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 .It Fl c
 196 copy files using clonefile(2)
 197 .El
 198 .Pp
 199 For each destination file that already exists, its contents are
 200 overwritten if permissions allow.
 201 Its mode, user ID, and group
 202 ID are unchanged unless the
 203 .Fl p
 204 option was specified.
 205 .Pp
 206 In the second synopsis form,
 207 .Ar target_directory
 208 must exist unless there is only one named
 209 .Ar source_file
 210 which is a directory and the
 211 .Fl R
 212 flag is specified.
 213 .Pp
 214 If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is
 215 used as modified by the file mode creation mask
 216 .Pf ( Ic umask ,
 217 see
 218 .Xr csh 1 ) .
 219 If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed
 220 unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the
 221 same user.
 222 If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed
 223 unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same
 224 group and the user is a member of that group.
 225 If both the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above
 226 conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed.
 227 .Pp
 228 Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.
 229 .Pp
 230 Symbolic links are always followed unless the
 231 .Fl R
 232 flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default.
 233 The
 234 .Fl H
 235 or
 236 .Fl L
 237 flags (in conjunction with the
 238 .Fl R
 239 flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above.
 240 The
 241 .Fl H ,
 242 .Fl L
 243 and
 244 .Fl P
 245 options are ignored unless the
 246 .Fl R
 247 option is specified.
 248 In addition, these options override each other and the
 249 command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
 250 .Pp
 251 If
 252 .Nm cp
 253 receives a
 254 .Dv SIGINFO
 255 (see the
 256 .Cm status
 257 argument for
 258 .Xr stty 1 )
 259 signal, the current input and output file and the percentage complete
 260 will be written to the standard output.
 261 .Sh EXIT STATUS
 262 .Ex -std
 263 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 264 Historic versions of the
 265 .Nm cp
 266 utility had a
 267 .Fl r
 268 option.
 269 This implementation supports that option;
 270 however, its use is strongly discouraged,
 271 as it does not correctly copy special files, symbolic links, or fifo's.
 272 .Pp
 273 The
 274 .Fl v
 275 and
 276 .Fl n
 277 options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
 278 .Sh LEGACY DESCRIPTION
 279 In legacy mode,
 280 .Fl f
 281 will override
 282 .Fl i .
 283 Also, under the
 284 .Fl f
 285 option, the target file is always unlinked before the copy.
 286 Thus, new access rights will always be set.
 287 .Pp
 288 In
 289 .Fl R
 290 mode, copying will terminate if an error is encountered.
 291 .Pp
 292 For more information about legacy mode, see
 293 .Xr compat 5 .
 294 .Sh SEE ALSO
 295 .Xr mv 1 ,
 296 .Xr rcp 1 ,
 297 .Xr umask 2 ,
 298 .Xr fts 3 ,
 299 .Xr compat 5 ,
 300 .Xr symlink 7
 301 .Sh STANDARDS
 302 The
 303 .Nm cp
 304 command is expected to be
 305 .St -p1003.2
 306 compatible.
 307 .Sh HISTORY
 308 A
 309 .Nm cp
 310 command appeared in
 311 .At v1 .