term% cat index.txt CP(1) General Commands Manual CP(1)
NAME
cp, fcp, mv - copy, move files
SYNOPSIS
cp [ -gux ] file1 file2
cp [ -gux ] file ... directory
fcp [ -gux ] file1 file2
fcp [ -gux ] file ... directory
mv file1 file2
mv file ... directory
DESCRIPTION
In the first form file1 is any name and file2 is any name except an ex‐
isting directory. In the second form the commands copy or move one or
more files into a directory under their original file names, as if by a
sequence of commands in the first form. Thus is equivalent to
Cp copies the contents of plain file1 to file2. The mode and owner of
file2 are preserved if it already exists; the mode of file1 is used
otherwise. The -x option sets the mode and modified time of file2 from
file1; -g sets the group id; and -u sets the group id and user id
(which is usually only possible if the file server is in an administra‐
tive mode).
Fcp behaves like cp but transfers multiple blocks in parallel while
copying; it is noticeably faster than cp when the files involved are
stored on servers connected over long-distance lines. It is only ap‐
propriate to use fcp with file servers that respect the offset in
read(5) and write messages. This includes the disk-based file systems
and ramfs but excludes most device file systems.
Mv moves file1 to file2. If the files are in the same directory, file1
is just renamed; otherwise mv behaves like cp -x followed by rm file1.
Mv will rename directories, but it refuses to move a directory into an‐
other directory.
SOURCE
/sys/src/cmd/cp.c
/sys/src/cmd/fcp.c
/sys/src/cmd/mv.c
SEE ALSO
cat(1), dircp in tar(1), stat(2), read(5)
DIAGNOSTICS
Cp, fcp, and mv refuse to copy or move files onto themselves.
CP(1)