cp: Copies a File

The cp (copy) utility makes a copy of a file. This utility can copy any file, including text and executable program (binary) files. You can use cp to make a backup copy of a file or a copy to experiment with.

The cp command line uses the following syntax to specify source and destination files:

cp source-file destination-file







The source-file is the name of the file that cp will copy. The destination-file is the name that cp assigns to the resulting (new) copy of the file.

Caution: cp can destroy a file

If the destination-file exists before you give a cp command, cp overwrites it. Because cp overwrites (and destroys the contents of) an existing destination-file without warning, take care not to cause cp to overwrite a file that you need. The cp – i (interactive) option prompts you before it overwrites a file.

The following example assumes that the file named orange.2 exists before you give the cp command. The user answers y to overwrite the file:

$ cp – i orange orange.2

cp: overwrite 'orange.2'? y

The cp command line in Figure 3-2 copies the file named memo to memo.copy. The period is part of the filename—just another character. The initial ls command shows that memo is the only file in the directory. After the cp command, a second ls shows two files in the directory, memo and memo.copy.

Sometimes it is useful to incorporate the date in the name of a copy of a file. The following example includes the date January 30 (0130) in the copied file:

$ cp memo memo.0130

Although it has no significance to Linux, the date can help you find a version of a file that you created on a certain date. It can also help you avoid overwriting existing files by providing a unique filename each day.

Use scp  or ftp  when you need to copy a file from one system to another on a common network.