"Argument list too long" error for `rm -rf *` on a directory with 4000 files

Question

I thought this issue was fixed in Linux like 10 years ago. 4000 files really doesn't seem too excessive and should be able to be removed no problem. So this issue clearly exists in OS X - maybe not in Ubuntu. I'm developing on OS X and deploying to Ubuntu

Is there a system level workaround in either environment? I really don't want to have to think about this issue for such a small number of files? Does this issue still exist in Linux, specifically Ubuntu?

Solution 1

This is not an issue but a limit. You can use something like this:

find ./ -exec rm -rf {} \;

Or what is the matter of not using an alternative that does the job?

Solution 2

This is still a problem on all Unixes I know of, as well as Windows. It's really a limit on the number of bytes being passed on the command line, not the number of files or whatever.

Try getconf ARG_MAX to see the limit (in bytes) for your Unix. You can use the xargs command to work around such problems.

Solution 3

While I can't speak for other *nixs, AFAIK, this "issue" has always existed in Mac OS X.

ARG_MAX is defined as the following in /usr/include/sys/syslimits.h:

#define ARG_MAX   (256 * 1024)  /* max bytes for an exec function */

sysctl kern.argmax returns:

kern.argmax: 262144

(This is in Mac OS X 10.7.3; many of these types of limits have been increased gradually over the course of the lifetime of OS X).

Comments

[Wuffers]

What are you asking about? Mac OS X or Ubuntu?

[timpone]

uhh... i think the title is pretty clear

[soandos]

And then you went and muddled it with the last question

[HikeMike]

Please revise your question. It is not clear what system you're asking about, whether you're asking about the cause or for a workaround.

[Wuffers]

@timpone: No, it isn't. You ask about Mac OS X in the title but your question itself only mentions Ubuntu.

[timpone]

they attempt to both be *nix's; should be obvious from context

[phuclv]

“Argument list too long”: How do I deal with it, without changing my command?, Deleting many files results in “argument list too long”, /bin/sh: /bin/cp: Argument list too long

[timpone]

xargs tends to be SLOW - just more surprised this is still an issue than anything. such a common procedure. ugh...

[afrazier]

This particular problem doesn't pop up on Windows all that often, because the shell doesn't expand wildcards, it's up to each app to do that.

[timpone]

hmm.... maybe just alias rm -rf to that?

[timpone]

thx, helpful to know

[phuclv]

The same limit exists on Linux because it's defined in POSIX standard. grep ARG_MAX /usr/include/linux/limits.h on my Ubuntu returns 131072. What defines the maximum size for a command single argument?, What is the maximum length of command line arguments in gnome-terminal?