Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Option
Description
-f, –force
do not prompt before overwriting. Be careful when using this option
-i, –interactive
prompt before overwrite
-n, –no-clobber
do not override existing file
-s, –symbolic-link
make symbolic links instead of copying
-v, –verbose
explain what is being done
-R, -r, –recursive
copy directories recursively
-a, –archive
same as -dR –preserve=all
-p
same as –preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps
Example
Copy a file
1
cp -v log1 log2
if target file already exist, then existing file will be overrided. add -i option to prompt before overriding.
Copy a file into a directory
1
cp -v log1 dir
if target file already exist in the directory, the existing file will be overrided. add -i option to prompt before overriding.
Copy a file and preserve mode, ownership and timestamps
1
cp -pv log1 dir
Copy a directory into another directory
1
cp -rv dir1 dir2
dir1 will be copied into dir2. if dir2 not exist, create it.
Copy files/directories in a directory into another directory
1
cp -rv dir1/. dir2
Note the difference between cp -rv dir1 dir2 and cp -rv dir1/. dir2. If you want to copy diles/directories in a directory, use /. at the end of the directory.