Copying Files Using cp
To copy files, we could use the cp
command. The general format of the command when used for simple copying is as follows:
matthew@seymour:~$ cp -a source_directory target_directory
The -a
argument is the same as giving -dpR
, which would be
• -d
—Preserves symbolic links (by not dereferencing them) and copies the files that they point to instead of copying the links.
• -p
—Preserves all file attributes if possible. (File ownership might interfere.)
• -R
—Copies directories recursively.
The cp
command can also be used to quickly replicate directories and retain permissions by using the -avR
command-line options. Using these options preserves file and directory permissions, gives verbose output, and recursively copies and re-creates ...
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