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CP(1) General Commands Manual CP(1) NAME cp -- copy files SYNOPSIS cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-alNpsvx] source_file target_file cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-f | -i | -n] [-alNpsvx] source_file ... target_directory cp [-f | -i | -n] [-alNPpsvx] source_file target_file cp [-f | -i | -n] [-alNPpsvx] source_file ... target_directory DESCRIPTION In the first synopsis form, the cp utility copies the contents of the source_file to the target_file. In the second synopsis form, the con- tents of each named source_file is copied to the destination target_directory. The names of the files themselves are not changed. If cp detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail. The following options are available: -H If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.) -L, --dereference If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed. -P, --no-dereference No symbolic links are followed. This is the default if the -R option is specified. -R, --recursive If source_file designates a directory, cp copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. If the source_file ends in a /, the contents of the directory are copied rather than the directory itself. This option also causes sym- bolic links to be copied, rather than indirected through, and for cp to create special files rather than copying them as normal files. Created directories have the same mode as the correspond- ing source directory, unmodified by the process' umask. Note that cp copies hard linked files as separate files. If you need to preserve hard links, consider using tar(1), cpio(1), or pax(1) instead. -a, --archive Archive mode. Same as -RpP. -f, --force For each existing destination pathname, remove it and create a new file, without prompting for confirmation regardless of its permissions. (The -f option overrides any previous -i or -n op- tions.) -i, --interactive Write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file that would overwrite an existing file. If the response from the standard input begins with the character `y' or `Y', the file copy is attempted. (The -i option overrides any previous -f or -n options.) -l, --link Create hard links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying. -N When used with -p, suppress copying file flags. -n, --no-clobber Do not overwrite an existing file. (The -n option overrides any previous -f or -i options.) -p Preserve the following attributes of each source file in the copy: modification time, access time, file flags, file mode, ACL, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions. If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message is displayed and the exit value is not altered. If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID cannot be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on and the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has both its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on, and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither the set-user-ID nor set-group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's permissions. --sort Visit and traverse sources in (non-localized) lexicographical or- der. Normally, cp visits the sources in the order they were listed on the command line, and if recursing, traverses their contents in whichever order they were returned in by the kernel, which may be the order in which they were created, lexicographi- cal order, or something else entirely. With --sort, the sources are both visited and traversed in lexicographical order. This is mostly useful for testing. -s, --symbolic-link Create symbolic links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying. -v, --verbose Be verbose, showing both the source and destination path of each file as is copied. -x, --one-file-system Do not traverse file system mount points. For each destination file that already exists, its contents are over- written if permissions allow. Its mode, user ID, and group ID are un- changed unless the -p option was specified. In the second synopsis form, target_directory must exist unless there is only one named source_file which is a directory and the -R flag is specified. If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is used as modified by the file mode creation mask (umask, see csh(1)). If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed un- less both the source file and the destination file are owned by the same user. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same group and the user is a member of that group. If both the set- user-ID and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed. Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting. Symbolic links are always followed unless the -R flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default. The -H or -L flags (in conjunction with the -R flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above. The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions are determined by the last one specified. If cp receives a SIGINFO (see the status argument for stty(1)) signal, the current input and output file and the percentage complete will be written to the standard output. EXIT STATUS The cp utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. EXAMPLES Make a copy of file foo named bar: $ cp foo bar Copy a group of files to the /tmp directory: $ cp *.txt /tmp Copy the directory junk and all of its contents (including any subdi- rectories) to the /tmp directory: $ cp -R junk /tmp COMPATIBILITY Historic versions of the cp utility had a -r option. This implementa- tion supports that option, however, its behavior is different from his- torical FreeBSD behavior. Use of this option is strongly discouraged as the behavior is implementation-dependent. In FreeBSD, -r is a syn- onym for -RL and works the same unless modified by other flags. His- torical implementations of -r differ as they copy special files as nor- mal files while recreating a hierarchy. The -a, -l, -N, -n, -s, -v, and -x options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended. SEE ALSO mv(1), umask(2), fts(3), symlink(7) STANDARDS The cp command is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2") compati- ble. HISTORY A cp command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX. FreeBSD 15.0 July 9, 2025 CP(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | EXIT STATUS | EXAMPLES | COMPATIBILITY | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY
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