Copy Directory to /mnt/backup missing operand

NightSky · 08-10-2021, 11:18 PM

xxx@xxxx

ocuments$cp -r /mnt/backup/Documents/
I made a directory in /mnt/backup/ named Documents
but when I issue the above command I get: missing destination file operand after '/mnt/backup/Documents/'
What am I doing wrong?
FYI /mnt/backup is a seperate hdd. Thank you

scasey · 08-11-2021, 12:31 AM

cp wants a source and a target.
You’ve not specified what you want to copy to /mnt/backup/Documents/ — and since you’ve not specified both, the error says you’re missing a destination. Pretty clear.
man cp is your friend.

NightSky · 09-07-2021, 05:57 PM

@scasey thank you. I thought because I opened xterm in the directory I wanted to copy, I didn't need its full origin path in the command. Anyway I got it. FYI while Linux in 10 Minutes warns: the copy to Target requires you $mkdir destination before cp -r <Target path> But because I didn't want to change the directory name I was copying, I wound up with /mnt/backup/Documents/Documents and just wanted
/mnt/backup/Documents
Have another questions since my /mnt/backup is the name of another HDD once I finish backing up wanted folders, can I just install the latest Slackware on sda without losing accesses to my /mnt/backup on /dev/sdc1

computersavvy · 09-07-2021, 06:58 PM

As said you have to tell cp what to copy and where to put it.
cp -r is recursive so if you give it a directory as the source it copies that directory and all its content. if you give it a directory as the destination it puts what it is copying into that directory, thus your extra level of directories. You copied a directory into another directory of the same name.

You could have used 2 different ways to do that.

Code:

cd    # first to make certain where you are.
cp -ar Documents/* /mnt/backup/Documents/

or

cp -ar Documents /mnt/backup/

Either way would have done exactly what you expected.
Read the man page for cp to see what the -a option does. Probably what you want.

For your second question.
I would suggest you dismount that directory/drive before you start an install. It can always be mounted and accessed after the install is complete. Leaving it mounted will (usually) not be an issue since rebooting to start the install will dismount it, but better to do it manually than to rely on the system doing it for you.

MadeInGermany · 09-07-2021, 07:28 PM

You can use a . that refers to your current directory.