1.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994 2.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. 3.\" 4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by 5.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 6.\" 7.\" %sccs.include.redist.roff% 8.\" 9.\" @(#)cp.1 8.3 (Berkeley) 04/18/94 10.\" 11.Dd 12.Dt CP 1 13.Os BSD 4 14.Sh NAME 15.Nm cp 16.Nd copy files 17.Sh SYNOPSIS 18.Nm cp 19.Oo 20.Fl R 21.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P 22.Oc 23.Op Fl fip 24.Ar source_file target_file 25.Nm cp 26.Oo 27.Fl R 28.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P 29.Oc 30.Op Fl fip 31.Ar source_file ... target_directory 32.Sh DESCRIPTION 33In the first synopsis form, the 34.Nm cp 35utility copies the contents of the 36.Ar source_file 37to the 38.Ar target_file . 39In the second synopsis form, 40the contents of each named 41.Ar source_file 42is copied to the destination 43.Ar target_directory . 44The names of the files themselves are not changed. 45If 46.Nm cp 47detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail. 48.Pp 49The following options are available: 50.Bl -tag -width flag 51.It Fl H 52If the 53.Fl R 54option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. 55(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.) 56.It Fl L 57If the 58.Fl R 59option is specified, all symbolic links are followed. 60.It Fl P 61If the 62.Fl R 63option is specified, no symbolic links are followed. 64.It Fl R 65If 66.Ar source_file 67designates a directory, 68.Nm cp 69copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. 70This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than 71indirected through, and for 72.Nm cp 73to create special files rather than copying them as normal files. 74Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source 75directory, unmodified by the process' umask. 76.It Fl f 77For each existing destination pathname, remove it and 78create a new file, without prompting for confirmation 79regardless of its permissions. 80(The 81.Fl i 82option is ignored if the 83.Fl f 84option is specified.) 85.It Fl i 86Causes 87.Nm cp 88to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file 89that would overwrite an existing file. 90If the response from the standard input begins with the character 91.Sq Li y , 92the file copy is attempted. 93.It Fl p 94Causes 95.Nm cp 96to preserve in the copy as many of the modification time, access time, 97file flags, file mode, user ID, and group ID as allowed by permissions. 98.Pp 99If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message 100is displayed and the exit value is not altered. 101.Pp 102If the source file has its set user ID bit on and the user ID cannot 103be preserved, the set user ID bit is not preserved 104in the copy's permissions. 105If the source file has its set group ID bit on and the group ID cannot 106be preserved, the set group ID bit is not preserved 107in the copy's permissions. 108If the source file has both its set user ID and set group ID bits on, 109and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither 110the set user ID or set group ID bits are preserved in the copy's 111permissions. 112.El 113.Pp 114For each destination file that already exists, its contents are 115overwritten if permissions allow, but its mode, user ID, and group 116ID are unchanged. 117.Pp 118In the second synopsis form, 119.Ar target_directory 120must exist unless there is only one named 121.Ar source_file 122which is a directory and the 123.Fl R 124flag is specified. 125.Pp 126If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is 127used as modified by the file mode creation mask 128.Pf ( Ic umask , 129see 130.Xr csh 1 ) . 131If the source file has its set user ID bit on, that bit is removed 132unless both the source file and the destination file are owned by the 133same user. 134If the source file has its set group ID bit on, that bit is removed 135unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same 136group and the user is a member of that group. 137If both the set user ID and set group ID bits are set, all of the above 138conditions must be fulfilled or both bits are removed. 139.Pp 140Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting. 141.Pp 142Symbolic links are always followed unless the 143.Fl R 144flag is set, in which case symbolic links are not followed, by default. 145The 146.Fl H 147or 148.Fl L 149flags (in conjunction with the 150.Fl R 151flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as described above. 152The 153.Fl H , 154.Fl L 155and 156.Fl P 157options are ignored unless the 158.Fl R 159option is specified. 160In addition, these options override each other and the 161command's actions are determined by the last one specified. 162.Pp 163.Nm Cp 164exits 0 on success, >0 if an error occurred. 165.Sh COMPATIBILITY 166Historic versions of the 167.Nm cp 168utility had a 169.Fl r 170option. 171This implementation supports that option, however, its use is strongly 172discouraged, as it does not correctly copy special files, symbolic links 173or fifo's. 174.Sh SEE ALSO 175.Xr mv 1 , 176.Xr rcp 1 , 177.Xr umask 2 , 178.Xr fts 3 , 179.Xr symlink 7 180.Sh HISTORY 181The 182.Nm cp 183command is expected to be 184.St -p1003.2 185compatible. 186