cp(1)							      General Commands Manual							     cp(1)

NAME

       cp - Copies files

SYNOPSIS

       cp [-fhip] [--] source_file destination_file

       cp [-fhip] [--] source_file... destination_directory

       cp [-fhip] [-r  | -R] [--] [source_file | source_directory]... destination_directory

       The  cp	command copies a source file or the files in a source directory to a destination file or directory. If your source and destination
       are directories, the source is copied to the destination and created with the same name.

STANDARDS

       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       cp:  XCU5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS

       [Tru64 UNIX]  The cp command does not prompt you when an existing file is to be overwritten. (If both -f and -i are specified on  the  com-
       mand  line--for	example,  because an alias includes one of them--whichever appears last overrides the other.)  [Tru64 UNIX]  Together with
       the -R option, the same as the -r option.  Prompts you with the name of the file whenever the copy would cause an existing file to be over-
       written.  An answer beginning with y, or the locale's equivalent of y, causes cp to continue. Any other answer prevents it from overwriting
       the file.  Preserves for the copy the modification time, access time, file mode, user ID, and group ID of the original, as allowed by  per-
       missions.  If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message is displayed and the exit value is not altered.  If the origi-
       nal is set-user-ID or set-group-ID, and either the user ID or the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-user-ID and set-group-ID  bits  are
       not preserved in the copy's permissions. [Tru64 UNIX]  Preserves the extended file attributes (property list), including the access control
       list (ACL) if any.  When the source is a directory, copies the directory and the entire subtree	connected  at  that  point.  Special  file
       types,  such  as  symbolic links, named pipes (FIFOs), and block and character devices, are opened and their contents are copied to regular
       files having the same name. (This may be desired for links but is probably not desired for disk, tape, or network devices.) For example, if
       a  is  a  symbolic link to file z and a is copied to b with the -r option, b is not a symbolic link to file z but is a copy of it.  As with
       -r, when the source is a directory, copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that  point.  However,  destination_files  are
       created	with  the  same file types as source_files, for instance symbolic links, named pipes (FIFOs), or block or character devices. As an
       example, if a is a symbolic link to file z and a is copied to b with the -R option,  b  will  also  be  a  symbolic  link  to  file  z.	If
       source_file  is	a FIFO, the file permission bits of destination_file are set to those of source_file modified by the file creation mask of
       the user if the -p option is not used.  Indicates that the arguments following this option are to be interpreted as file names.	This  null
       option allows the specification of file names that start with a minus.

DESCRIPTION

       If a destination file already exists, its contents are overwritten if permissions allow, but cp does not change its mode, user ID, or group
       ID. However, if the file is not being copied by the root user, writing the file may clear the set-user-ID or set-group-ID permission bits.

       If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is  used, as modified by the file mode creation mask  (umask).  If  the
       source file is either set-user-ID or set-group-ID, those bits are removed unless the -p option is used.

       Appropriate permissions are always required for file creation or overwriting.

       [Tru64  UNIX]  You  can also copy special device files. If the file is a named pipe, the data in the pipe is copied into a regular file. If
       the file is a device, the file is read until the end of file, and that data is copied into a regular file.

       The LC_MESSAGES variable determines the locale's equivalent of y or n (for yes/no queries).

       If the source_file is a directory, the following is true: If neither the -R or -r option was specified, an error message is  displayed  and
       source_file is not copied.  If the target specified exists and is a file, not a directory, an error message is displayed and source_file is
       not copied.  If the target does not exist and the -p option is specified, the permission bits of the target directory are set equal to  the
       source  directory  bitwise  inclusively	ORed with S_IRWXU (0700 octal). This means the newly created directory will always allow the owner
       read, write and execute permission.  If the target does not exist and the -p option is not specified, the permission  bits  of  the  target
       directory  are  set equal to the source directory bits, modified by the file creation mask of the user (shuts off the corresponding permis-
       sion bits specified in the umask). The resulting permission bits are then ORed with S_IRWXU (0700 octal) which gives the owner read,  write
       and execute permission.	If the target does not exist and cannot be created, an error message is displayed and source_file is not copied.

NOTES

       Do  not	give  the destination the same name as one of the source files.  If you specify a directory as the destination, the directory must
       already exist.  If you are using the -r option to copy the contents of one directory to another, and source_directory contains  subdirecto-
       ries that do not exist in destination_directory, the subdirectories are created.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.  An error occurred.

EXAMPLES

       To copy one file to another, enter: cp file1 file2

	      If file2 exists (and is writable), it is replaced by file1.  To copy files to a directory, enter: cp file1 file2 dir1

	      The  dir1 directory must exist.  To copy all files in a directory and preserve their modification times, enter: cp -p dir1/* dir2 To
	      copy a directory tree to another directory, enter: cp -r dir1 dir2

	      The dir1 tree is created in dir2.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The following environment variables affect the execution of cp: Provides a default value for the internationalization  variables  that  are
       unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used.  If any of the internationalization vari-
       ables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined.  If set to a  non-empty  string  value,
       overrides  the  values of all the other internationalization variables.	Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
       of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments).  Determines the locale for the  for-
       mat  and  contents  of  diagnostic messages written to standard error.  Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of
       LC_MESSAGES.

SEE ALSO

       Commands:  cpio(1), find(1), link(1), ln(1), mv(1), pax(1), tar(1), umask(1)

       Functions:  umask(2)

       Files:  proplist(4), acl(4)

       Standards:  standards(5)

																	     cp(1)