Cp file unix

Multiple empty directories may be removed by listing them after the command:. If you are sure that you want to remove the directory and all the files it contains, use the command. If dir2 exists, moves dir1 inside dir2.

If dir2 does exist, copies dir1 inside dir2. Use with caution. Skip to main content. Create, Copy, Rename, and Remove Unix Files and Directories This document lists commands for creating, copying, renaming and removing Unix files and directories. What Are Unix Files and Directories?

Naming Unix Files and Directories Each file and directory has a name. This is just a test. For example, to create an exact copy of the file called firstfile, you would type: cp firstfile secondfile This results in two files with different names, each containing the same information. If you create a different file called thirdfile and then type the following command: cp thirdfile firstfile you will find that the original contents of firstfile are gone, replaced by the contents of thirdfile.

Renaming a File Unix does not have a command specifically for renaming files. To change the name of a file, use the following command format where thirdfile and file3 are sample file names : mv thirdfile file3 This command results in the complete removal of thirdfile , but a new file called file3 contains the previous contents of thirdfile. For example, if you have two files, fourthfile and secondfile, and you type the command mv fourthfile secondfile mv will remove the original contents of secondfile and replace them with the contents of fourthfile.

Removing a File Use the rm command to remove a file. For example, rm file3 deletes file3 and its contents. Creating a Directory Creating directories permits you to organize your files.

The command mkdir project1 creates a directory called project1, where you can store files related to a particular project. There are some scenarios where user wants to copy the file on which he is working needs to be saved or pasted in other folder.

This scenario is possible in unix using following command:. While working with this scenario user needs to give correct source path as well as destination path.

The copy of file will be stored in the Backup folder in above example. These scenario is used in many real world examples to take the backup of file.

This is also most commonly used scenario. We need to copy multiple files from one folder and paste it in to another folder. The above command will copy all the files from folder named Amit and paste it to the backup folder.

This command is used to make the copy of the project. This scenario is also most important scenario. In most of the projects user needs a specific set of file and need to process that set of files. If we want to copy all jpg files from one directory and paste it on another directory then we need to use following command:.

The above command will copy all the jpeg files from folder named Amit and paste it to the Backup folder. You need to pass the -r or -R option i. It allows directories including all of their contents to be copied:. If you read this far, tweet to the author to show them you care. Tweet a thanks.

Learn to code for free. Get started. Forum Donate. John Mosesman. Note: when passing multiple sources the last argument must be a directory. This is known from the file size.

When we are going to copy a directory, we will use -r or -R option. But we can also use -a option to archive file. This will create an exact copy of files and directories including symbolic links if any.

By default, when copying activity is success, we will see a command prompt again. If you want to know what happen during the copying file, we can use -v option.

This additional information will make us more sure about the copying activity. Then we edit it using vi, add some content and save it. Next, we see the file size has changed into 36 bytes.

When we use -u option, combined with -v option to see what is being done, cp command will only copy a file s which is newer from destination directory. Interactive mode will ask if the destination folder has already the file. To activate interactive mode, use -i option. When the destination folder already have the file, by default cp command will overwrite the same file in the destination directory. Using --backup option, cp command will make a backup of each existing destination file.