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Mastering Hadoop FS Shell rm: Effortless File Removal

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Introduction

Welcome to the futuristic technology lab! You are the lab supervisor overseeing an exciting hands-on session on Hadoop's HDFS skill FS Shell rm. In this lab, participants will learn how to effectively use the Hadoop File System Shell to remove files. The main goal is to familiarize users with the hadoop fs -rm command and its functionalities.

Removing a File

In this step, you will learn how to remove a specific file using the Hadoop FS Shell.

  1. Open the terminal and switch to the hadoop user by running: 
   su - hadoop
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  1. Create a test file in the HDFS: 
   hdfs dfs -touchz /test_file.txt
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  1. Remove the test file using the hadoop fs -rm command: 
   hadoop fs -rm /test_file.txt
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The command hadoop fs -rm /test_file.txt is used to delete a file named "test_file.txt" from the HDFS. Here's a breakdown of each component of the command:

  • hadoop fs: This is the command-line interface (CLI) tool used to interact with HDFS. It allows you to perform various file system operations such as copying files, listing directories, and deleting files.

  • -rm: This is the option used to indicate that you want to remove (delete) a file or directory from HDFS.

  • /test_file.txt: This is the path to the file you want to delete. In this case, the file is located at the root directory ("/") of HDFS and its name is "test_file.txt".

Removing a Directory

In this step, you will practice removing a directory using the Hadoop FS Shell.

  1. Create a directory in the HDFS: 
   hadoop fs -mkdir /test_directory
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  1. Remove the directory using the hadoop fs -rm command with the -r flag for recursive removal: 
   hadoop fs -rm -r /test_directory
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The command hadoop fs -rm -r /test_directory is used to delete a directory and its contents recursively from the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). Here's a breakdown of each component of the command:

  • hadoop fs: This is the command-line interface (CLI) tool used to interact with HDFS. It allows you to perform various file system operations such as copying files, listing directories, and deleting files.

  • -rm: This is the option used to indicate that you want to remove (delete) a file or directory from HDFS.

  • -r: This is an additional option that specifies that the deletion should be performed recursively. When used with the "-rm" option, it allows you to delete a directory and all its contents.

  • /test_directory: This is the path to the directory you want to delete. In this case, the directory is located at the root directory ("/") of HDFS and its name is "test_directory".

Summary

In this lab, we focused on the practical aspect of using the Hadoop FS Shell rm command to manage files and directories in HDFS.

By providing step-by-step guidance with hands-on exercises and validation checkers, participants can effectively learn how to remove files and directories within a Hadoop environment.

This lab aims to enhance users' understanding of Hadoop's file system manipulation capabilities and empower them to confidently navigate file management tasks in a Big Data ecosystem.

🚀 Practice Now: Hadoop FS Shell rm

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