cp

Copy files and directories. Use when duplicating files, creating backups, or copying directory trees with preserved attributes.

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cp - Copy Files and Directories

Synopsis

cp [OPTION]... SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY

Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCEs to DIRECTORY.

Flags

Flag	Long Form	Description
-r, -R	--recursive	Copy directories recursively
-a	--archive	Same as -dR --preserve=all (preserve everything)
-p		Same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps
	--preserve[=ATTR_LIST]	Preserve attributes: mode, ownership, timestamps, context, links, xattr, all
	--no-preserve=ATTR_LIST	Don't preserve specified attributes
-d		Same as --no-dereference --preserve=links
-i	--interactive	Prompt before overwrite
-n	--no-clobber	Do not overwrite existing files
-f	--force	Remove existing destination file if needed
-u	--update	Copy only when SOURCE is newer or DEST missing
-l	--link	Hard link files instead of copying
-s	--symbolic-link	Make symbolic links instead of copying
-L	--dereference	Always follow symlinks in SOURCE
-P	--no-dereference	Never follow symlinks in SOURCE
-H		Follow symlinks on command line only
-b		Make backup of each existing destination file
	--backup[=CONTROL]	Make backup: none, off, numbered, t, existing, nil, simple, never
-S	--suffix=SUFFIX	Override backup suffix (default ~)
-t	--target-directory=DIR	Copy all SOURCE args into DIR
-T	--no-target-directory	Treat DEST as normal file, not directory
-v	--verbose	Explain what is being done
	--reflink[=WHEN]	Control copy-on-write: always, auto, never
	--sparse=WHEN	Control sparse files: auto, always, never
	--strip-trailing-slashes	Remove trailing slashes from SOURCE
-x	--one-file-system	Stay on this file system
	--help	Display help
	--version	Output version

Examples

# Copy a file
cp source.txt dest.txt

# Copy directory recursively
cp -r srcdir/ dstdir/

# Archive copy (preserve all attributes)
cp -a srcdir/ dstdir/

# Copy with backup
cp --backup=numbered file.txt /dest/

# Don't overwrite existing files
cp -n source.txt dest.txt

# Copy only newer files
cp -u source.txt dest.txt

# Interactive (prompt before overwrite)
cp -i source.txt dest.txt

# Verbose copy
cp -rv srcdir/ dstdir/

# Copy multiple files to a directory
cp file1.txt file2.txt /dest/dir/

# Create hard links instead of copying
cp -l file.txt link.txt

# Copy-on-write (fast, deferred copy on supporting fs)
cp --reflink=auto large_file.img copy.img

Gotchas

Forgetting -r for directories is the most common mistake. Without it, cp silently skips directories or errors out.
-a is almost always what you want for directory copies (preserves permissions, symlinks, timestamps).
cp -r dir1 dir2 when dir2 exists creates dir2/dir1/. Use cp -r dir1/ dir2/ or -T flag to control this.
-n and -i behavior: -n silently skips, -i prompts. If both are given, -n takes precedence.
--reflink=auto is a performance win on CoW filesystems (btrfs, APFS, XFS with reflink). Falls back to regular copy otherwise.

Repository: flox/floxenvs
Commit: bb1f07d

Last updated: 5 days ago
Created: 5 days ago

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