cp --help
bash
Usage: cp [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
or: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
or: cp [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a, --archive same as -dR --preserve=all
--attributes-only don't copy the file data, just the attributes
--backup[=CONTROL] make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
--copy-contents copy contents of special files when recursive
-d same as --no-dereference --preserve=links
--debug explain how a file is copied. Implies -v
-f, --force if an existing destination file cannot be
opened, remove it and try again (this option
is ignored when the -n option is also used)
-i, --interactive prompt before overwrite (overrides a previous -n
option)
-H follow command-line symbolic links in SOURCE
-l, --link hard link files instead of copying
-L, --dereference always follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-n, --no-clobber do not overwrite an existing file and do not fail
(overrides a -u or previous -i option). See also
--update; equivalent to --update=none.
-P, --no-dereference never follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps
--preserve[=ATTR_LIST] preserve the specified attributes
--no-preserve=ATTR_LIST don't preserve the specified attributes
--parents use full source file name under DIRECTORY
-R, -r, --recursive copy directories recursively
--reflink[=WHEN] control clone/CoW copies. See below
--remove-destination remove each existing destination file before
attempting to open it (contrast with --force)
--sparse=WHEN control creation of sparse files. See below
--strip-trailing-slashes remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE
argument
-s, --symbolic-link make symbolic links instead of copying
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY copy all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
-T, --no-target-directory treat DEST as a normal file
--update[=UPDATE] control which existing files are updated;
UPDATE={all,none,older(default)}. See below
-u equivalent to --update[=older]
-v, --verbose explain what is being done
-x, --one-file-system stay on this file system
-Z set SELinux security context of destination
file to default type
--context[=CTX] like -Z, or if CTX is specified then set the
SELinux or SMACK security context to CTX
--help display this help and exit
--version output version information and exit
ATTR_LIST is a comma-separated list of attributes. Attributes are 'mode' for
permissions (including any ACL and xattr permissions), 'ownership' for user
and group, 'timestamps' for file timestamps, 'links' for hard links, 'context'
for security context, 'xattr' for extended attributes, and 'all' for all
attributes.
By default, sparse SOURCE files are detected by a crude heuristic and the
corresponding DEST file is made sparse as well. That is the behavior
selected by --sparse=auto. Specify --sparse=always to create a sparse DEST
file whenever the SOURCE file contains a long enough sequence of zero bytes.
Use --sparse=never to inhibit creation of sparse files.
UPDATE controls which existing files in the destination are replaced.
'all' is the default operation when an --update option is not specified,
and results in all existing files in the destination being replaced.
'none' is similar to the --no-clobber option, in that no files in the
destination are replaced, but also skipped files do not induce a failure.
'older' is the default operation when --update is specified, and results
in files being replaced if they're older than the corresponding source file.
When --reflink[=always] is specified, perform a lightweight copy, where the
data blocks are copied only when modified. If this is not possible the copy
fails, or if --reflink=auto is specified, fall back to a standard copy.
Use --reflink=never to ensure a standard copy is performed.
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through
the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
none, off never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t make numbered backups
existing, nil numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never always make simple backups
As a special case, cp makes a backup of SOURCE when the force and backup
options are given and SOURCE and DEST are the same name for an existing,
regular file.man cp
bash
NAME
cp - copy files and directories
SYNOPSIS
cp [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
cp [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
DESCRIPTION
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a, --archive
same as -dR --preserve=all
--attributes-only
don't copy the file data, just the attributes
--backup[=CONTROL]
make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
--copy-contents
copy contents of special files when recursive
-d same as --no-dereference --preserve=links
--debug
explain how a file is copied. Implies -v
-f, --force
if an existing destination file cannot be opened, remove it and try again
(this option is ignored when the -n option is also used)
-i, --interactive
prompt before overwrite (overrides a previous -n option)
-H follow command-line symbolic links in SOURCE
-l, --link
hard link files instead of copying
-L, --dereference
always follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-n, --no-clobber
do not overwrite an existing file and do not fail (overrides a -u or pre‐
vious -i option). See also --update; equivalent to --update=none.
-P, --no-dereference
never follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps
--preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
preserve the specified attributes
--no-preserve=ATTR_LIST
don't preserve the specified attributes
--parents
use full source file name under DIRECTORY
-R, -r, --recursive
copy directories recursively
--reflink[=WHEN]
control clone/CoW copies. See below
--remove-destination
remove each existing destination file before attempting to open it (con‐
trast with --force)
--sparse=WHEN
control creation of sparse files. See below
--strip-trailing-slashes
remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument
-s, --symbolic-link
make symbolic links instead of copying
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX
override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
copy all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
-T, --no-target-directory
treat DEST as a normal file
--update[=UPDATE]
control which existing files are updated; UPDATE={all,none,older(de‐
fault)}. See below
-u equivalent to --update[=older]
-v, --verbose
explain what is being done
-x, --one-file-system
stay on this file system
-Z set SELinux security context of destination file to default type
--context[=CTX]
like -Z, or if CTX is specified then set the SELinux or SMACK security
context to CTX
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
ATTR_LIST is a comma-separated list of attributes. Attributes are 'mode' for
permissions (including any ACL and xattr permissions), 'ownership' for user and
group, 'timestamps' for file timestamps, 'links' for hard links, 'context' for
security context, 'xattr' for extended attributes, and 'all' for all attributes.
By default, sparse SOURCE files are detected by a crude heuristic and the corre‐
sponding DEST file is made sparse as well. That is the behavior selected by
--sparse=auto. Specify --sparse=always to create a sparse DEST file whenever
the SOURCE file contains a long enough sequence of zero bytes. Use
--sparse=never to inhibit creation of sparse files.
UPDATE controls which existing files in the destination are replaced. 'all' is
the default operation when an --update option is not specified, and results in
all existing files in the destination being replaced. 'none' is similar to the
--no-clobber option, in that no files in the destination are replaced, but also
skipped files do not induce a failure. 'older' is the default operation when
--update is specified, and results in files being replaced if they're older than
the corresponding source file.
When --reflink[=always] is specified, perform a lightweight copy, where the data
blocks are copied only when modified. If this is not possible the copy fails,
or if --reflink=auto is specified, fall back to a standard copy. Use --re‐
flink=never to ensure a standard copy is performed.
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The
version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the
VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
none, off
never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t
make numbered backups
existing, nil
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never
always make simple backups
As a special case, cp makes a backup of SOURCE when the force and backup options
are given and SOURCE and DEST are the same name for an existing, regular file.