Help with the cp command

vbmark · 12-03-2004, 12:37 PM

How do I copy everything in the current directory and its subdirectories to another directory?

Could not figure it out from 'man cp'.

Thanks!

reelwylde · 12-03-2004, 01:06 PM

cp -r <directory name>

the r = recursive

use p if you want to preserve permissons

vbmark · 12-03-2004, 01:08 PM

Oh, I see.

I thought that I had to indicate the source files with something like in DOS like this:

cp *.* /destination

But that never worked of course.

Thanks!

Crito · 12-03-2004, 02:15 PM

You still have a source and destination, just like in DOS, except instead of adding a /s (include sub-directories) option at the end you put a -R at the beginning. It's those !@#$ linux commands, like ln, that put destination before source that really !@$% me off.