Linux Files and Folders Local Copying

Copying of files and folders had been the root genes of now existing and having restore and backup procedures. Basic and advance copying is being widely practiced nowadays as a major must-to-do operating procedures in offices.

In Linux, copying files and folders is as easy as copying files during the DOS era. This was almost two decades ago. Copying files and folders in linux follows the same command parameters like the DOS copy command.

Here are several basic commands that has not been covered as a blog entry around here.

Using MS-DOS
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# copy original-copy new-copy
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Using terminal in Linux
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# cp original-copy new-copy
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To copy files interactively
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# cp -i oldfile newfiles
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To copy files and folders recursively
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# cp -r folder1 folder2
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To copy files with preservation to date/time stamps and user ownerships
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# cp -p file1 file2
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To copy files recursively with preservation mode enabled
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# cp -pr /folder1 /folder2
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To copy files when source file is newer than destination file or destination file does not exists
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# cp -u /folder1/* /folder2/
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To copy files recursively with newer files as priority
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# cp -ur /oldfolder /newfolder
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To copy files recursively with date/time stamp preservation combined with newer files priority
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# cp -urp oldfolder newfolder
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To copy files while creating backup of each existing destination files
# ls -la
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-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 46958 2007-11-14 15:44 exist.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 46958 2007-11-14 15:44 install.log

# cp --backup install.log exist.txt
cp: overwrite `exist.txt'? y
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As you can see below, the backup destination file as ~ as an additional filename character and a marker that it is the backup copy during the recent copy command.
# ls -la
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-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 46958 2007-11-14 15:45 exist.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 46958 2007-11-14 15:44 exist.txt~
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 46958 2007-11-14 15:44 install.log
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To copy files and always follow synbolic links
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# cp -L files* /tmp/folder/
# cp -L folder1 folder2
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Copying of files and folders above are being shown as local source and destination linux folders and files, and not remotely.

Enjoy copying!

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