bin/mv/mv.1

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.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: December 28 2010 $
.Dt MV 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mv
.Nd move files
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm mv
.Op Fl fi
.Ar source target
.Nm mv
.Op Fl fi
.Ar source ... directory
.Sh DESCRIPTION
In its first form, the
.Nm
utility moves the file named by the
.Ar source
operand to the destination path named by the
.Ar target
operand.
This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
existing directory.
.Pp
In its second form,
.Nm
moves each file named by a
.Ar source
operand to the destination specified by the
.Ar directory
operand.
It is an error if the
.Ar directory
does not exist.
The destination path for each
.Ar source
operand is the pathname produced by the concatenation of the
.Ar directory
operand, a slash, and the final pathname component of the named file.
.Pp
In both forms, a
.Ar source
operand is skipped with an error message
when the respective destination path is a non-empy directory,
or when the source is a non-directory file but the destination path
is a directory, or vice versa.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl f
Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
path.
.It Fl i
Causes
.Nm
to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
overwrite an existing file.
If the response from the standard input begins with the character
.Dq y ,
the move is attempted.
.El
.Pp
The last of any
.Fl f
or
.Fl i
options is the one which affects
.Nm mv Ns 's
behavior.
.Pp
The
.Nm
utility moves symbolic links, not the files referenced by the links.
.Pp
If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
.Nm
prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
.Fl i
option.
.Pp
Should the
.Xr rename 2
call fail because the source and destination are on different file systems,
.Nm
will use
.Xr cp 1
and
.Xr rm 1
to accomplish the move.
The effect is equivalent to:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
$ rm -df -- destination_path && \e
    cp -PRp -- source destination_path && \e
    rm -rf -- source
.Ed
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std mv
.Sh EXAMPLES
Rename file
.Pa foo
to
.Pa bar ,
overwriting
.Pa bar
if it already exists:
.Pp
.Dl $ mv -f foo bar
.Pp
Either of these commands will rename the file
.Pa -f
to
.Pa bar ,
prompting for confirmation if
.Pa bar
already exists:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
$ mv -i -- -f bar
$ mv -i ./-f bar
.Ed
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr rm 1 ,
.Xr rename 2 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is compliant with the
.St -p1003.1-2008
specification.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v1 .
.Sh CAVEATS
In the second synopsis form, incompatible file types in
.Ar source
and
.Ar directory
cause partial moves.
For example, if
.Pa f
and
.Pa g
are non-directory files and
.Pa d
and
.Pa d/f
are directories, the command
.Pp
.Dl $ mv f g d
.Pp
will print an error message, leave
.Pa f
where it is, move
.Pa g
to
.Pa d/g
and return a non-zero exit status.