Proper escape sequence for a non-standard file name

Question

I'm trying to remove a file I made by mistake using --exclude with tar. I ended up making a tar file named --exclude=*.tar Now I want to delete it but I'd like to rename it first. How do I escape it correctly?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 15 '13 at 19:07

2

There are two straightforward ways to do this using just rm:

rm -- --exclude=*.tar

or

rm ./--exclude=*.tar

answered Nov 15 '13 at 19:07

ire_and_curses

12,362

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 15 '13 at 18:53

0

I just used mv ./--exclude=*.tar deleteThisFile and that worked fine.

answered Nov 15 '13 at 18:53

Monty

225
2
6

I think the only things you ever need to escape are spaces (if you don't quote) or quotes (if you do quote). – goldilocks Nov 15 '13 at 19:10

Proper escape sequence for a non-standard file name

2 Answers2