how do you copy a directory and its contents to a new location under a new directory name?
I’m new to the Linux command line and am trying to get to grips with the copy command at the moment. Can anyone please tell me if it’s possible to copy a directory with its subdirectories and associated files to a new directory with a new name, e.g. directory_backup ? Thanks for any and all help in advance.
7 Answers 7
You can use cp with the -r (copy recursively) flag and specify the new directory name:
cp -r /path/to/directory /path/to/location/new-name In the above command replace the given paths with the real ones.
For example, to copy stuff from my home directory to an existing directory named backup and name the new directory stuff-backup (if this directory already exists, note that stuff will be copied into it, not overwrite it), you run:
cp -r ~/stuff ~/backup/stuff-backup ~ is a shortcut for your home directory /home/$USER or /home/zanna in my case. You can omit it if the current working directory is your home directory — you can see this from your prompt
zanna@monster:~$ ^--the ~ here is where I am - home! You can add the -v (verbose) flag to make cp report each copy being performed:
$ cp -vr stuff backup/stuff-backup 'stuff/thing1' -> 'backup/stuff-backup/thing1' 'stuff/thing2' -> 'backup/stuff-backup/thing2 . Sorry Zanna. I’ll put your advice into practice and see how I go. Like the idea of the verbose flag . assume this will also work as a report while other command are being worked.. Cheers.
The command you need is simply cp which stands for «copy».
You can use it for example with one of these syntaxes:
cp SOURCEFILE TARGETFILE cp SOURCEFILE TARGETDIRECTORY The first variant allows you to specify a new file name for the target file, while the second variant creates a copy with the same name in the target directory. You must of course substitute the place holders in capital letters with valid paths first.
However, cp by default operates on files only, not on directories. To get it to copy a complete directory with all its content recursively, you must add the -r option:
cp -r SOURCEDIRECTORY TARGETDIRECTORY You can learn more about the cp command by typing man cp in your terminal.
Not used to this comment section Byte Commander. keep hitting return to change line but post instead. Very clear outline in your answer . Look forward to sorting out those directories now that I’ve been given good instruction on the correct usage of the available tools. Excellent.
@OwenHines Just that comments strip any linebreak and additional whitespace and having them in the editor doesn’t change anything in the result.
You can use the below command to copy directory from one place to another sub directory.
cp -Rvp /home/edmuntu/data /home/edmuntu/mydata/ - -R = copy directories recursively
- v = explain what is being done
- p = It will help your to preserve your permission and ownership with timestamps
Thank you @Rakesh Chauhan.»preserve your permission and ownership with timestamps» . Wow. I need to get to it. Yet another aspect of line commands to be explored. Thank you for your reply.
As an alternative to the generally useful cp command you can use rsync which has the added benefit of replicating the permissions/timestamps of the original directory structure:
note the slash after the source dir.
Had huge issues with rsync. cp -Rvp with a . after the directory to copy is working well for me (the . will copy hidden files/foders). And @HelloUniverse — if you use the p command with cp, it preserves permissions, ownership, timestamps
cp is the command that does the function that you’re looking for. It stands for copy and it does just that. The command that would work for you in this situation is
This would copy the source/ folder and all of its sub-directories to destination/ .
If destination/ doesn’t exist, it will be created.
The -R flag stands for recursive, which tells cp to copy all sub-directories.
@Edmuntu Glad I could help, if you found the solution to your issue, can you please mark the answer that worked for you as the correct one by clicking the check mark under it? This will help alert others who view the page of the question being solved.
I find it easier to change to the directory I’m copying from first. For this example change to a directory everyone has called /boot . Anyone can copy and paste the commands below into their Terminal.
cd /boot sudo mkdir /boot_backup sudo cp -r . /boot_backup du /boot_backup -h 752K /boot_backup/extlinux/themes/debian-wheezy 756K /boot_backup/extlinux/themes 832K /boot_backup/extlinux 2.5M /boot_backup/grub/i386-pc 20K /boot_backup/grub/locale 2.3M /boot_backup/grub/fonts 7.2M /boot_backup/grub 565M /boot_backup For the cp command the current directory is identified as . which is the /boot directory we changed to. The -r option makes it recursive to include all sub-directories.
To ensure it worked run du to list all sub-directories and total file sizes in the new directory /boot_backup in this case.
After finishing this walk-through, use: sudo rm -r /boot_backup to remove the new directory and it’s sub-directories.
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).
How to Copy a Directory in Linux with the cp Command
Shittu Olumide
Copying directories is an essential task in Linux. It allows you to duplicate directories, create backups, or transfer data between different locations.
One of the most commonly used commands for copying files and directories in Linux is cp .
In this tutorial, we will explore how to copy directories effectively using the cp command, along with various options and techniques to customize the copying process.
The Linux cp command
You use the cp command in Linux to copy files and directories from one location to another. It stands for «copy» and is a fundamental command-line utility for file management.
The cp command follows a specific syntax for copying directories. Understanding the basic structure of the command is crucial for successful directory copies.
The cp command syntax
cp [options] source_directory destination_directory Here’s an explanation of each component of the syntax:
- cp : This is the command itself, which stands for «copy.»
- [options] : This represents optional flags and parameters that can modify the behavior of the cp command. Options are typically preceded by a hyphen (-) or double hyphen (—) and can be used to specify additional functionalities, such as preserving attributes, enabling recursion, or displaying progress.
- source_directory : This is the directory that you want to copy. It can be specified as a relative or absolute path.
- destination_directory : This is the directory where you want to copy the source directory. It can also be specified as a relative or absolute path.
Here are some key concepts and features of the cp command:
- Copying files: The cp command can be used to copy individual files. We provide the path and name of the source file, followed by the destination directory or filename.
- Copying directories: The cp command can also copy entire directories. To copy a directory and its contents, we need to include the -r (or —recursive ) option, which enables recursive copying. This option ensures that all subdirectories and files within the directory are copied.
- Preserving file attributes: By default, the cp command copies files without preserving their attributes such as permissions, timestamps, and ownership. However, we can use the -p (or —preserve ) option to preserve file attributes during the copy process.
- Handling existing files: When copying files or directories, the cp command handles conflicts when there are existing files or directories with the same names in the destination location. By default, it overwrites the existing files without prompting. We can use the -i (or —interactive ) option to prompt before overwriting existing files.
- Copying across file systems: The cp command can handle copying between different file systems. It automatically adjusts the behavior and performs the copy accordingly.
Let’s demonstrate how to do this:
cp -r /Desktop/welcome /Desktop/tutorial - -r flag stands for «recursive» and allows the cp command to copy directories and their contents.
- /Desktop/welcome is the path of the directory we want to copy.
- /Desktop/tutorial is the path where we want to copy the directory to.
Conclusion
With the knowledge and understanding of the cp command’s syntax, we can efficiently copy directories and their contents.
Throughout this article, we have explored the step-by-step process of copying directories to different locations, recursively copying directories with their contents. We have also discussed some important features of the cp command.
So go ahead and try it out 🙂
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