Copying (cp)

Copy a single file

Copy foo.txt from /path/to/source/ to /path/to/target/folder/

cp /path/to/source/foo.txt /path/to/target/folder/

Copy foo.txt from /path/to/source/ to /path/to/target/folder/ into a file called bar.txt

cp /path/to/source/foo.txt /path/to/target/folder/bar.txt

Copy folders

copy folder foo into folder bar

cp -r /path/to/foo /path/to/bar

if folder bar exists before issuing the command, then foo and its content will be copied into the folder bar. However, if bar does not exist before issuing the command, then the folder bar will be created and the content of foo will be placed into bar

Syntax

• cp [options] source destination

Parameters

Option	Description
-a,-archive	Combines the d, p and r options
-b, -backup	Before removal, makes a backup
-d, --no-deference	Preserves links
-f, --force	Remove existing destinations without prompting user
-i, --interactive	Show prompt before overwriting
-l, --link	Instead of copying, link files instead
-p, --preserve	Preserve file attributes when possible
-R, --recursive	Recursively copy directories