(coreutils.info)cp invocation

---

Next: dd invocation Up: Basic operations

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

11.1 `cp': Copy files and directories
=====================================

`cp' copies files (or, optionally, directories).  The copy is
completely independent of the original.  You can either copy one file to
another, or copy arbitrarily many files to a destination directory.
Synopses:

     cp [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
     cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
     cp [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...

   * If two file names are given, `cp' copies the first file to the
     second.

   * If the `--target-directory' (`-t') option is given, or failing
     that if the last file is a directory and the
     `--no-target-directory' (`-T') option is not given, `cp' copies
     each SOURCE file to the specified directory, using the SOURCEs'
     names.

   Generally, files are written just as they are read.  For exceptions,
see the `--sparse' option below.

   By default, `cp' does not copy directories.  However, the `-R',
`-a', and `-r' options cause `cp' to copy recursively by descending
into source directories and copying files to corresponding destination
directories.

   When copying from a symbolic link, `cp' normally follows the link
only when not copying recursively.  This default can be overridden with
the `--archive' (`-a'), `-d', `--dereference' (`-L'),
`--no-dereference' (`-P'), and `-H' options.  If more than one of these
options is specified, the last one silently overrides the others.

   When copying to a symbolic link, `cp' follows the link only when it
refers to an existing regular file.  However, when copying to a
dangling symbolic link, `cp' refuses by default, and fails with a
diagnostic, since the operation is inherently dangerous.  This behavior
is contrary to historical practice and to POSIX.  Set `POSIXLY_CORRECT'
to make `cp' attempt to create the target of a dangling destination
symlink, in spite of the possible risk.  Also, when an option like
`--backup' or `--link' acts to rename or remove the destination before
copying, `cp' renames or removes the symbolic link rather than the file
it points to.

   By default, `cp' copies the contents of special files only when not
copying recursively.  This default can be overridden with the
`--copy-contents' option.

   `cp' generally refuses to copy a file onto itself, with the
following exception: if `--force --backup' is specified with SOURCE and
DEST identical, and referring to a regular file, `cp' will make a
backup file, either regular or numbered, as specified in the usual ways
(Note: Backup options).  This is useful when you simply want to make
a backup of an existing file before changing it.

   The program accepts the following options.  Also see Note: Common
options.

`-a'
`--archive'
     Preserve as much as possible of the structure and attributes of the
     original files in the copy (but do not attempt to preserve internal
     directory structure; i.e., `ls -U' may list the entries in a copied
     directory in a different order).  Try to preserve SELinux security
     context and extended attributes (xattr), but ignore any failure to
     do that and print no corresponding diagnostic.  Equivalent to `-dR
     --preserve=all' with the reduced diagnostics.

`-b'
`--backup[=METHOD]'
     Note: Backup options.  Make a backup of each file that would
     otherwise be overwritten or removed.  As a special case, `cp'
     makes a backup of SOURCE when the force and backup options are
     given and SOURCE and DEST are the same name for an existing,
     regular file.  One useful application of this combination of
     options is this tiny Bourne shell script:

          #!/bin/sh
          # Usage: backup FILE...
          # Create a GNU-style backup of each listed FILE.
          for i; do
            cp --backup --force -- "$i" "$i"
          done

`--copy-contents'
     If copying recursively, copy the contents of any special files
     (e.g., FIFOs and device files) as if they were regular files.
     This means trying to read the data in each source file and writing
     it to the destination.  It is usually a mistake to use this
     option, as it normally has undesirable effects on special files
     like FIFOs and the ones typically found in the `/dev' directory.
     In most cases, `cp -R --copy-contents' will hang indefinitely
     trying to read from FIFOs and special files like `/dev/console',
     and it will fill up your destination disk if you use it to copy
     `/dev/zero'.  This option has no effect unless copying
     recursively, and it does not affect the copying of symbolic links.

`-d'
     Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the
     files that they point to, and preserve hard links between source
     files in the copies.  Equivalent to `--no-dereference
     --preserve=links'.

`-f'
`--force'
     When copying without this option and an existing destination file
     cannot be opened for writing, the copy fails.  However, with
     `--force'), when a destination file cannot be opened, `cp' then
     removes it and tries to open it again.  Contrast this behavior
     with that enabled by `--link' and `--symbolic-link', whereby the
     destination file is never opened but rather is removed
     unconditionally.  Also see the description of
     `--remove-destination'.

     This option is independent of the `--interactive' or `-i' option:
     neither cancels the effect of the other.

     This option is redundant if the `--no-clobber' or `-n' option is
     used.

`-H'
     If a command line argument specifies a symbolic link, then copy the
     file it points to rather than the symbolic link itself.  However,
     copy (preserving its nature) any symbolic link that is encountered
     via recursive traversal.

`-i'
`--interactive'
     When copying a file other than a directory, prompt whether to
     overwrite an existing destination file. The `-i' option overrides
     a previous `-n' option.

`-l'
`--link'
     Make hard links instead of copies of non-directories.

`-L'
`--dereference'
     Follow symbolic links when copying from them.

`-n'
`--no-clobber'
     Do not overwrite an existing file. The `-n' option overrides a
     previous `-i' option. This option is mutually exclusive with `-b'
     or `--backup' option.

`-P'
`--no-dereference'
     Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the
     files that they point to.  This option affects only symbolic links
     in the source; symbolic links in the destination are always
     followed if possible.

`-p'
`--preserve[=ATTRIBUTE_LIST]'
     Preserve the specified attributes of the original files.  If
     specified, the ATTRIBUTE_LIST must be a comma-separated list of
     one or more of the following strings:

    `mode'
          Preserve the file mode bits and access control lists.

    `ownership'
          Preserve the owner and group.  On most modern systems, only
          users with appropriate privileges may change the owner of a
          file, and ordinary users may preserve the group ownership of
          a file only if they happen to be a member of the desired
          group.

    `timestamps'
          Preserve the times of last access and last modification, when
          possible.  In general, it is not possible to preserve these
          attributes when the affected file is a symbolic link.
          However, FreeBSD now provides the `lutimes' function, which
          makes it possible even for symbolic links.  However, this
          implementation does not yet take advantage of that.

    `links'
          Preserve in the destination files any links between
          corresponding source files.

    `context'
          Preserve SELinux security context of the file. `cp' will fail
          if the preserving of SELinux security context is not
          succesful.

    `xattr'
          Preserve extended attributes if `cp' is built with xattr
          support, and xattrs are supported and enabled on your file
          system.  If SELinux context and/or ACLs are implemented using
          xattrs, they are preserved by this option as well.

    `all'
          Preserve all file attributes.  Equivalent to specifying all
          of the above, but with the difference that failure to
          preserve SELinux security context or extended attributes does
          not change `cp''s exit status.  `cp' does diagnose such
          failures.

     Using `--preserve' with no ATTRIBUTE_LIST is equivalent to
     `--preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps'.

     In the absence of this option, each destination file is created
     with the mode bits of the corresponding source file, minus the
     bits set in the umask and minus the set-user-ID and set-group-ID
     bits.  Note: File permissions.

`--no-preserve=ATTRIBUTE_LIST'
     Do not preserve the specified attributes.  The ATTRIBUTE_LIST has
     the same form as for `--preserve'.

`--parents'
     Form the name of each destination file by appending to the target
     directory a slash and the specified name of the source file.  The
     last argument given to `cp' must be the name of an existing
     directory.  For example, the command:

          cp --parents a/b/c existing_dir

     copies the file `a/b/c' to `existing_dir/a/b/c', creating any
     missing intermediate directories.

`-R'
`-r'
`--recursive'
     Copy directories recursively.  By default, do not follow symbolic
     links in the source; see the `--archive' (`-a'), `-d',
     `--dereference' (`-L'), `--no-dereference' (`-P'), and `-H'
     options.  Special files are copied by creating a destination file
     of the same type as the source; see the `--copy-contents' option.
     It is not portable to use `-r' to copy symbolic links or special
     files.  On some non-GNU systems, `-r' implies the equivalent of
     `-L' and `--copy-contents' for historical reasons.  Also, it is
     not portable to use `-R' to copy symbolic links unless you also
     specify `-P', as POSIX allows implementations that dereference
     symbolic links by default.

`--remove-destination'
     Remove each existing destination file before attempting to open it
     (contrast with `-f' above).

`--sparse=WHEN'
     A "sparse file" contains "holes"--a sequence of zero bytes that
     does not occupy any physical disk blocks; the `read' system call
     reads these as zeros.  This can both save considerable disk space
     and increase speed, since many binary files contain lots of
     consecutive zero bytes.  By default, `cp' detects holes in input
     source files via a crude heuristic and makes the corresponding
     output file sparse as well.  Only regular files may be sparse.

     The WHEN value can be one of the following:

    `auto'
          The default behavior: if the input file is sparse, attempt to
          make the output file sparse, too.  However, if an output file
          exists but refers to a non-regular file, then do not attempt
          to make it sparse.

    `always'
          For each sufficiently long sequence of zero bytes in the
          input file, attempt to create a corresponding hole in the
          output file, even if the input file does not appear to be
          sparse.  This is useful when the input file resides on a file
          system that does not support sparse files (for example,
          `efs' file systems in SGI IRIX 5.3 and earlier), but the
          output file is on a type of file system that does support
          them.  Holes may be created only in regular files, so if the
          destination file is of some other type, `cp' does not even
          try to make it sparse.

    `never'
          Never make the output file sparse.  This is useful in
          creating a file for use with the `mkswap' command, since such
          a file must not have any holes.

`--strip-trailing-slashes'
     Remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument.  Note:
     Trailing slashes.

`-s'
`--symbolic-link'
     Make symbolic links instead of copies of non-directories.  All
     source file names must be absolute (starting with `/') unless the
     destination files are in the current directory.  This option merely
     results in an error message on systems that do not support
     symbolic links.

`-S SUFFIX'
`--suffix=SUFFIX'
     Append SUFFIX to each backup file made with `-b'.  Note: Backup
     options.

`-t DIRECTORY'
`--target-directory=DIRECTORY'
     Specify the destination DIRECTORY.  Note: Target directory.

`-T'
`--no-target-directory'
     Do not treat the last operand specially when it is a directory or a
     symbolic link to a directory.  Note: Target directory.

`-u'
`--update'
     Do not copy a non-directory that has an existing destination with
     the same or newer modification time.  If time stamps are being
     preserved, the comparison is to the source time stamp truncated to
     the resolutions of the destination file system and of the system
     calls used to update time stamps; this avoids duplicate work if
     several `cp -pu' commands are executed with the same source and
     destination.

`-v'
`--verbose'
     Print the name of each file before copying it.

`-x'
`--one-file-system'
     Skip subdirectories that are on different file systems from the
     one that the copy started on.  However, mount point directories
     _are_ copied.


   An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.