Copy all files and directories to another directory linux

How do I create a copy of a directory in Unix/Linux? [closed]

I want to recursively create a copy of a directory and all its contents (e.g. files and subdirectories).

3 Answers 3

The option you’re looking for is -R .

cp -R path_to_source path_to_destination/ 

• If destination doesn’t exist, it will be created.
• -R means copy directories recursively . You can also use -r since it’s case-insensitive.
• To copy everything inside the source folder (symlinks, hidden files) without copying the source folder itself use -a flag along with trailing /. in the source (as per @muni764 ‘s / @Anton Krug ‘s comment):

cp -a path_to_source/. path_to_destination/ 

i wonder why this exact command in dockerfile copies all source directory files into destination, instead of copying just whole directory.

I believe the ‘/’ on the end makes a difference and that might account for your experience. If the source includes the trailing slash it will copy what is in the directory only. If it does not include the trailing slash, it will copy the directory as well and then the contents inside of it. My memory is this behavior varies by command and maybe event by OS a bit. Here’s a reference with more info.

I would say if you don’t want to include the source and you want to make sure everything is copied (symlinks, hidden files) without copying the source parent folder is to use -ra source/. destination. This will make sure the content of the folder is copied, but not the parent folder itself, which is sometimes handy. And the difference is the /.

Note the importance of «Slash dot» on your source in cp -r src/. dest I know it is mentioned but I still seem to miss it every time.

You are looking for the cp command. You need to change directories so that you are outside of the directory you are trying to copy.

If the directory you’re copying is called dir1 and you want to copy it to your /home/Pictures folder:

Linux is case-sensitive and also needs the / after each directory to know that it isn’t a file. ~ is a special character in the terminal that automatically evaluates to the current user’s home directory. If you need to know what directory you are in, use the command pwd .

When you don’t know how to use a Linux command, there is a manual page that you can refer to by typing:

Also, to auto complete long file paths when typing in the terminal, you can hit Tab after you’ve started typing the path and you will either be presented with choices, or it will insert the remaining part of the path.

There is an important distinction between Linux and Unix in the answer because for Linux (GNU and BusyBox) -R , -r , and —recursive are all equivalent, as mentioned in this answer. For portability, i.e. POSIX compliance, you would want to use -R because of some implementation-dependent differences with -r . It’s important to read the man pages to know any idiosyncrasies that may arise (this is a good use case to show why POSIX standards are useful).

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How can I copy the contents of a folder to another folder in a different directory using terminal?

I am trying to copy the contents of a folder to another folder in a different directory using terminal. Would somebody be able to provide me an example of the command line syntax required to achieve this?

8 Answers 8

You can copy the content of a folder /source to another existing folder /dest with the command

The -a option is an improved recursive option, that preserve all file attributes, and also preserve symlinks.

The . at end of the source path is a specific cp syntax that allow to copy all files and folders, included hidden ones.

@DylanValade: -a already implies —preserve=all , that is wider than -p = —preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps .

@BennyNeugebauer: scp is used to copy over a network (through ssh ) and only encrypts the communication channel, not the files on the destination filesystem.

«The . at end of the source path is a specific cp syntax that allow to copy all files and folders, included hidden ones.», this is not related to cp, but related to bash. The dot means «this location» and avoids the use of bash globbing, where by default files/directories starting with a . are not expanded.

Can someone explain the need behind use of mypath/. instead of the existing bash wildcard expansion character, mypath/* ?

rsync -a source/ destination 

The advantages of rsync are:

1. After the initial sync, it will then copy only the files that have changed.
2. You can use it over a network, convenient for files in $HOME, especially config files.

This will not copy hidden files, since bash expands * only to non-hidden file. The solution by @Joschua is safer.

If it’s a big folder you may wish to use one of these options to view progress while it’s copying askubuntu.com/questions/609303/…

Lets say you have a folder called folder1 in your ~ , inside folder1 is 1 file called file1 and 2 folders called sub1 and sub2 each with other files and folders inside them.

To copy all the contents of ~/folder1 to ~/new_folder1 you would use

new_folder1 would then contain all the files and folders from folder1 .

cp is the command to copy using a terminal, -r makes it recursively (so, current directory + further directories inside current) ~/folder1 is the origin folder, ~/new_folder1 is the destination folder for the files/folders inside the origin.

Thank you Bruno! It helped me to understand the syntax, though I had to change it a bit(removing ~ sign). Maybe because the destination folder was in /opt, which resides in another file system. And thank you Portablejim to remember the hidden file thing!

The trailing period is important. Without it, sometimes it may create a new subdirectory ~/new_folder1/folder1 instead of copying the contents over.

@Alex78191 [root@ home]# mkdir food [root@ home]# cd food/ [root@ food]# mkdir .fruit [root@ food]# mkdir veggies [root@ food]# touch veggies/carrots [root@ food]# touch .fruit/apple [root@ food]# ls * carrots [root@ food]#

Simple example.

Copy the directory dir_1 and its contents (files) into directory dir_2:

cp -r ./dir_1 ./dir_2 # or cp -r ./dir_1/ ./dir_2/ # Results in: ./dir_2/dir_1/_files_ 

Copy only the contents (files) of dir_1 into directory dir_2:

cp -r ./dir_1/. ./dir_2 # or cp -r ./dir_1/. ./dir_2/ # Results in: ./dir_2/_files_ 

_files_ is a placeholder for the actual files located in the directory.

Check this http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/copy-folder-linux-command-line/ for more information on copying folder. Hope this helps.

cp is a Linux command for copying files and directories. The syntax is as follows:

cp source destination cp dir1 dir2 cp -option source destination cp -option1 -option2 source destination 

In this example copy /home/vivek/letters folder and all its files to /usb/backup directory:

cp -avr /home/vivek/letters /usb/backup 

-a : Preserve the specified attributes such as directory an file mode, ownership, timestamps, if possible additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all.

-v : Explain what is being done.

-r : Copy directories recursively. Example

Copy a folder called /tmp/conf to /tmp/backup:

This code with Flag «-R» copies perfectly all the contents of «folder1» to existing «folder2»:

Flag «-R» copies symbolic links as well but Flag «-r» skips symbolic links so Flag «-R» is better than Flag «-r».

-R, --dereference-recursive For each directory operand, read and process all files in that directory, recursively, following all symbolic links. 

-r, --recursive For each directory operand, read and process all files in that directory, recursively. Follow symbolic links on the command line, but skip symlinks that are encountered recursively. Note that if no file operand is given, grep searches the working directory. This is the same as the ‘--directories=recurse’ option. 

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How to Copy Files and Directories in Linux

This guide will show you how to copy files and directories in Linux by executing commands from the command line. Furthermore, the commands listed below detail how to create system-wide backups or filter out and copy only specific files.

Note: These Linux commands can only be run from a terminal window. If your version of Linux boots to a desktop graphical interface, launch a terminal window by pressing CTRL-ALT-F2 or CTRL-ALT-T.

Using the cp Command to Copy Files and Directories in Linux

The cp command is the primary method for copying files and directories in Linux. Virtually all Linux distributions can use cp . The basic format of the command is:

cp [additional_option] source_file target_file

cp my_file.txt my_file2.txt

This Linux command creates a copy of the my_file.txt file and renames the new file to my_file2.txt.

By default, the cp command runs in the same directory you are working in. However, the same file cannot exist twice in the same directory. You’ll need to change the name of the target file to copy in the same location. Some users will add _old, some will add a number, and some will even change the three-letter extension (e.g., .bak instead of .txt).

You may not get a warning before Linux overwrites your file – be careful, or see below for the –i option.

Additional Options

Additional options can be used in combination with the cp command:

• –v verbose: shows the progress of multiple copied files
• –ppreserve: keeps the same attributes, like creation date and file permissions
• –f force: force the copy by deleting an existing file first
• –i interactive: prompts for confirmation, highly advised
• –Rrecursive: copies all files and subfolders in a directory
• –u update: copy only if source is newer than destination

Note: The -p (preserve) option forces the system to preserve the following source file attributes: modification time, access time, user ID (UID), group ID (GID), file flags, file mode, access control lists (ACLs), and extended attributes (EAs).

How to Copy File to Another Directory in Linux

To copy a file from the directory you’re working in to a different location, use the command:

cp my_file.txt /new_directory

You don’t need to rename the file unless there’s already one with the same name in the target directory.

To specify a path for the source file:

cp /etc/my_file.txt /new_directory

This lets you copy without having to change directories. The cp command will create the /new_directory if it doesn’t exist.

To rename and copy a file to a different path:

cp my_file.txt /new_directory/my_file2.txt

This option is useful for creating backups of configuration files, or for copying data to a storage device.

Note: Learn how to move directories in Linux.

Copy Multiple Files from One Directory to Another in Linux

You may need to copy more than one file at a time.

List each file to be copied before the target directory:

cp my_file.txt my_file2.txt my_file3.txt /new_directory

This example created a copy of all three files in the /new_directory folder.

Use a wildcard to specify all files that share a string of characters:

cp /pictures/*.jpg /new_directory

This would find all the files with the .jpg extension in the /pictures directory, and copy them into the /new_directory folder.

To copy an entire folder and its subfolders and files, use the –R option:

cp –R /documents /new_directory

–R stands for recursive, which means “everything in that location.” This would copy all the files, as well as all the directories, to the /new_directory folder.

Copy Using rsync Command

The rsync command in Linux is used to synchronize or transfer data between two locations. Usage is similar to cp , but there are a few key differences to note.

To copy a single file, enter the following into a terminal:

rsync –a my_file.txt /new_directory/my_file_backup.txt

• The –a option means all, and is included with rsync commands – this preserves subdirectories, symbolic links, and other metadata.
• Replace the my_file.txt file in the working directory.
• Replace /new_directory/ with the destination.
• Using my_file_backup.txt as the target indicates the file will be renamed during the copy.

To copy a directory with rsync, enter the following:

rsync –a /etc/docker/ /home/backup/docker/

This copies the contents of the /etc/docker/ directory to /home/backup/docker/. Make sure to keep the slashes. Omitting the slash on the source directory will copy the contents into a subdirectory.

To omit files from being copied, check out our guide on how to exclude files and directories in data transfer using rsync command.

Other Options

The ls command is a handy partner to the cp command in Linux.

To list the contents of a directory enter the command:

The example above displays all the files in /directory. Use this command after copying to verify the files were copied successfully.

To change directories, use cd and the name of the directory. For example:

The command prompt will change to display that you’ve changed directories.

Now you understand how to copy files in Linux. The cp command is a versatile and powerful tool for managing and backing up files.

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