Linux realpath Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to realpath on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including absolute path resolution, canonical paths, and path normalization.

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Table of Contents

1. realpath Basics
2. Path Resolution
3. Canonical Paths
4. Multiple Paths
5. Troubleshooting

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realpath Basics

Resolve Path

Basic usage:

# Resolve path
realpath file.txt

# Returns absolute canonical path

Relative Path

Relative to absolute:

# Relative path
realpath ../file.txt

# Converts to absolute path

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Path Resolution

Absolute Path

Get absolute:

# Absolute path
realpath file.txt

# Output: /full/path/to/file.txt

Symbolic Links

Follow links:

# Follow symbolic links
realpath symlink

# Resolves to real file path

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Canonical Paths

Canonical Form

Canonical path:

# Canonical path
realpath /path/to/file

# Returns canonical absolute path

Remove Components

Clean path:

# Remove . and ..
realpath /path/./to/../file

# Output: /path/file

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Multiple Paths

Multiple Files

Multiple paths:

# Multiple paths
realpath file1.txt file2.txt

# Resolves each path

From Input

Pipe input:

# From input
echo -e "file1.txt\nfile2.txt" | xargs realpath

# Resolves each path

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Troubleshooting

realpath Not Found

Check installation:

# realpath is part of coreutils
# Usually pre-installed

# Check realpath
which realpath

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Summary

This guide covered realpath usage, absolute path resolution, and canonical paths for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

• readlink Guide - Symbolic link resolution
• pwd Guide - Print working directory
• cd Guide - Change directory
• realpath Documentation: man realpath

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.