READLINK(1) User Commands READLINK(1)

readlink - print resolved symbolic links or canonical file names

readlink [OPTION]... FILE...

realpath(1) is a better command for canonicalization functionality.

Print value of a symbolic link or canonical file name

canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively; all but the last component must exist
canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively; all components must exist
canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given name recursively, without requirements on components existence
do not output the trailing delimiter

-q, --quiet

suppress most error messages (on by default if POSIXLY_CORRECT is not set)
report error messages (on by default if POSIXLY_CORRECT is set)
end each output line with NUL, not newline
display this help and exit
output version information and exit

Written by Dmitry V. Levin.

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/>
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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.

readlink(2), realpath(1), realpath(3)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/readlink>

February 2026 GNU coreutils 9.10