problem with copying

chakribobby · 09-20-2008, 01:01 PM

Hi
While trying to copy I got this error message

ptcvm5:/home/test1 # cp -rp /home/IR2ZLM/* .
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/client/rhel-4es-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/client/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/client/rhel-4ws-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/client/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4es-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4ws-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/sles-10-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/sles-10-i586' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/sles-9-i586' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/edir/sles-9-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/edir/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4es-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4ws-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/sles-10-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/sles-10-i586' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/sles-9-i586' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'
cp: will not create hard link `./data/packages/imaging/sles-9-x86_64' to directory `./data/packages/imaging/rhel-4as-x86_64'

thanks in advance

scott_R · 09-20-2008, 11:37 PM

You can't create "hard links" to directories. Trust me, you don't want to, you delete the hard link, the directory disappears as well, a likely unwanted side effect of hard links (they share the same inode number, essentially making the link and the destination the same entity). The fix, as it were, is to add the "-s" (soft link) option. Almost all links you make will be soft links, although hard links can be useful in certain situations. So, for your example, you'd need to type:

cp -srp /home/IR2ZLM/* .

Hope this helps.