usr/src/bin/cp/cp.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1989 The Regents of the University of California.
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.\"     @(#)cp.1        6.4 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH CP 1 ""
.UC 4
.SH NAME
cp - copy files
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBcp [ \fI-fhip\fB ] source_file target_file
.sp
\fBcp [ \fI-fhipr\fB ] source_file ... target_directory
.ft R
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I cp
utility copies
.I source_file
to
.I target_file
or, in the second form, one or more
.IR source_file s
are copied into the target
.IR target_directory ,
retaining their original filenames.
If
.I cp
detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy shall fail.
For each destination file that already exists, its contents are
overwritten if permissions allow, but its mode, user ID, and group
ID are unchanged.
Otherwise, the mode of the
.I source_file
is used as modified by the file mode creation mask.
Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.
.PP
The following options are available:
.TP
.I -h
Forces
.I cp
to follow symbolic links.
.TP
.I -f
Force existing destination pathnames to be removed before copying,
without prompting for confirmation.
.TP
.I -i
Causes
.I cp
to write a prompt to standard error before copying a file that would
overwrite an existing file.
If the response from the standard input begins with the character ``y'',
the file is copied if permissions allow the copy.
.TP
.I -p
Causes
.I cp
to preserve in the copy as many of the modification time, access time,
file mode, user ID, and group ID as allowed by permissions.
.TP
.I -r
If
.I source_file
designates a directory,
.I cp
copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point.
This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than
indirected through, and for
.I cp
to create special files rather than copying them as normal files.
.PP
The
.I -i
option is ignored if the
.I -f
option is specified.
.PP
Symbolic links are followed unless the
.I -r
option is specified, in which case the link itself is copied.
.PP
.I Cp
exits 0 on success, >0 if an error occurred.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
mv(1), rcp(1), umask(2)