Copying files and folders in linux

Linux – How To Copy a Folder [ Command Line Option ]

How To Copy a Folder with cp Command

The cp command is a Linux command for copying files and directories. The syntax is as follows:

Linux cp command examples

In this example copy /home/vivek/letters/ folder and all its files to /usb/backup/ directory:
cp -avr /home/vivek/letters /usb/backup
Where,

• -a : Preserve the specified attributes such as directory an file mode, ownership, timestamps, if possible additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all.
• -v : Verbose output.
• -r : Copy directories recursively.

More examples of cp command to copy folders on Linux

Copy a folder called /tmp/conf/ to /tmp/backup/:
$ cp -avr /tmp/conf/ /tmp/backup/
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: cp command in action

Use Linux rsync Command to copy a folder

You can also use rsync command which is a fast and extraordinarily versatile file copying tool. It can make copies across the network. The syntax is as follows for the rsync command

To backup my home directory, which consists of large files and mail folders to /media/backup, enter:
$ rsync -avz /home/vivek /media/backup
I can copy a folder to remote machine called server1.cyberciti.biz as follows:
$ rsync -avz /home/vivek/ server1.cyberciti.biz:/home/backups/vivek/
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• -a : Archive mode i.e. copy a folder with all its permission and other information including recursive copy.
• -v : Verbose mode.
• -z : With this option, rsync compresses the file data as it is sent to the destination machine, which reduces the amount of data being transmitted something that is useful over a slow connection.

Fig.02: rsync command in action

Conclusion

You just learned how to copy a folder on a Linux like operating system using the cp command and rsync command. In conclusion, use rsync for a network folder transfer and cp for a local disk transfer.

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How to Copy files and folders in Linux

Being a Linux user, copying files and directories is one of the most common tasks.

Linux users don’t spend a day without using the cp (copy) command according to my personal experience. cp command is used to copy a single file or group of files or directory.

To perform the copy operation, you must have at least read permission in the source file and write permission in the target directory.

In this article, we will explain how to use the cp command.

To perform remote file copy, use the commands such as rsync command or scp command or pscp command.

What is cp command?

‘cp’ command is one of the basic and most widely used Linux commands for copying files and directories from one location to another.

When copying files from source to destination, the source file remains the same and the target file may have the same or different name.

Common syntax for cp command:

Common options for cp command:

Options	Description
-v	Verbose mode (Show progress)
-r/R	Copy directories recursively
-n	Don’t overwrite an existing file
-d	Copy a link file
-i	Prompt before overwrite
-p	Preserve the specified attributes
-b	Make a backup of each existing destination file

To demonstrate file copy operation in detail, we will be performing a copy operation between user1 and user2 .

1) Copying files with cp command

Use the following command to copy a file from one location to another.

In the following example, we will copy the source file “/home/user1/cp-demo.txt” to the target directory “/home/user2” with the same name:

You can check whether the specific file is copied to the target directory using the ls command as shown below:

2) Copying files with a different name

Use the following command to copy a file from one place to another with a different name. You need to give a new name to the target file.

In the following example, we will copy a file named “/home/user1/cp-demo.txt” to the target directory with a new name “/home/user2/cp-demo11.txt” :

Use the ls command to verify this:

3) Copying multiple files in Linux

The following cp command copies multiple files from one location to another.

In this example, we will copy the following three files named “cp-demo.txt, cp-demo-1.txt and cp-demo-9.txt” to the target.

No additional option is required to copy multiple files, and the file name(s) must be separated with a space as shown below:

Use the ls command to verify the copied files. You should see them in the target directory as shown below:

4) How to copy directories recursively

To copy a directory recursively from one location to another, use the -r/R option with the cp command. It copies everything, including all its files and subdirectories.

In the following example, we will copy the ‘/home/user1/cp-demo-folder’ directory to ‘/home/user2/’ and the target directory name will remain the same:

Use the ls command to verify the outcome. You should see them in the target directory as shown below:

5) Copying multiple directories recursively

Use the following command to copy multiple directories at once. In the following example, we will copy the public_html & public_ftp folders to the target directory named /home/2daygeek/cp-test.

Output can be verified using the ls command:

6) Copying specific format files in Linux

Sometimes you may have to copy files with a specific extension for a certain purpose. If so, you should use the cp command with the «wildcard (*)» option and the file extension name.

In the following example, we will copy all the files containing the *.sh extension from the source to the target directory. Similarly, you can copy any file extensions such as .jpg, .png, .txt, .php, and .html.

This can be verified using the ls command:

7) Copying all files at once in Linux

To copy all the files except the directory from one location to another, use the following cp command with wildcard (*) option.

cp command excludes directories by default, and the -r option must be added to copy them.

In this example, we will copy all the files from ‘/home/user1/’ to ‘/home/user2′ :

Verify the output using the ls command as shown below:

8) How to copy hidden files (‘.’ dot files) in Linux

By default, the cp command does not copy “dot (.)” or ‘hidden’ files in Linux.

Use the following command to copy all types of files, including link files (soft link or hard link), folders and hidden or dot files from source to destination.

This example is very useful to copy user’s home directory which has several hidden files:

You can verify this by using the ls command with the “-a” option:

9) Backup the file with cp command

cp command allows you to backup the file if the same file name exists in the target directory using the —backup option.

In this example, we will copy the /home/user1/passwd-up.sh file to the target directory /home/user2/.

It will backup the “passwd-up.sh” file in the target directory during the copy operation, if you say “yes” when you see the message below:

It adds the “Tilde (

)” symbol at the end of the old file, the same can be verified in the following output.

10) Copying files with attributes

By default, Linux replaces file attributes such as username, group name, date and time when copying files from a user, and does not carry the original file attributes.

To preserve the original attributes of the files, use the -p option with the cp command.

Upon querying we can see that the file “service-1.sh” has retained its original attributes as shown below:

11) How to avoid file overwriting with cp command?

When copying a file, use the -n option with the cp command to avoid overwriting an existing file.

It will only copy the source file, if the target directory does not have a file with the same name. If a duplicate file exists in the target, then the command will run, but won’t make any changes:

Upon querying using the ls command, it can be seen that no action is taken against the file because it still has the old attributes, which can be seen in the above example (refer section 10):

12) Prompting confirmation with cp command

Use the -i option with the cp command to prompt for confirmation before overwriting the file, in case the file exists in the target location.

The following example prompts for confirmation when copying the “cp-demo-9.txt” file because the file already exists in the target directory:

13) Copying link files in Linux

By default, the cp command excludes link files while performing the copy operation. Use the -d option with the cp command to copy the link files as shown below:

It has been successfully copied, and the soft link file can be found in the below output:

Conclusion:

In this tutorial, we have demonstrated 13 methods that are widely used by the Linux administrators in their daily operations. If you would like to explore other options, please visit the man page of the cp command by using the following command:

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How to Copy Files and Directories in Linux

Home » SysAdmin » How to Copy Files and Directories in Linux

This guide will show you how to copy files and directories in Linux by executing commands from the command line. Furthermore, the commands listed below detail how to create system-wide backups or filter out and copy only specific files.

Note: These Linux commands can only be run from a terminal window. If your version of Linux boots to a desktop graphical interface, launch a terminal window by pressing CTRL-ALT-F2 or CTRL-ALT-T.

Using the cp Command to Copy Files and Directories in Linux

The cp command is the primary method for copying files and directories in Linux. Virtually all Linux distributions can use cp . The basic format of the command is:

This Linux command creates a copy of the my_file.txt file and renames the new file to my_file2.txt.

By default, the cp command runs in the same directory you are working in. However, the same file cannot exist twice in the same directory. You’ll need to change the name of the target file to copy in the same location. Some users will add _old, some will add a number, and some will even change the three-letter extension (e.g., .bak instead of .txt).

You may not get a warning before Linux overwrites your file – be careful, or see below for the –i option.

Additional Options

Additional options can be used in combination with the cp command:

• –v verbose: shows the progress of multiple copied files
• –ppreserve: keeps the same attributes, like creation date and file permissions
• –f force: force the copy by deleting an existing file first
• –i interactive: prompts for confirmation, highly advised
• –Rrecursive: copies all files and subfolders in a directory
• –u update: copy only if source is newer than destination

Note: The -p (preserve) option forces the system to preserve the following source file attributes: modification time, access time, user ID (UID), group ID (GID), file flags, file mode, access control lists (ACLs), and extended attributes (EAs).

How to Copy File to Another Directory in Linux

To copy a file from the directory you’re working in to a different location, use the command:

You don’t need to rename the file unless there’s already one with the same name in the target directory.

To specify a path for the source file:

This lets you copy without having to change directories. The cp command will create the /new_directory if it doesn’t exist.

To rename and copy a file to a different path:

This option is useful for creating backups of configuration files, or for copying data to a storage device.

Note: Learn how to move directories in Linux.

Copy Multiple Files from One Directory to Another in Linux

You may need to copy more than one file at a time.

List each file to be copied before the target directory:

This example created a copy of all three files in the /new_directory folder.

Use a wildcard to specify all files that share a string of characters:

This would find all the files with the .jpg extension in the /pictures directory, and copy them into the /new_directory folder.

To copy an entire folder and its subfolders and files, use the –R option:

–R stands for recursive, which means “everything in that location.” This would copy all the files, as well as all the directories, to the /new_directory folder.

Copy Using rsync Command

The rsync command in Linux is used to synchronize or transfer data between two locations. Usage is similar to cp , but there are a few key differences to note.

To copy a single file, enter the following into a terminal:

• The –a option means all, and is included with rsync commands – this preserves subdirectories, symbolic links, and other metadata.
• Replace the my_file.txt file in the working directory.
• Replace /new_directory/ with the destination.
• Using my_file_backup.txt as the target indicates the file will be renamed during the copy.

To copy a directory with rsync, enter the following:

This copies the contents of the /etc/docker/ directory to /home/backup/docker/. Make sure to keep the slashes. Omitting the slash on the source directory will copy the contents into a subdirectory.

To omit files from being copied, check out our guide on how to exclude files and directories in data transfer using rsync command.

Other Options

The ls command is a handy partner to the cp command in Linux.

To list the contents of a directory enter the command:

The example above displays all the files in /directory. Use this command after copying to verify the files were copied successfully.

To change directories, use cd and the name of the directory. For example:

The command prompt will change to display that you’ve changed directories.

Now you understand how to copy files in Linux. The cp command is a versatile and powerful tool for managing and backing up files.

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