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kevin watke
724 PointsI entered mkdir -p dirname/dirname2/dirname3 to make a new directory. now -p is listed as a dir, how can i delete?
i was following along with the tutorial and mkdir dirname/dirname2/dirname3 gives an error : no such file or directory, because none had been created yet. using the -p flag I was able to do this all in one line instead of 3 different commands: mkdir dirname, mkdir dirname2, mkdir dirname3. Now, -p is listed as a directory, i cannot cd into that dir nor can I rm that dir to remove it. Looking for help as to why it created this dir and how I can remove it. I have removed all the associated directories regarding that initial input(mkdir -p dirname/dirname2/dirname3
2 Answers
Kris Phelps
7,609 PointsIs there anything in the -p directory? If so you'll need to recursively delete the directory. (rm -r directory_name).
have you tried renaming it was well? You may need to do that before trying to delete it. That's about all I can think of.
kevin watke
724 PointsI have solved this issue with rm -r -- -p, it was my error when i entered the command i mistakenly put a / in front of the first directory as an admin and created an illegal file that unix thought was a directory. Thank you for the assistance.
Kris Phelps
7,609 PointsYou're welcome, glad I could help :-)
kevin watke
724 Pointskevin watke
724 PointsI cannot open it as it isn't really a directory. I cannot rename it as well. I've attached a screenshot to show kind of what is happening. It's listed like it's a directory but it can't be deleted, renamed, opened or modified in any way.
Kevins-MacBook-Pro:~ kevinwatke$ mv -p test mv: illegal option -- p usage: mv [-f | -i | -n] [-v] source target mv [-f | -i | -n] [-v] source ... directory Kevins-MacBook-Pro:~ kevinwatke$ rm -r -p rm: illegal option -- p usage: rm [-f | -i] [-dPRrvW] file ... unlink file Kevins-MacBook-Pro:~ kevinwatke$ ls -p Downloads Music eclipse personal Desktop Library Pictures java_projects Documents Movies Public myphotos Kevins-MacBook-Pro:~ kevinwatke$