Copy one or more files to another location
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Syntax
cp [options]… Source Dest
cp [options]… Source… Directory
Key
-a, –archive same as -dpR
-b, –backup make backup before removal
-d, –no-dereference preserve links
-f, –force remove existing destinations, never prompt
-i, –interactive prompt before overwrite
-l, –link link files instead of copying
-p, –preserve preserve file attributes if possible
-P, –parents append source path to DIRECTORY
-r copy recursively, non-directories as files
–sparse=WHEN control creation of sparse files
-R, –recursive copy directories recursively
-s, –symbolic-link make symbolic links instead of copying
-S, –suffix=SUFFIX override the usual backup suffix
-u, –update copy only when the SOURCE file is newer
than the destination file or when the
destination file is missing
-v, –verbose explain what is being done
-V, –version-control=WORD override the usual version control
-x, –one-file-system stay on this file system
–help display this help and exit
–version output version information and exit.Example – copy home directory to floppy
$ cp -f /mnt/floppy/* /home/simon
Notes
By default, sparse SOURCE files are detected by a crude heuristic and the corresponding DEST file is made sparse as well.
That is the behavior selected by –sparse=auto.
Specify –sparse=always to create a sparse DEST file whenever the SOURCE file contains a long enough sequence of zero bytes.
Use –sparse=never to inhibit creation of sparse files.
The backup suffix is ~, unless set with SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control may be set with VERSION_CONTROL, values are: t, numbered make numbered backups nil, existing numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise never, simple always make simple backups
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.