cp/cp.1

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  35 .\"     @(#)cp.1        8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
  36 .\" $FreeBSD: src/bin/cp/cp.1,v 1.25 2002/08/16 03:13:59 johan Exp $
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  38 .Dd July 23, 2002
  39 .Dt CP 1
  40 .Os
  41 .Sh NAME
  42 .Nm cp
  43 .Nd copy files
  44 .Sh SYNOPSIS
  45 .Nm
  46 .Oo
  47 .Fl R
  48 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
  49 .Oc
  50 .Op Fl f | i | n
  51 .Op Fl pv
  52 .Ar source_file target_file
  53 .Nm
  54 .Oo
  55 .Fl R
  56 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
  57 .Oc
  58 .Op Fl f | i | n
  59 .Op Fl pv
  60 .Ar source_file ... target_directory
  61 .Sh DESCRIPTION
  62 In the first synopsis form, the
  63 .Nm
  64 utility copies the contents of the
  65 .Ar source_file
  66 to the
  67 .Ar target_file .
  68 In the second synopsis form,
  69 the contents of each named
  70 .Ar source_file
  71 is copied to the destination
  72 .Ar target_directory .
  73 The names of the files themselves are not changed.
  74 If
  75 .Nm
  76 detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail.
  77 .Pp
  78 The following options are available:
  79 .Bl -tag -width flag
  80 .It Fl H
  81 If the
  82 .Fl R
  83 option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
  84 (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
  85 .It Fl L
  86 If the
  87 .Fl R
  88 option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
  89 .It Fl P
  90 If the
  91 .Fl R
  92 option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
  93 This is the default.
  94 .It Fl R
  95 If
  96 .Ar source_file
  97 designates a directory,
  98 .Nm
  99 copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point.
 100 This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than
 101 indirected through, and for
 102 .Nm
 103 to create special files rather than copying them as normal files.
 104 Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source
 105 directory, unmodified by the process' umask.
 106 .Pp
 107 Note that
 108 .Nm
 109 copies hard linked files as separate files.
 110 If you need to preserve hard links, consider using
 111 .Xr tar 1 ,
 112 .Xr cpio 1 ,
 113 or
 114 .Xr pax 1
 115 instead.
 116 .It Fl f
 117 For each existing destination pathname, remove it and
 118 create a new file, without prompting for confirmation
 119 regardless of its permissions.
 120 (The
 121 .Fl f
 122 option overrides any previous
 123 .Fl n
 124 option, but not
 125 .Fl i
 126 option. See also the legacy section.)
 127 .It Fl i
 128 Cause
 129 .Nm
 130 to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file
 131 that would overwrite an existing file.
 132 If the response from the standard input begins with the character
 133 .Sq Li y
 134 or
 135 .Sq Li Y ,
 136 the file copy is attempted.
 137 (The
 138 .Fl i
 139 option overrides any previous
 140 .Fl f
 141 or
 142 .Fl n
 143 options.)
 144 .It Fl n
 145 Do not overwrite an existing file.
 146 (The
 147 .Fl n
 148 option overrides any previous
 149 .Fl f
 150 or
 151 .Fl i
 152 options.)
 153 .It Fl p
 154 Cause
 155 .Nm
 156 to preserve in the copy as many of the modification time, access time,
 157 file flags, file mode, user ID, and group ID as allowed by permissions.
 158 .Pp
 159 If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message
 160 is displayed and the exit value is not altered.
 161 .Pp
 162 If the source file has its set user ID bit on and the user ID cannot
 163 be preserved, the set user ID bit is not preserved
 164 in the copy's permissions.
 165 If the source file has its set group ID bit on and the group ID cannot
 166 be preserved, the set group ID bit is not preserved
 167 in the copy's permissions.
 168 If the source file has both its set user ID and set group ID bits on,
 169 and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither
 170 the set user ID nor set group ID bits are preserved in the copy's
 171 permissions.
 172 .It Fl v
 173 Cause
 174 .Nm
 175 to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.
 176 .El
 177 .Pp
 178 For each destination file that already exists, its contents are
 179 overwritten if permissions allow.  Its mode, user ID, and group
 180 ID are unchanged unless the
 181 .Fl p
 182 option was specified.
 183 .Pp
 184 In the second synopsis form,
 185 .Ar target_directory
 186 must exist unless there is only one named
 187 .Ar source_file
 188 which is a directory and the
 189 .Fl R
 190 flag is specified.
 191 .Pp
 192 If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is
 193 used as modified by the file mode creation mask
 194 .Pf ( Ic umask ,
 195 see
 196 .Xr csh 1 ) .
 197 If the source file has its set user ID bit on, that bit is removed
 198 unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the
 199 same user.
 200 If the source file has its set group ID bit on, that bit is removed
 201 unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same
 202 group and the user is a member of that group.
 203 If both the set user ID and set group ID bits are set, all of the above
 204 conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed.
 205 .Pp
 206 Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.
 207 .Pp
 208 Symbolic links are always followed unless the
 209 .Fl R
 210 flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default.
 211 The
 212 .Fl H
 213 or
 214 .Fl L
 215 flags (in conjunction with the
 216 .Fl R
 217 flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above.
 218 The
 219 .Fl H ,
 220 .Fl L
 221 and
 222 .Fl P
 223 options are ignored unless the
 224 .Fl R
 225 option is specified.
 226 In addition, these options override each other and the
 227 command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
 228 .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
 229 .Ex -std
 230 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 231 Historic versions of the
 232 .Nm
 233 utility had a
 234 .Fl r
 235 option.
 236 This implementation supports that option, however, its use is strongly
 237 discouraged, as it does not correctly copy special files, symbolic links
 238 or fifo's.
 239 .Pp
 240 The
 241 .Fl v
 242 and
 243 .Fl n
 244 options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
 245 .Sh LEGACY DESCRIPTION
 246 When invoked in legacy mode, both
 247 .Fl n ,
 248 .Fl i
 249 options are overridden by the
 250 .Fl f
 251 option.
 252 .Sh SEE ALSO
 253 .Xr mv 1 ,
 254 .Xr rcp 1 ,
 255 .Xr umask 2 ,
 256 .Xr fts 3 ,
 257 .Xr compat 5 ,
 258 .Xr symlink 7
 259 .Sh STANDARDS
 260 The
 261 .Nm
 262 command is expected to be
 263 .St -p1003.2
 264 compatible. It is also
 265 .St -susv3
 266 conformant.
 267 .Sh HISTORY
 268 A
 269 .Nm
 270 command appeared in
 271 .At v1 .