Mdthbs

Graphs for which a calculus student can reasonably compute the arclength

Can sampling rate be a floating point number?

What is the purpose of doing this exercice with humming?

Corroded Metal vs Magical Armor, should it melt it?

Heating Margarine in Pan = loss of calories?

Can you end your own spell prematurely?

How far did Gandalf and the Balrog drop from the bridge in Moria?

How should I deal with a potential date who wouldn’t take no for an answer?

What is a good class if we remove subclasses?

How many people would you need to pull a whale over cobblestone streets?

Is there a SQL/English like language that lets you define formulations given some data?

How to display numbers like 10,000.42 using siunitx?

Is there a way to count the number of lines of text in a file including non-delimited ones?

Help, I cannot decide when to start the story

Markov-chain sentence generator in Python

Is this n-speak?

Authors on the Credibility and Corruption of Modern Science

What should I call bands of armed men in the Middle Ages?

What was the opinion of Kumarila and Prabhakara about the Puranas?

How exactly are corporate bonds priced at issue

Does fossil fuels use since 1990 account for half of all the fossil fuels used in history?

How is являться different from есть and быть

In which case does the Security misconfiguration vulnerability apply to?

How to remove ambiguity: "... lives in the city of H, the capital of the province of NS, WHERE the unemployment rate is ..."?

Specific: effect of rm -r /./*

System-wide finder view preferencesRecover Deleted Files on Mac OSX [External NTFS]Flawed user permissions: cannot save files or open programsDeleting a 'No such file or directory' fileCan't move items to Trash – resistant to usual fixesDisabling Login Shake EffectDelete all backups of specific file/folder with tmutilmacOS - Bash commands not working as needs to be

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}

1

1

I was trying to delete files inside the current directory with rm -r /./* command. When executed it warned me about removing "...Siri..Application". I kind of panicked, thinking it's trying to delete all files from system and immediately terminated the terminal process.
I want to know if this command deleted any other files. I see most files there and am able to restart iMac so all seems good but just to be sure.

PS: sorry for lack of full warning message. I quickly closed the terminal and not going to try command again to get it.

macos command-line

share|improve this question

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That command will indeed try to delete all files from your entire computer. Recent versions of macOS protect many things, leading to errors like the ones you saw. But the errors won't tell you which files it did succeed in deleting, or which ones it hadn't gotten around to trying before you killed it. It's going to be hard to tell what did get deleted until/unless you notice something missing. Check for any 3rd party apps you've installed -- are they all still there?
  
  – Gordon Davisson
  22 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Looks to be so. I remember few of apps I installed and they are there. Is there any way to output/echo the results of the command to the terminal? Or should I just factory reset? TIA
  
  – User 10482
  21 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

1

1

I was trying to delete files inside the current directory with rm -r /./* command. When executed it warned me about removing "...Siri..Application". I kind of panicked, thinking it's trying to delete all files from system and immediately terminated the terminal process.
I want to know if this command deleted any other files. I see most files there and am able to restart iMac so all seems good but just to be sure.

PS: sorry for lack of full warning message. I quickly closed the terminal and not going to try command again to get it.

macos command-line

share|improve this question

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That command will indeed try to delete all files from your entire computer. Recent versions of macOS protect many things, leading to errors like the ones you saw. But the errors won't tell you which files it did succeed in deleting, or which ones it hadn't gotten around to trying before you killed it. It's going to be hard to tell what did get deleted until/unless you notice something missing. Check for any 3rd party apps you've installed -- are they all still there?
  
  – Gordon Davisson
  22 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Looks to be so. I remember few of apps I installed and they are there. Is there any way to output/echo the results of the command to the terminal? Or should I just factory reset? TIA
  
  – User 10482
  21 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

I was trying to delete files inside the current directory with rm -r /./* command. When executed it warned me about removing "...Siri..Application". I kind of panicked, thinking it's trying to delete all files from system and immediately terminated the terminal process.
I want to know if this command deleted any other files. I see most files there and am able to restart iMac so all seems good but just to be sure.

PS: sorry for lack of full warning message. I quickly closed the terminal and not going to try command again to get it.

macos command-line

share|improve this question

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

edited 21 hours ago

bmike♦

167k4646 gold badges301301 silver badges654654 bronze badges

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

New contributor

User 10482 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 23 hours ago

User 10482User 10482

822 bronze badges

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

4

The path you gave rm to delete was /./*. Let’s break this down:

1. 
   / The root mount point, such as Macintosh HD. This is the root of the disk, therefore an absolute path was given rather than a relative path operating on the current directory.


2. 
   ./ The current directory, which is now / by the path given so far. /. is equivalent to /, so // is the path so far, except duplicate directory delimiters are combined to a single delimiter, so / so far, the same as step 1.


3. 
   * Glob all files and folders at this level.

Therefore, the command given was to delete all files and folders starting at the root mount point, i.e. delete all files and folders on the entire volume.

macOS System Integrity Protection will prevent this mischief from causing much damage to the system’s core components, but your own files won’t be protected if you have given full disk access to the Terminal app. I hope you have a backup of the files you need, especially from the beginning of the disk depending when you stopped the command.

share|improve this answer

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Unfortunate for me I did not have latest backup. Nevermind though I can start over. The hard part is figuring out what went away. If I may ask, what was the correct command to delete all files recursively in the current folder. (I tried ./* as path which did not work)
  
  – User 10482
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @User10482 just reinstall the system from recovery hd or internet recovery. That archives the old system, drops a fully functioning one with all built in apps and then migrates all users, settings, data and third party apps. Unless you will pay for professional recovery software or services, getting back the deleted files is somewhat lengthy and not guaranteed if you’ve kept using the system and started overwriting the space where the deleted files were stored.
  
  – bmike♦
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user All you want is step 3, so rm -r * from the correct directory.
  
  – grg♦
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user10482 rm ./* should work. If it doesn’t please post a new question with details (error messages, files not deleted etc) so we can help.
  
  – nohillside♦
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Using rm [-r] ./* is safer than simply rm [-r] *, in case that there are entries in the current directory whose names start with a hyphen and would otherwise be interpreted as options to rm (e.g., a file named -f).
  
  – wchargin
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 2 more comments

4

The path you gave rm to delete was /./*. Let’s break this down:

1. 
   / The root mount point, such as Macintosh HD. This is the root of the disk, therefore an absolute path was given rather than a relative path operating on the current directory.


2. 
   ./ The current directory, which is now / by the path given so far. /. is equivalent to /, so // is the path so far, except duplicate directory delimiters are combined to a single delimiter, so / so far, the same as step 1.


3. 
   * Glob all files and folders at this level.

Therefore, the command given was to delete all files and folders starting at the root mount point, i.e. delete all files and folders on the entire volume.

macOS System Integrity Protection will prevent this mischief from causing much damage to the system’s core components, but your own files won’t be protected if you have given full disk access to the Terminal app. I hope you have a backup of the files you need, especially from the beginning of the disk depending when you stopped the command.

share|improve this answer

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Unfortunate for me I did not have latest backup. Nevermind though I can start over. The hard part is figuring out what went away. If I may ask, what was the correct command to delete all files recursively in the current folder. (I tried ./* as path which did not work)
  
  – User 10482
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @User10482 just reinstall the system from recovery hd or internet recovery. That archives the old system, drops a fully functioning one with all built in apps and then migrates all users, settings, data and third party apps. Unless you will pay for professional recovery software or services, getting back the deleted files is somewhat lengthy and not guaranteed if you’ve kept using the system and started overwriting the space where the deleted files were stored.
  
  – bmike♦
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user All you want is step 3, so rm -r * from the correct directory.
  
  – grg♦
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user10482 rm ./* should work. If it doesn’t please post a new question with details (error messages, files not deleted etc) so we can help.
  
  – nohillside♦
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Using rm [-r] ./* is safer than simply rm [-r] *, in case that there are entries in the current directory whose names start with a hyphen and would otherwise be interpreted as options to rm (e.g., a file named -f).
  
  – wchargin
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 2 more comments

4

The path you gave rm to delete was /./*. Let’s break this down:

1. 
   / The root mount point, such as Macintosh HD. This is the root of the disk, therefore an absolute path was given rather than a relative path operating on the current directory.


2. 
   ./ The current directory, which is now / by the path given so far. /. is equivalent to /, so // is the path so far, except duplicate directory delimiters are combined to a single delimiter, so / so far, the same as step 1.


3. 
   * Glob all files and folders at this level.

Therefore, the command given was to delete all files and folders starting at the root mount point, i.e. delete all files and folders on the entire volume.

macOS System Integrity Protection will prevent this mischief from causing much damage to the system’s core components, but your own files won’t be protected if you have given full disk access to the Terminal app. I hope you have a backup of the files you need, especially from the beginning of the disk depending when you stopped the command.

share|improve this answer

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Unfortunate for me I did not have latest backup. Nevermind though I can start over. The hard part is figuring out what went away. If I may ask, what was the correct command to delete all files recursively in the current folder. (I tried ./* as path which did not work)
  
  – User 10482
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @User10482 just reinstall the system from recovery hd or internet recovery. That archives the old system, drops a fully functioning one with all built in apps and then migrates all users, settings, data and third party apps. Unless you will pay for professional recovery software or services, getting back the deleted files is somewhat lengthy and not guaranteed if you’ve kept using the system and started overwriting the space where the deleted files were stored.
  
  – bmike♦
  21 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user All you want is step 3, so rm -r * from the correct directory.
  
  – grg♦
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @user10482 rm ./* should work. If it doesn’t please post a new question with details (error messages, files not deleted etc) so we can help.
  
  – nohillside♦
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Using rm [-r] ./* is safer than simply rm [-r] *, in case that there are entries in the current directory whose names start with a hyphen and would otherwise be interpreted as options to rm (e.g., a file named -f).
  
  – wchargin
  15 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 2 more comments

The path you gave rm to delete was /./*. Let’s break this down:

1. 
   / The root mount point, such as Macintosh HD. This is the root of the disk, therefore an absolute path was given rather than a relative path operating on the current directory.


2. 
   ./ The current directory, which is now / by the path given so far. /. is equivalent to /, so // is the path so far, except duplicate directory delimiters are combined to a single delimiter, so / so far, the same as step 1.


3. 
   * Glob all files and folders at this level.

Therefore, the command given was to delete all files and folders starting at the root mount point, i.e. delete all files and folders on the entire volume.

macOS System Integrity Protection will prevent this mischief from causing much damage to the system’s core components, but your own files won’t be protected if you have given full disk access to the Terminal app. I hope you have a backup of the files you need, especially from the beginning of the disk depending when you stopped the command.

share|improve this answer

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges

answered 21 hours ago

grg♦grg

143k2525 gold badges229229 silver badges339339 bronze badges