sudo rm -rf / in OS X
August 23rd, 2009 | by admin |
This is what happens when you invoke sudo rm -rf / in Terminal.app as Mac OS X is actively running. Some unusual behavior occurs as the OS swallows its own tail which can be seen toward the end of the video.
Duration : 0:8:19
[youtube 7RfihcLJLeo]
25 Responses to “sudo rm -rf / in OS X”
By NickFreyMovieGuy on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
owned
owned
By ripin150 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
haha… 1:38 If you …
haha… 1:38 If you ever want to do this on your own…
By therandomawsome on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
I used this to …
I used this to delete my external hard drive. I was smart. I did “sudo rm -rf /Volumes/Hard Drive/”
Only deleted the hard drive. No unmounting.
By ipodtouchguru3 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
you typed it in …
you typed it in wrong to
By HackerBoy003 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
u screw my mac …
u screw my mac shiittttttttttttttt
By RobinKaja on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Saaad.. you didn’t …
Saaad.. you didn’t unmount your storage disk…. owned…
By GanjoManjo on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
I think a “clean …
I think a “clean install” would also remove all your open-source junk (replaces the entire system, including /usr/local etc), while maintaining your apps and home folder and everything -
I’ve found that a full reformat is essentially completely unwarranted in OS X, since about 10.2. I never do ‘em and it’s awesome!
By winfr34k on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Yes… Couse: Mac …
Yes… Couse: Mac OS is mounting All Partitions in /Volumes/ and you deleted /*.* Everything in the root directory… And what is in the Root Directory? /Volumes/Storage xD
You had to demount it.
By 24oscar24 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
/ : is the root of …
/ : is the root of any unix-based os.
By TiZonBE on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
I’m 100% positive …
Owned
I’m 100% positive that it also deleted the other partition
By BleedingEdgeTech on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Eh, I didn’t see an …
Eh, I didn’t see an unmount lol
By jokkum1991 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Uhm, you didn’t …
Uhm, you didn’t unmount your backup partition.. It’s mounted in “/Volumes/Storage/”, so i suppose you had fun messing around with file recovery software after your new install?
By duralf2 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Please do not …
Please do not misuse the word “brick”. If you can simply reinstall the OS your computer is NOT bricked
By pran1zzle on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
So?. Don’t know of …
So?. Don’t know of any operating system that wipe disks out just because they aren’t unmounted… you ing nuclear
By josecuervo86 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the …
Thanks for the explanatory answer.
By apoil17 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
sudo : Have roots …
sudo : Have roots rights.
rm : remove. this is the proper command to remove something in your computer.
-r : r for recursive. use it if you want to delete a folder, and his sub-folders, etc…
-f : f for force. It is used to ignore files that’s the user is not the owner (like the system folder, etc…)
/ : It’s the root of Mac OS.
You can put options in whatever order you want; so :
sudo rm -r -f = sudo rm -rf / = sudo rm -fr
By ne0ngeek on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
i would format but …
i would format but im t0000000 sexy. yep. and i hate installing cairo dock because its not super easy like awn.
By Racecar564 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
yes i see that it’s …
yes i see that it’s rm -fr but i think it does the same >_>
By topgunwow on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Dude, that’s messed …
Dude, that’s messed up. And by the way, I have the same initials as you do. How cool is that.
By josecuervo86 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
He put “rm -fr”, …
He put “rm -fr”, not “rm -rf”. Look that again
By galexcd on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
You should have run …
You should have run it verbose so we could watch the machine’s progress as it ate itself alive
By tamrix on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
LOL he didn’t …
LOL he didn’t unmount his backup!! Poor guy.
By kamprath445 on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Nice, thanks for …
Nice, thanks for showing us this… usually people wouldn’t try it in fear of loosing their whole OS. 5/5
By IkarusKommt on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Why are there some …
Why are there some letters missing in labels?
By cyborgtroy on Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
Yeah it might.
uh, …
Yeah it might.
uh, in Linux there’s a separate option for not traversing file system boundaries, which means it’s enabled by default.