cp Command: Tutorial & Examples
Copy files and directories
The cp
command is a Unix and Linux command used to copy files and directories. It stands for "copy." The cp
command allows you to copy files and directories from one location
to another.
Here is the basic syntax for the cp
command:
cp source destination
Here, source
is the name of the file or directory that you want to copy, and destination
is the location where you want to copy the file or directory.
You can specify multiple source files and directories, separated by spaces. The cp
command will copy each of the specified sources to the specified destination. For example:
cp file1 file2 directory
This would copy file1
and file2
to the specified directory.
You can use the -R
option to recursively copy a directory and all of its contents. For example:
cp -R directory1 directory2
This would copy the contents of directory1
, including any subdirectories and their contents, to directory2
.
You can use the -p
option to preserve the file attributes, such as the owner and permissions, when copying files. For example:
cp -p file1 file2
This would copy file1
to file2
and preserve the file attributes of file1
in the copy.
Note that you must have the appropriate permissions to use the cp
command. You must have read permission for the source file or directory, and write permission for the
destination location.