GFAL-RM(1)

💅 GFAL-RM — bestie's guide to deleting files (the manual page)

okay so you found the gfal-rm(1) manual page, welcome, pull up a chair 🫶 this is the one that deletes things. Yes. Deletion. The main character of filesystem operations. Let's get into it.

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✨ NAME ✨

gfal-rm — remove files or directories 🗑️✨

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gfal-rm [ OPTION ]...  FILE...

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so gfal-rm removes every file or directory you point it at. that's the whole vibe.

but here's the plot twist, bestie: by default it does NOT remove directories. like, it just won't. directories are sacred until you say otherwise. to actually delete a directory you have to pass --recursiv, and when you do, all the directories you gave it get removed along with all their contents. everything. gone. no take-backs. 💀

the way that --recursiv is spelled in this manual... iconic of them honestly, i'm keeping it exactly as written, no cap.

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• -h, --help — show help about the command. your little "what do i even do" button 🥺
• -V, --version — output version information and exit. quick lil flex of what version you're running.
• -v, --verbose — verbose mode. repeat up to 3 times for the most verbose mode. yes you can stack it, yes the third one is a lot of words, slay.
• -D, --definition DEFINITION — define properties for gfal2. definitions have the following syntax: "CONFIG_GROUP:KEY=VALUE".
• -t, --timeout TIMEOUT — global timeout for the execution of the command. the command gets interrupted if time expires before it finishes. note: a grace period of 30 seconds is given to the global timeout. generous queen 💅
• -E, --cert CERT — user certificate. (this option takes effect only after X509_USER_PROXY environment variable and default /tmp/x509up_uid -u`` location cannot provide a certificate)
• --key KEY — user private key. 🔑
• -4 — forces Gfal2 to use IPv4 addresses only. (option valid only for GridFTP protocol)
• -6 — forces Gfal2 to use IPv6 addresses only. (option valid only for GridFTP protocol)
• -C, --client-info CLIENT_INFO — provide custom client-side information.
• --log-file LOG_FILE — write Gfal2 library logs to the given file location.
• -r, -R, --recursive — remove directories and their contents recursively. ⚠️ this is the big one. this is the one that eats directories whole. be so serious when you use it.
• --dry-run — print what would have happened without any actual change. the "let me manifest it first" option, obsessed 😌
• --just-delete — do not perform any check on the file prior to delete. (needed to delete HTTP signed URLs) no vibe check, straight to the deletion.
• --from-file FROM_FILE — read SURLs from a file. batch mode energy fr fr.
• --bulk — perform bulk deletion. many deletions, one moment, ate. 🔥

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

here's the tea, in code:

gfal-rm
       file:///tmp/test

and the recursive one:

gfal-rm
       -r srm://endpoint.cern.ch/path/directory

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🎀 FILES 🎀

• /etc/gfal2.d/* — all configuration files in this directory affect the behavior of the underlying gfal2. so like... they have main character energy over how gfal2 behaves. iykyk.

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

the literal geniuses behind this, show them some respect:

• Duarte Meneses <duarte.meneses@cern.ch>
• Adrien Devresse <adrien.devresse@cern.ch>
• Alejandro Alvarez Ayllon <alejandro.alvarez.ayllon@cern.ch>
• Andrea Manzi <andrea.manzi@cern.ch>
• Mihai Patrascoiu <mihai.patrascoiu@cern.ch>
• Joao Lopes <joao.pedro.batista.lopes@cern.ch>

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

go read these next, bestie, they're all in the same friend group:

gfal-cat(1), gfal-chmod(1), gfal-copy(1), gfal-ls(1), gfal-mkdir(1), gfal-rename(1), gfal-rm(1), gfal-save(1), gfal-stat(1), gfal-sum(1), gfal-token(1), gfal-xattr(1), gfal-evict(1), gfal-bringonline(1), gfal-archivepoll(1)

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okay that's the whole page, mwah 💋 this lil manual is v1.7.1 and it was born in March 2022 — stan a legend that's been holding it down since then. go forth and delete responsibly, bestie, especially with -r. periodt. 🫶✨