cp/cp.1

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  32 .\"     @(#)cp.1        8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
  33 .\" $FreeBSD: src/bin/cp/cp.1,v 1.33 2005/02/25 00:40:46 trhodes Exp $
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  35 .Dd February 23, 2005
  36 .Dt CP 1
  37 .Os
  38 .Sh NAME
  39 .Nm cp
  40 .Nd copy files
  41 .Sh SYNOPSIS
  42 .Nm cp
  43 .Oo
  44 .Fl R
  45 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
  46 .Oc
  47 .Op Fl fi | n
  48 .Op Fl apvX
  49 .Ar source_file target_file
  50 .Nm cp
  51 .Oo
  52 .Fl R
  53 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
  54 .Oc
  55 .Op Fl fi | n
  56 .Op Fl apvX
  57 .Ar source_file ... target_directory
  58 .Sh DESCRIPTION
  59 In the first synopsis form, the
  60 .Nm cp
  61 utility copies the contents of the
  62 .Ar source_file
  63 to the
  64 .Ar target_file .
  65 In the second synopsis form,
  66 the contents of each named
  67 .Ar source_file
  68 is copied to the destination
  69 .Ar target_directory .
  70 The names of the files themselves are not changed.
  71 If
  72 .Nm cp
  73 detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail.
  74 .Pp
  75 The following options are available:
  76 .Bl -tag -width flag
  77 .It Fl a
  78 Same as
  79 .Fl pPR
  80 options. Preserves structure and attributes of files
  81 but not directory structure.
  82 .It Fl f
  83 .\"For each existing destination pathname, remove it and
  84 If the destination file cannot be opened, remove it and
  85 create a new file, without prompting for confirmation
  86 regardless of its permissions.
  87 (The
  88 .Fl f
  89 option overrides any previous
  90 .Fl n
  91 option.)
  92 .Pp
  93 The target file is not unlinked before the copy.
  94 Thus, any existing access rights will be retained.
  95 .It Fl H
  96 If the
  97 .Fl R
  98 option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
  99 (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
 100 .It Fl i
 101 Cause
 102 .Nm cp
 103 to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file
 104 that would overwrite an existing file.
 105 If the response from the standard input begins with the character
 106 .Sq Li y
 107 or
 108 .Sq Li Y ,
 109 the file copy is attempted.
 110 (The
 111 .Fl i
 112 option overrides any previous
 113 .Fl n
 114 option.)
 115 .It Fl L
 116 If the
 117 .Fl R
 118 option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
 119 .It Fl n
 120 Do not overwrite an existing file.
 121 (The
 122 .Fl n
 123 option overrides any previous
 124 .Fl f
 125 or
 126 .Fl i
 127 options.)
 128 .It Fl P
 129 If the
 130 .Fl R
 131 option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
 132 This is the default.
 133 .It Fl p
 134 Cause
 135 .Nm cp
 136 to preserve the following attributes of each source
 137 file in the copy: modification time, access time,
 138 file flags, file mode, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions.
 139 Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Extended Attributes (EAs),
 140 including resource forks, will also be preserved.
 141 .Pp
 142 If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message
 143 is displayed and the exit value is not altered.
 144 .Pp
 145 If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID cannot
 146 be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved
 147 in the copy's permissions.
 148 If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on and the group ID cannot
 149 be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not preserved
 150 in the copy's permissions.
 151 If the source file has both its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on,
 152 and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither
 153 the set-user-ID nor set-group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's
 154 permissions.
 155 .It Fl R
 156 If
 157 .Ar source_file
 158 designates a directory,
 159 .Nm cp
 160 copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point.
 161 If the
 162 .Ar source_file
 163 ends in a
 164 .Pa / ,
 165 the contents of the directory are copied rather than the
 166 directory itself.
 167 This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than
 168 indirected through, and for
 169 .Nm cp
 170 to create special files rather than copying them as normal files.
 171 Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source
 172 directory, unmodified by the process' umask.
 173 .Pp
 174 In
 175 .Fl R
 176 mode,
 177 .Nm cp
 178 will continue copying even if errors are detected.
 179 .Pp
 180 Note that
 181 .Nm cp
 182 copies hard-linked files as separate files.
 183 If you need to preserve hard links, consider using
 184 .Xr tar 1 ,
 185 .Xr cpio 1 ,
 186 or
 187 .Xr pax 1
 188 instead.
 189 .It Fl v
 190 Cause
 191 .Nm cp
 192 to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.
 193 .It Fl X
 194 Do not copy Extended Attributes (EAs) or resource forks.
 195 .El
 196 .Pp
 197 For each destination file that already exists, its contents are
 198 overwritten if permissions allow.
 199 Its mode, user ID, and group
 200 ID are unchanged unless the
 201 .Fl p
 202 option was specified.
 203 .Pp
 204 In the second synopsis form,
 205 .Ar target_directory
 206 must exist unless there is only one named
 207 .Ar source_file
 208 which is a directory and the
 209 .Fl R
 210 flag is specified.
 211 .Pp
 212 If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is
 213 used as modified by the file mode creation mask
 214 .Pf ( Ic umask ,
 215 see
 216 .Xr csh 1 ) .
 217 If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed
 218 unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the
 219 same user.
 220 If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed
 221 unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same
 222 group and the user is a member of that group.
 223 If both the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above
 224 conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed.
 225 .Pp
 226 Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.
 227 .Pp
 228 Symbolic links are always followed unless the
 229 .Fl R
 230 flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default.
 231 The
 232 .Fl H
 233 or
 234 .Fl L
 235 flags (in conjunction with the
 236 .Fl R
 237 flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above.
 238 The
 239 .Fl H ,
 240 .Fl L
 241 and
 242 .Fl P
 243 options are ignored unless the
 244 .Fl R
 245 option is specified.
 246 In addition, these options override each other and the
 247 command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
 248 .Pp
 249 If
 250 .Nm cp
 251 receives a
 252 .Dv SIGINFO
 253 (see the
 254 .Cm status
 255 argument for
 256 .Xr stty 1 )
 257 signal, the current input and output file and the percentage complete
 258 will be written to the standard output.
 259 .Sh EXIT STATUS
 260 .Ex -std
 261 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 262 Historic versions of the
 263 .Nm cp
 264 utility had a
 265 .Fl r
 266 option.
 267 This implementation supports that option;
 268 however, its use is strongly discouraged,
 269 as it does not correctly copy special files, symbolic links, or fifo's.
 270 .Pp
 271 The
 272 .Fl v
 273 and
 274 .Fl n
 275 options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
 276 .Sh LEGACY DESCRIPTION
 277 In legacy mode,
 278 .Fl f
 279 will override
 280 .Fl i .
 281 Also, under the
 282 .Fl f
 283 option, the target file is always unlinked before the copy.
 284 Thus, new access rights will always be set.
 285 .Pp
 286 In
 287 .Fl R
 288 mode, copying will terminate if an error is encountered.
 289 .Pp
 290 For more information about legacy mode, see
 291 .Xr compat 5 .
 292 .Sh SEE ALSO
 293 .Xr mv 1 ,
 294 .Xr rcp 1 ,
 295 .Xr umask 2 ,
 296 .Xr fts 3 ,
 297 .Xr compat 5 ,
 298 .Xr symlink 7
 299 .Sh STANDARDS
 300 The
 301 .Nm cp
 302 command is expected to be
 303 .St -p1003.2
 304 compatible.
 305 .Sh HISTORY
 306 A
 307 .Nm cp
 308 command appeared in
 309 .At v1 .