rename(1)                        UNIX System V                        rename(1)


NAME
      rename - change the name of a file

SYNOPSIS
      rename old new

DESCRIPTION
      rename renames a file.  old is the pathname of the file or directory to
      be renamed.  new is the new pathname of the file or directory.  Both old
      and new must be of the same type (either both files, or both directories)
      and must reside on the same file system.

      If new already exists, it is removed.  Thus, if new names an existing
      directory, the directory must not have any entries other than, possibly,
      ``.'' and ``..''.  When renaming directories, the new pathname must not
      name a descendant of old.  The implementation of rename ensures that upon
      successful completion a link named new will always exist.

      If the final component of old is a symbolic link, the symbolic link is
      renamed, not the file or directory to which it points.

      Write permission is required for both the directory containing old and
      the directory containing new.

NOTES
      The system can deadlock if there is a loop in the file system graph.
      Such a loop takes the form of an entry in directory a, say a/foo, being a
      hard link to directory b, and an entry in directory b, say b/bar, being a
      hard link to directory a.  When such a loop exists and two separate
      processes attempt to perform rename a/foo b/bar and rename b/bar a/foo,
      respectively, the system may deadlock attempting to lock both directories
      for modification.  The system administrator should replace hard links to
      directories by symbolic links.

SEE ALSO
      link(2), rename(2), unlink(2) in the Programmer's Reference Manual


















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