist. Synopsis:

realpath [option]… file…

The program accepts the following options. Also see Common options.

‘-e’

‘--canonicalize-existing’

Ensure that all components of the specified file names exist. If any component is missing or unavailable, realpath will output a diagnostic unless the -q option is specified, and exit with a nonzero exit code. A trailing slash requires that the name resolve to a directory.

‘-m’

‘--canonicalize-missing’

If any component of a specified file name is missing or unavailable, treat it as a directory.

‘-L’

‘--logical’

Symbolic links are resolved in the specified file names, but they are resolved after any subsequent ‘..’ components are processed.

‘-P’

‘--physical’

Symbolic links are resolved in the specified file names, and they are resolved before any subsequent ‘..’ components are processed. This is the default mode of operation.

‘-q’

‘--quiet’

Suppress diagnostic messages for specified file names.

‘--relative-to=file’

Print the resolved file names relative to the specified file. Note this option honors the -m and -e options pertaining to file existence.

‘--relative-base=base’

This option is valid when used with --relative-to, and will restrict the output of --relative-to so that relative names are output, only when files are descendants of base. Otherwise output the absolute file name. If --relative-to was not specified, then the descendants of base are printed relative to base. If --relative-to is specified, then that directory must be a descendant of base for this option to have an effect. Note: this option honors the -m and -e options pertaining to file existence. For example:

realpath --relative-to=/usr /tmp /usr/bin
⇒ ../tmp
⇒ bin
realpath --relative-base=/usr /tmp /usr/bin
⇒ /tmp
⇒ bin

‘-s’

‘--strip’

‘--no-symlinks’

Do not resolve symbolic links. Only resolve references to ‘/./’, ‘/../’ and remove extra ‘/’ characters. When combined with the -m option, realpath operates only on the file name, and does not touch any actual file.

‘-z’

‘--zero’

Output a zero byte (ASCII NUL) at the end of each line, rather than a newline. This option enables other programs to parse the output even when that output would contain data with embedded newlines.

Exit status:

0 if all file names were printed without issue.
1 otherwise.