Which bash option will prevent you from overwriting a file with a ">"?

Question

Options

• Aset -o safe
• Bset -o noglob
• Cset -o noclobber
• Dset -o append
• Eset -o nooverwrite

• B
  8% (1)
• C
  85% (11)
• E
  8% (1)

Explanation

set -o noclobber is correct because "noclobber" is the actual bash shell option that causes > to fail with an error if the target file already exists, protecting it from being overwritten. Once set, you can still force an overwrite with >| if needed.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (safe) and D (append) and E (nooverwrite) - none of these are valid bash set -o options; they simply don't exist in bash.
• B (noglob) - this is a real bash option, but it disables wildcard/glob expansion (e.g., *.txt), not file overwrite protection.

Memory tip: Think of "clobber" as slang for destroying something - noclobber means "don't destroy my file." If you can remember that > clobbers (destroys) existing file content, the option name writes itself.

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