OSF

NAME

cp − Copies files

SYNOPSIS

cp [-fhip] [--] source_file destination_file

cp [-fhip] [--] source_file ...  destination_directory

cp [-fhip] [-R | -r] [--] [source_file | source_directory] ...  destination_directory

The cp command copies a source file or the files in a source directory to a destination file or directory.  If your source and destination are directories, the source is copied to the destination and created with the same name. 

FLAGS

-fOverrides the i option; cp does not prompt you when an existing file is to be overwritten.  (If both -f and -i are specified on the command line – for example, because an alias includes one of them – whichever appears last overrides the other.) 

-hForces cp to follow symbolic links; useful with with the -R option, which does not follow symbolic links by default. 

-iPrompts you with the name of the file whenever the copy causes an old file to be overwritten.  An answer beginning with y, or the locale’s equivalent of y, causes cp to continue.  Any other answer prevents it from overwriting the file.  (If both -f and -i are specified on the command line – for example, because an alias includes one of them – whichever appears last overrides the other.) 

-pPreserves for the copy the modification time, access time, file mode, user ID, and group ID of the original, as allowed by permissions.  If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message is displayed and the exit value is not altered.  If the original is set-user-ID or set-group -D, and either the user ID or the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits are not preserved in the copy’s permissions. 

-RWhen the source is a directory, copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point.  Special file types, such as symbolic links and block and character devices, are recreated instead of being copied.  Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source directory, unmodified by the process’s file mode creation mask (umask). 

-rIdentical to -R except that special files are not treated differently from regular files (follows symbolic links).  The -R option is preferred. 

--Indicates that the arguments following this flag are to be interpreted as filenames.  This null flag allows the specification of filenames that start with a minus. 

DESCRIPTION

If a destination file already exists, its contents are overwritten if permissions allow, but cp does not change its mode, user ID, or group ID.  However, if the file is not being copied by the root user, writing the file may clear the set-user-ID or set-group-ID permission bits. 

If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is used, as modified by the file mode creation mask (umask).  If the source file is either set-user-ID or set-group-ID, those bits are removed unless the source file and the destination file are owned by the same user and group. 

Appropriate permissions are always required for file creation or overwriting. 

You can also copy special device files.  If the file is a named pipe, the data in the pipe is copied into a regular file.  If the file is a device, the file is read until the end of file, and that data is copied into a regular file. 

The LC_MESSAGES variable determines the locale’s equivalent of y or n (for yes/no queries). 

EXAMPLES

     1.To copy one file to another, enter:

cp file1 file2

If file2 exists (and is writable), it is replaced by file1. 

     2.To copy files to a directory, enter:

cp file1 file2 dir1

dir1 must exist. 

     3.To copy all files in a directory and preserve their modification times, enter:

cp -p dir1/∗ dir2

     4.To copy a directory tree to another directory, enter:

cp -R dir1 dir2

The dir1 tree is created in dir2. 

NOTES

     1.Do not give the destination the same name as one of the source files. 

     2.If you specify a directory as the destination, the directory must already exist. 

     3.If you are using the -r option to copy the contents of one directory to another, and source_directory contains subdirectories that do not exist in destination_directory, the subdirectories will be created. 

EXIT VALUES

cp returns 0 upon successful completion and greater than 0 if an error occurs. 

RELATED INFORMATION

Commands: cpio(1), link(1)/unlink(1), ln(1), mv(1).