{"id":18452,"date":"2022-03-03T15:17:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T15:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/03\/how-to-copy-files-and-directories-in-the-linux-terminal\/"},"modified":"2022-03-03T15:17:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T15:17:10","slug":"how-to-copy-files-and-directories-in-the-linux-terminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/03\/how-to-copy-files-and-directories-in-the-linux-terminal\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Copy Files and Directories in the Linux Terminal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Linux
fatmawati achmad zaenuri\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like any other operating system, you can copy and paste<\/a> files and directories (folders) in a Linux distribution using the desktop interface. But you can save time by copying those files in the Terminal. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Copy and Paste Text into the Linux Terminal<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Copy Files and Directories in Linux<\/h2>\n

cp<\/code> and rsync<\/code> are two of the most popular commands that you can use to quickly copy files and directories in Linux. We\u2019ll introduce you to both of them.<\/p>\n

Using the cp Command<\/h3>\n

cp<\/code> stands for copy and is, you guessed it, used to copy files and directories in Linux. You can use cp<\/code> to copy files to a directory, copy one directory to another, and copy multiple files to a single directory. Here are all examples that demonstrate the use of the cp<\/code> command.<\/p>\n

Consider\u00a0cp<\/code>\u2018s syntax in its simplest form.<\/p>\n

cp [file] [directory]<\/pre>\n
An example of its use would look like this.<\/p>\n
cp Test1.txt copy_Test1_here\/<\/pre>\n
\"cp<\/p>\n
The above command will copy the text file Test1.txt<\/code> to the copy_Test1_here\/<\/code> directory.<\/p>\n
If you have multiple files that you need to copy to one directory, simply list each file with a space in between.<\/p>\n
cp Test1.txt Test2.txt Test3.txt Test4.txt copy_all_Tests_here\/<\/pre>\n
You can also copy a file to a directory but save it using a different name. Here\u2019s the syntax for that.<\/p>\n
cp [file] [directory]\/[new filename]<\/pre>\n
This will copy the contents of the first tile and save it in the directory as the new filename. A real-life example of the same would look like this.<\/p>\n
Given that there\u2019s a file Test1.txt<\/code> that needs to be copied to the directory copy_Test1_here<\/code> as Test2.txt<\/code>\u00a0:<\/p>\n
cp Test1.txt copy_Test1_here\/Test2.txt<\/pre>\n
\"copy<\/p>\n
Want to keep it in the same directory? You can copy a file and rename it like so:<\/p>\n
cp Test1.txt Test2.txt<\/pre>\n
Want to copy an entire directory? Let\u2019s assume that dir_1<\/code> and dir_2<\/code> are two directories in \/Desktop<\/code> . To copy dir_1<\/code> to dir_2<\/code> using the cp<\/code> command, here\u2019s what you need to type.<\/p>\n
cp -a dir_1 dir_2<\/pre>\n
\"cp<\/p>\n
Here option -a<\/code> stands for \u201carchive\u201d and is used to let the computer know that we\u2019re dealing with directories. The command copies the directory\u00a0dir_1<\/code>\u00a0to dir_2<\/code> .<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re unsure if the file or directory was copied to the destination location, you can also use the option -v<\/code> to print the names of the files or directories<\/a> that were copied (like a computer program output).<\/p>\n
For example, let\u2019s assume that there\u2019s a file Test_Example<\/code> that needs to be copied to dir_1<\/code> . To display the output of the copy operation, you\u2019d use the -v<\/code> option.<\/p>\n
cp -v Test_Example.txt dir_1<\/pre>\n
The output would look like this:<\/p>\n
'Test_Example.txt' -> 'dir_1\/Test_Example.txt<\/pre>\n
\"cp<\/p>\n
RELATED:<\/strong> 37 Important Linux Commands You Should Know<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
Using the Rsync Command<\/h3>\n
The rsync<\/code> command stands for \u201cRemote Sync\u201d and is primarily used to transfer files and directories<\/a> between computers on the same network. However, it also allows copying files and directories on the same PC. Here are some examples.<\/p>\n
RELATED:<\/strong> How to Use rsync to Backup Your Data on Linux<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
Considering that we have two directories dir_1<\/code> , dir_2<\/code> , and a file Test.txt<\/code> in dir_1<\/code> . If we want to copy the file to dir_2<\/code> , here\u2019s what the rsync<\/code> command to do the same would look like.<\/p>\n
rsync -v dir_1\/Test.txt dir_2
\n\"rsync<\/pre>\n
Here -v<\/code> is short for \u201cverbose.\u201d It causes the details of the file transfer to appear, similar to the -v<\/code>\u00a0option in the cp<\/code> command. This allows you to confirm the copy was successful. Here\u2019s what the output will be in our case:<\/p>\n
sent 110 bytes  received 35 bytes 290.00 bytes\/sec
\ntotal size is 24 speedup is 0.17<\/pre>\n
You can also copy multiple files at once from one directory to another.\u00a0Assume that you\u2019re in \/Desktop<\/code> in which there are two directories dir_1<\/code> and dir_2<\/code> . dir_1<\/code> has four files test1<\/code> , test2<\/code> , test3<\/code> , and test4<\/code> and you want to copy them to dir_2<\/code>. Here\u2019s how you can do that using rsync<\/code>:<\/p>\n
rsync -v\u00a0dir_1\/Test1.txt dir_1\/Test2.txt dir_1\/Test3.txt dir_1\/Test4.txt dir_2<\/pre>\n
The above command will copy the files test1<\/code> , test2<\/code> , test3<\/code> , and test4<\/code> to the directory dir_2<\/code> .<\/p>\n
To copy one directory to another, we must use the -a<\/code> option. Here\u2019s an example of how to copy directories using Rsync.<\/p>\n
rsync -av dir_1 dir_2<\/pre>\n
\"rsync<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re new to Linux and commands seem hard to follow, make sure to take your time and familiarize yourself with basic Linux commands<\/a> first. You can also learn a lot about commands by using the man<\/code>\u00a0command<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Apart from rsync<\/code> and cp<\/code>, the install<\/code> command<\/a> also allows you to copy files in Linux.<\/p>\n
RELATED:<\/strong> How to Copy Files Using the “install” Command on Linux<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n