Copy all files and folders in unix

By default the copied file receives the name of the original file, but you can also optionally pass a file name as well:. To copy more than one file at a time you can pass multiple input sources and a directory as destination:. Here the two input sources first. To copy a directory, you need to add the -r or -R flag—which is shorthand for --recursive :.

Here directory-1 containing the file a. To be prompted when an overwrite is about to occur, you can add the -i or --interactive flag:. Or, to prevent overwrites without being prompted, you can add the -n or --no-clobber flag:. There are many other useful options to pass to the cp command: like -v for "verbose" output or -f for "force. I highly encourage you to read through the man page for all of the other useful options. 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. 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. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Collectives on Stack Overflow. Learn more. Asked 8 years, 11 months ago. Active 5 months ago. Viewed 2. Peter Mortensen Related: How can I copy a folder from the Linux command line?

Related: Copy files from one directory into an existing directory at SO — kenorb. I wish this could be migrated to a SE where it's more on topic. Bash programming is on-topic. Show 1 more comment. 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.

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

This lets you copy without having to change directories. 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.