How can I detect whether a symlink is broken in Bash?

BashSymlink

Bash Problem Overview

I run find and iterate through the results with [ \( -L $F \) ] to collect certain symbolic links.

I am wondering if there is an easy way to determine if the link is broken (points to a non-existent file) in this scenario.

Here is my code:

FILES=`find /target/ | grep -v '\.disabled$' | sort`

for F in $FILES; do
    if [ -L $F ]; then
        DO THINGS
    fi
done

Bash Solutions

Solution 1 - Bash

# test if symlink is broken (by seeing if it links to an existing file)
if [ ! -e "$F" ] ; then
    # code if the symlink is broken
fi

Solution 2 - Bash

This should print out links that are broken:

find /target/dir -type l ! -exec test -e {} \; -print

You can also chain in operations to find command, e.g. deleting the broken link:

find /target/dir -type l ! -exec test -e {} \; -exec rm {} \;

Solution 3 - Bash

this will work if the symlink was pointing to a file or a directory, but now is broken

if [[ -L "$strFile" ]] && [[ ! -a "$strFile" ]];then 
  echo "'$strFile' is a broken symlink"; 
fi

Solution 4 - Bash

This finds all files of type "link", which also resolves to a type "link". ie. a broken symlink

find /target -type l -xtype l

Solution 5 - Bash

If you don't mind traversing non-broken dir symlinks, to find all orphaned links: 

$ find -L /target -type l | while read -r file; do echo $file is orphaned; done

To find all files that are not orphaned links: 

$ find -L /target ! -type l

Solution 6 - Bash

What's wrong with:

file $f | grep 'broken symbolic link'

Solution 7 - Bash

If it does qualify as a symbolic link, but is „not existing“, its a broken link.

if [[ -h $link && ! -e $link ]] ; then
    _info "$link is a BROKEN SYMLINK"
fi

REFERENCE

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionzoltanctothView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - BashRogerView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - BashShawn ChinView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - BashAquarius PowerView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - BashACyclicView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - BashWilliam PursellView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - BashRew BrianView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - BashFrank NockeView Answer on Stackoverflow