Removing a file that has an illegal filename

**Consul** · 05-17-2004

I wish I knew how this one happened, but fixing it is giving me nightmares.

At work, we run Spamassassin as a daemon under Exim. So far, so good. But recently, we got two spam emails in that look like this:

Code:

1084295179_"COPS04-040511170744Z-33702*-PRMD=C.O.P.S.-ADMD= -C=US-"@MHS

1084302537_"COPS04-040511191019Z-34501*-PRMD=C.O.P.S.-ADMD= -C=US-"@MHS

(The number string before the first underscore is something Exim adds.)

The issue is the " -C=US-" thing, which is a space followed by a -C. Every basic program on Linux, from cp to mv to rm is treating this as a command flag when it is not. This has totally screwed up my admin scripts.

Is there any way I can remove this file from the command line?

**jeremy1701** · 05-17-2004

You should be able to replace the space with '\ ' (minus the ', that's a slash space), and then replace '-' with '\-' (minus the ').

FYI, dashes are not illegal characters for file names. They just make it a pain in the [insert favorite curse here].

Hope that helps!
Jeremy

**Consul** · 05-17-2004

Thank you! I'll give that a shot.

It's always something simple, you know?

**logan5** · 05-17-2004

You can also use quotes around the name. I actually belive that single or double quotes will work, but your distro might wan't one over the other. Single works well under Redhat / Fedora.

something like

Code:

 mv 'file name.txt' /home/me

That would move a file called file name.txt to the directory /home/me

**jeremy1701** · 05-17-2004

Code:

It's always something simple, you know?

The solution is only simple if it works!

That's why were here. Good luck!
Jeremy

**sarumont** · 05-17-2004

Originally Posted by jeremy1701

Code:

It's always something simple, you know?

The solution is only simple if it works!

That's why were here. Good luck!
Jeremy

And you always look back on it and say, "Now why didn't I think of that in the first place?"

**Consul** · 05-18-2004

Trust me, I know how that is.

Unfortunately, neither escape characters or quotes worked. (I think I know why, though.)

However, logging into the GUI directly on the box itself allowed me to just use Nautilus to get rid of the offending files.

Either way, my problem is solved. Thank you all very much for the help!

**anand** · 05-22-2004

You could have used mc
Midnight Commander

**Consul** · 05-23-2004

D'oh! Why didn't I think of that? Maybe I should install it...

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