The resulting copy will share the same bytes on disk as the original file, until the copy is modified. Perform an optimized CoW ('copy-on-write') clone, if the destination filesystem supports it. If not specified, the default value of attr_list is ' mode,ownership,timestamps'.Ĭreate missing parent directories in the destination, if necessary, when copying to target directory, according to the pathname specified in source.įor instance, ' cp -parents dir2/dir3/file dir1' creates the destination file ' dir1/dir2/dir3/file', even if dir2 and dir3 do not presently exist under dir1. Same as specifying all the above attributes individually, with the exception that failing to copy context or xattr will not give an exit status of failure. Preserve extended attributes of source files, or fail with verbose diagnostics. Preserve SELinux security context of source files, or fail with verbose diagnostics. With -L or -H, this option can potentially copy symbolic links as hard links. Preserve in the destination files any links between the source files. Preserve time of last file access and modification ( atime and mtime, as set with touch), if possible. Ability to preserve these attributes is restricted in the same way as using chown. Preserve owner and group (as set with chown). Preserve file mode bits (as set with chmod), and any ACLs. Preserve the specified attributes, separated by a comma. Same as -preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps. Existing symlinks encountered in the destination may still be followed, however. Never follow symbolic links in source copy symlinks as symlinks. This option cannot be specified with -b/ -backup, because backups are only created when a file would be overwritten. If -i/ -interactive was previously specified, this option overrides it. When this option is specified, cp cannot create symlinks in the destination copies.ĭo not overwrite an existing file. However, if a symbolic link is discovered during recursive traversal, it's copied as a symlink, not a regular file.Ĭreate hard links to files instead of copying them.Īlways follow symbolic links in source if source is a symlink, copy the file linked to rather than the symlink itself. If one of the arguments on the command line is a symbolic link, copy the referenced file, not the link itself. Prompt before overwrite (overrides a previous -n option).įollow symlinks specified on the command line, but preserve discovered links. However, it applies independently of -i/ -interactive neither option cancels the effect of the other. This option has no effect if the -n/ -no-clobber option is used. If an existing destination file cannot be opened, remove it and try again. Same as ' -no-dereference -preserve=links'. However, this option is available for special, expert use cases.Ĭopy symbolic links themselves, rather than the files they refer to, and preserve hard links between source files in the copies. You usually don't want to use this option, because it can have undesired results, such as hanging forever or filling up your entire disk. When operating recursively, copy contents of special files, such as FIFOs and devices found in /dev. Like -backup, but does not accept a control argument the default control method is always used. The control parameter specifies what version control method to use see version control for details.Īs a special case, cp -force -backup makes a backup of source when source and dest are the same, regular file. Make a backup of each existing destination file that would otherwise be overwritten or removed. You can control exactly which attributes are copied with the -preserve option. If the destination file already exists, don't alter its contents.

This metadata includes security context data if you are running SELinux.ĭon't copy the file data, only create a file with the same attributes. When performing the copy, attempt to preserve as much of the original file structure, attributes, and associated metadata as possible. If you want to be prompted for confirmation before files are overwritten, use the -i (interactive) option. If the destination file name already exists, its data is destroyed. To view output when files are copied, use the -v (verbose) option.īy default, cp will overwrite files without asking. Like many core Linux commands, if the cp command is successful, by default, no output is displayed. The general form of the command is cp source destination, for example: cp myfile.txt myfilecopy.txt

Copyq linux