realpath — Resolve a path to its real absolute form

Linux / File and disk management / realpath.html

Resolves symlinks, .. and . to print the real absolute path.

Basic Information

What is this command?

realpath turns a relative path into an absolute one and follows symlinks to their real target. It also normalizes .. and .

Scripts use it to compare paths reliably or to confirm a path stays inside an allowed directory.

What problems does it solve?

• You need a relative path as absolute
• You want the real target of a symlink
• Path comparison must be exact
• You are validating an allowed directory

Key features

Make it absolute

Prints an absolute path based on the current directory.

• When to use: You record absolute paths in logs
• What you get: A normalized absolute path
• Limitations: A missing final component is kept as-is.

Resolve symlinks

Follows links to the real file path.

• When to use: You need to know where a link points
• What you get: The path of the real target
• Limitations: Intermediate directory links are resolved too.

Existence check

-e requires every component to exist.

• When to use: A script validates a path
• What you get: A success or failure exit code
• Limitations: Inaccessible paths may be treated as failures.

Installation and usage

Check whether it is installed

realpath --version

sudo apt install coreutils # Debian/Ubuntu sudo dnf install coreutils # Fedora

Real-world examples

Get an absolute path

Convert a relative path to absolute.

realpath ./logs/../data/app.log

Inspect a symlink

Show the real target of a link.

realpath /usr/bin/python3

Existence check

Verify the path really exists.

if realpath -e /etc/nginx/nginx.conf >/dev/null; then echo ok; fi