Linux Shells by Example

mv—moves or renames files

mv [options] source dest
mv [options] source… directory
Options:
[-bfiuv] [-S  backup-suffix] [-V {numbered,existing,simple}]
[--backup] [--force] [--interactive] [--update] [--verbose]
[--suffix=backup-suffix]
[--version-control={numbered,existing,simple}] [--help][--version]

The mv command moves a source filename to a target filename. The filename and the target may not have the same name. If target is not a directory, only one file may be specified before it; if it is a directory, more than one file may be specified. If target does not exist, mv creates a file named target. If target exists and is not a directory, its contents are overwritten. If target is a directory, the file(s) are moved to that directory.