Bash Quick Start Guide

The cp command

The cp command is used to copy a file or set of files to a target directory, optionally providing it with a new name:

$ ls
oldfile
$ cp oldfile newfile
$ ls
oldfile  newfile

The new file in this case is truly a copy; you can change data in either the old or new file, and it won't affect data in the other.

You can produce files that are linked rather than copied with the ln command; editing one name for the file will also change the content for all of its linked names.

If you specify more than two arguments after the options, with the last one being a directory, cp will copy all of the files before the last one into the directory name in the last argument:

$ cp file1 file2 file3 dir

cp with no options cannot copy directories ...