Re: [CentOS] ls and rm: "argument list too long"

and get only "argument list too long" as feedback.

Is there a way to go round this problem?

I have CentOS 5.2.

I'm not going to repeat some of the good advice given to you by others as to how to avoid this error, but will instead tell you this is related to the ARG_MAX variable. The standard limit for linux kernels up to 2.6.22.xxxx is 131072 chars. This can be confirmed by typing: getconf ARG_MAX Until CentOS uses the 2.6.23 kernel (or later) in which the length of arguments is constrained only by system resources, you'll need to use scripting techniques which are more parsimonious.