To copy files, you use the cp command. The following will copy file to file2. Note that if file2 doesn’t exist, it’ll be created, but if it exists, it’ll be overwritten:
$ cp file file2
There aren’t any undo commands in the Linux CLI, so accidentally overwriting an important file would probably make you pull your head off. The risk of doing so is smaller if you use the -i option (“interactive”) with cp. The following does the same as the above, but if file2 exists, you’ll be prompted before overwriting:
$ cp -i file file2
cp: overwrite `file2'? n
$
So it’s a good idea to use the -i option whenever you’re dealing with important files you don’t want to lose!
If you want to copy file into directory dir1:
$ cp file dir1
The following would do the same as the above, copy file into dir1, but under a different name:
$ cp file dir1/file2
You can also copy multiple files into one directory with a single command:
$ cp file1 file2 file3 dir1
If you want to copy all files to dir2 you can use this command:
$ cp *.* dir2
This command will copy only .txt files to dir2:
$ cp *.txt dir2
Note that if the last argument isn’t a directory name, you’ll get an error message complaining about it.
cp
Copy one or more files to another location Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Syntax
cp [options]... Source Dest
cp [options]... Source... Directory
Key
-a, --archive same as -dpR
-b, --backup make backup before removal
-d, --no-dereference preserve links
-f, --force remove existing destinations, never prompt
-i, --interactive prompt before overwrite
-l, --link link files instead of copying
-p, --preserve preserve file attributes if possible
-P, --parents append source path to DIRECTORY
-r copy recursively, non-directories as files
--sparse=WHEN control creation of sparse files
-R, --recursive copy directories recursively
-s, --symbolic-link make symbolic links instead of copying
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX override the usual backup suffix
-u, --update copy only when the SOURCE file is newer
than the destination file or when the
destination file is missing
-v, --verbose explain what is being done
-V, --version-control=WORD override the usual version control
-x, --one-file-system stay on this file system
--help display this help and exit
--version output version information and exit.














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