Cp

Internal

• Linux | Commands

Overview

cp <source-file> <target-file>

cp <source-file> <source-file> ... <target-dir>

To perform a recursive copy that preserves file attributes, use --archive.

Options

-R

If <source-file> designates a directory, cp copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. If <source-file> ends in a /, the contents of the directory are copied rather than the directory itself. This option also causes symbolic 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 corresponding source directory, unmodified by the process' umask.

In -R mode, cp will continue copying even if errors are detected.

Note that cp copies hard-linked files as separate files. If you need to preserve hard links, consider using tar or cpio.

-r

On Mac, historic option for copying recursively. It is deprecated, use -R instead.

-a|--archive

Same as -dR --preserve=all

-d

Same as --no-dereference --preserve=links

--preserve

--preserve[=ATTR_LIST]

where ATTR_LIST can be:

• mode (included in default behavior if --preserve is invoked without any arguments)
• ownership (included in default behavior if --preserve is invoked without any arguments)
• timestamps (included in default behavior if --preserve is invoked without any arguments)
• context
• links
• xattr
• all

-P|--no-dereference

Never follow symbolic links in <source-dir>.