What does the redirection '2> /dev/null' accomplish in a shell command?

• A. Redirects standard error to /dev/null
• B. Redirects standard output to /dev/null
• C. Redirects both stdout and stderr to /dev/null
• D. Redirects input from /dev/null

Answer: (A)

The redirection 2> /dev/null targets the standard error stream and sends it to /dev/null, a special sink that discards everything written to it. In shells, file descriptor 2 is standard error, while 1 is standard output and 0 is standard input. The command 2> /dev/null therefore silences error messages while leaving normal output alone (unless you also redirect that). If you wanted to suppress both outputs, you’d redirect stdout as well and/or use a combined form like command > /dev/null 2>&1.