scrub-files(1)

📦
version 7.0.1 · 3 versions
, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ scrub-files(1) ✨

okay bestie so this is scrub-files, a lil tool from GNU Telephony that yeets your files into the void so hard nobody can dig them back out 💅 fr fr, she's giving forensic-analysis-proof energy.

🌸 NAME 🌸

scrub-files — securely erase files by filling with random data first. periodt, that's the whole vibe 🫶

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

scrub [options] paths...

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so the way that this works is: this command is used to securely erase files. she does it by filling the file with random data in pre-sized chunks 🎀 (yes, chunks, she's organized like that). and if one pass isn't enough for you, multiple passes of random data may also be used, because why be thorough when you can be extra thorough 😌.

the pre-sized chunks? iconic behaviour honestly. they're used to remove information about the exact original file size — so nobody can peek at the leftovers and go "hmm this was 4,271 bytes, suspicious" 🙈.

other options include:

  • random renaming of the original file before deletion 🏷️
  • the use of truncation to break down meta-data on what blocks in the file system were originally associated with a securely deleted file 💀

this is specifically intended to make it harder to perform forensic analysis on securely erased files. like, no cap, that's the entire point. main character energy: delete, but make it unrecoverable ✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --blocksize size — sets the default block size (in 1 k increments, iykyk) that scrub-files uses when writing random data. this affects both the final file length — which will be aligned to the specified size — and the way the --truncate option decomposes files. the default is 1k. 🍓
  • --follow — dereference and follow symlinks, erasing the target file. lowkey important if you're pointing at a link and expecting the link to vanish instead 🌈
  • --passes=count — the number of passes used when writing random data. the default is 1 pass. crank it up if you're feeling spicy 🔥
  • --recursive — if the argument is a directory, recursively scan the directory and any subdirectory contents as arguments. she'll go down the whole tree, no crumbs left 👑
  • --rename — rename the file randomly before deletion, to clear persistent inode data 🏷️
  • --truncate — decompose the file through truncation to break down file system page maps 🧚
  • --verbose — display each file being processed to the console. for the girlies who need to see the progress 📢
  • --help — outputs help screen for the user 🎀

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

scrub-files was written by David Sugar <dyfet@gnutelephony.org>. king behaviour, we love to see it 👑

😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

found a bug? not me finding a bug 💀 report bugs to bug-commoncpp@gnu.org or bugs@gnutelephony.org. they wanna hear from you, fr fr 🫶

Copyright © 2010-2014 David Sugar, Tycho Softworks.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

bestie. read that again. NO WARRANTY. none. not even the fitness-for-a-particular-purpose one. she's free, she's fabulous, and she is absolutely not liable 💀

and that's the whole page, gorgeous ✨ this one ships with GNU uCommon, dated January 2010 — old enough to be vintage, iconic enough to still be scrubbing 🎀💖 byeeeee 🌸

📦 where this page comes from