| --help | display this help and exit |
| --version | output version information and exit |
| ( EXPRESSION ) | EXPRESSION is true |
| ! EXPRESSION | EXPRESSION is false |
| -a | both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true |
| -o | either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true |
| -n | the length of STRING is nonzero |
| STRING | equivalent to -n STRING |
| -z | the length of STRING is zero |
| STRING1 = STRING2 | the strings are equal |
| STRING1 != STRING2 | the strings are not equal |
| STRING1 > STRING2 | STRING1 is greater than STRING2 in the current locale |
| STRING1 < STRING2 | STRING1 is less than STRING2 in the current locale |
| -eq | INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2 |
| -ge | INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2 |
| -gt | INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2 |
| -le | INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2 |
| -lt | INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2 |
| -ne | INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2 |
| -ef | FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers |
| -nt | FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2 |
| -ot | FILE1 is older than FILE2 |
| -b | FILE exists and is block special |
| -c | FILE exists and is character special |
| -d | FILE exists and is a directory |
| -e | FILE exists |
| -f | FILE exists and is a regular file |
| -g | FILE exists and is set-group-ID |
| -G | FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID |
| -h | FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L) |
| -k | FILE exists and has its sticky bit set |
| -L | FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -h) |
| -N | FILE exists and has been modified since it was last read |
| -O | FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID |
| -p | FILE exists and is a named pipe |
| -r | FILE exists and the user has read access |
| -s | FILE exists and has a size greater than zero |
| -S | FILE exists and is a socket |
| -t | file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal |
| -u | FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set |
| -w | FILE exists and the user has write access |
| -x | FILE exists and the user has execute (or search) access |
NAME
test - check file types and compare values
SYNOPSIS
testEXPRESSION test [EXPRESSION] [ ] [OPTION
DESCRIPTION
Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.
- --help
display this help and exit
- --version
output version information and exit
An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false. Otherwise, EXPRESSION is true or false and sets exit status. It is one of:
- ( EXPRESSION )
EXPRESSION is true
- ! EXPRESSION
EXPRESSION is false
- EXPRESSION1 -a EXPRESSION2
both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true
- EXPRESSION1 -o EXPRESSION2
either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true
- -n STRING
the length of STRING is nonzero
- STRING
equivalent to -n STRING
- -z STRING
the length of STRING is zero
- STRING1 = STRING2
the strings are equal
- STRING1 != STRING2
the strings are not equal
- STRING1 > STRING2
STRING1 is greater than STRING2 in the current locale
- STRING1 < STRING2
STRING1 is less than STRING2 in the current locale
- INTEGER1 -eq INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2
- INTEGER1 -ge INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2
- INTEGER1 -gt INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2
- INTEGER1 -le INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2
- INTEGER1 -lt INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2
- INTEGER1 -ne INTEGER2
INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2
- FILE1 -ef FILE2
FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers
- FILE1 -nt FILE2
FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2
- FILE1 -ot FILE2
FILE1 is older than FILE2
- -b FILE
FILE exists and is block special
- -c FILE
FILE exists and is character special
- -d FILE
FILE exists and is a directory
- -e FILE
FILE exists
- -f FILE
FILE exists and is a regular file
- -g FILE
FILE exists and is set-group-ID
- -G FILE
FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID
- -h FILE
FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L)
- -k FILE
FILE exists and has its sticky bit set
- -L FILE
FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -h)
- -N FILE
FILE exists and has been modified since it was last read
- -O FILE
FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID
- -p FILE
FILE exists and is a named pipe
- -r FILE
FILE exists and the user has read access
- -s FILE
FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
- -S FILE
FILE exists and is a socket
- -t FD
file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal
- -u FILE
FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set
- -w FILE
FILE exists and the user has write access
- -x FILE
FILE exists and the user has execute (or search) access
Except for -h and -L, all FILE-related tests dereference symbolic links. Beware that parentheses need to be escaped (e.g., by backslashes) for shells. INTEGER may also be -l STRING, which evaluates to the length of STRING.
Binary -a and -o are ambiguous. Use 'test EXPR1 && test EXPR2' or 'test EXPR1 || test EXPR2' instead.
'[' honors --help and --version, but 'test' treats them as STRINGs.
Your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports.
AUTHOR
Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
access(2)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) test invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.