mv(1)                      (Essential Utilities)                      mv(1)


   NAME
         mv - move files

   SYNOPSIS
         mv [ -f ] [ -i ] file1 [ file2 ...] target

   DESCRIPTION
         The mv command moves filen to target.  filen and target may not have
         the same name.  (Care must be taken when using sh(1) metacharacters).
         If target is not a directory, only one file may be specified before
         it; if it is a directory, more than one file may be specified.  If
         target does not exist, mv creates a file named target.  If target
         exists and is not a directory, its contents are overwritten.  If
         target is a directory the file(s) are moved to that directory.

         If mv determines that the mode of target forbids writing, it will
         print the mode (see chmod(2)), ask for a response, and read the
         standard input for one line.  If the line begins with y, the mv
         occurs, if permissible; otherwise, the command exits.  When the
         parent directory of filen is writable and has the sticky bit set, one
         or more of the following conditions must be true:

               the user must own the file
               the user must own the directory
               the file must be writable by the user
               the user must be a privileged user

         The following options are recognized:

         -i    mv will prompt for confirmation whenever the move would
               overwrite an existing target.  A y answer means that the move
               should proceed. Any other answer prevents mv from overwriting
               the target.

         -f    mv will move the file(s) without prompting even if it is
               writing over an existing target.  This option overrides the -i
               option.  Note that this is the default if the standard input is
               not a terminal.

         If filen is a directory, target must be a directory in the same
         physical file system.  target and filen do not have to share the same
         parent directory.

         If filen is a file and target is a link to another file with links,
         the other links remain and target becomes a new file.

   WARNING
         If filen and target are on different file systems, mv copies the file
         and deletes the original; any links to other files are lost.




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   mv(1)                      (Essential Utilities)                      mv(1)


   NOTES
         A -- permits the user to mark explicitly the end of any command line
         options, allowing mv to recognize filename arguments that begin with
         a -.  As an aid to BSD migration, mv will accept - as a synonym for
         --.  This migration aid may disappear in a future release.  If a --
         and a - both appear on the same command line, the second will be
         interpreted as a filename.

   SEE ALSO
         chmod(1), cpio(1), rm(1).











































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