freeCodeCamp/guide/english/bash/bash-cp/index.md

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Bash Copy

Bash command: cp

cp is used to copy files and directories. It can be used to copy a file, copy a file to a directory, or copy a directory.

Usage

cp [options] source target

Commonly used options:

• -p (preserve) - used to preserve time of the last data modification, time of last access, ownership, and permissions of the source for the target
• -R or -r (recursive) - used to recursively copy directories

Examples

Copy a file

cp somefile.txt newfile.txt

Run ls and you will see you have a new file called newfile.txt

Copy a file to a directory

cp -p somefile.txt your/target/directory

cd into the target directory, ls, and you will see a copy of your file. The -p option is added to preserve the files attributes.

Copy multiple files to a directory

cp file1.txt file2.txt fileN.txt your/target/directory

cd into the target directory, ls, and you will see copies of all of the files.

Copy a directory

cp -R directory/to/copy your/target/directory

cd into the target directory and ls to see your directory. The -R option is added to recursively copy everything in the directory.

More Information

• run man cp to get a list of all options for this command
• Wikipedia