pathchk

Check path for POSIX portability

$ pathchk [/path/to/file]

$ pathchk -p [/path/to/file]

$ pathchk -P [path]

$ pathchk [path1] [path2] [path3]

pathchk [-p] [-P] pathname...

pathchk checks pathnames for validity and portability. It identifies names that may cause problems on other systems.
Default checking verifies the path is valid on the current system: proper length, valid characters, and accessible parent directories.
POSIX portability mode (-p) enforces stricter limits. It checks for characters valid on all POSIX systems and limits component lengths to 14 characters (the historical minimum).
The -P option adds checks for empty path components and names starting with hyphens, which can cause problems with command arguments.
Exit code 0 means all paths passed checks. Non-zero indicates problems were found, with error messages describing issues.
The tool helps ensure scripts and archives work across different Unix systems without pathname-related failures.

-p, --portability

Check for POSIX portability.

Check for empty names and leading dashes.

Show help.

Show version.

Portability mode is conservative. Modern systems accept longer names. Some checks may be overly strict for single-system use.

pathchk is part of GNU coreutils and specified by POSIX. It provides a standard way to validate pathnames for cross-platform scripts and utilities.

basename(1), dirname(1), realpath(1)