man > readlink(1)

READLINK(1)                                 User Commands                                READLINK(1)

NAME
       readlink - print resolved symbolic links or canonical file names

SYNOPSIS
       readlink [OPTION]... FILE...

DESCRIPTION
       Note realpath(1) is the preferred command to use 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 recur‐
              sively; all but the last component must exist

       -e, --canonicalize-existing
              canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the  given  name  recur‐
              sively, all components must exist

       -m, --canonicalize-missing
              canonicalize  by  following  every symlink in every component of the given name recur‐
              sively, 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)

       -v, --verbose
              report error messages

       -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
       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2023 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(2), realpath(1), realpath(3)

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) readlink invocation'

GNU coreutils 9.4                           January 2026                                 READLINK(1)