🕷️ Crawler Inspector

| Red Hat Linux 6.2: The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide | | | |---|---|---| | [Prev](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/s1-managing-file-types.htm) | Chapter 14. Working with Files and Directories | [Next](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/p7405.htm) | *** # [Copying, Moving and Renaming Files and Directories]() By now, you've learned a little about the structure of the filesystem; and you've learned how to create files and directories. But just because you know how to create files and directories doesn't mean that you're stuck with the changes you've made. What if you want to rename and/or move files and directories? Let's start with the copy command. ## [Copying Files]() Like so many Linux features, you have a variety of options from which to choose when you want to manipulate files and directories. You can also use wildcards when you're copying, moving, or deleting files and directories. Basically, the copy command is not much more complex than typing: so to copy the file sneakers.txt to the directory tigger in your login directory, just type: Notice that you also used relative pathnames to copy the file. You can use both relative and absolute pathnames with **cp**. Our login directory is the parent of the directory tigger; meaning that tigger is one directory down from ours. Read the **cp** man page (**man cp**) for a full list of the options available with **cp**. But among the options you can use with **cp** are: - **\-i** -- interactive. Prompts you to confirm if the file is going to overwrite a file in your destination. This is a handy option because it can help prevent you from making mistakes. - **\-r** -- recursive. Rather than just copying all the files and directories, copies the whole directory tree, subdirectories and all, to another location. - **\-f** -- force. Copies without prompting you for confirmation that the file should be overwritten. Unless you're sure you want to force the copy, you probably don't want to make friends with this option right now. - **\-v** - verbose. Will show the progress of the files being copied. Just by using **cp** alone, you won't see much when the command is executed. Using an option, such as **\-i**, can make the process a little more useful, because if you want to copy a file to a location that already has a file with the same name, you'll be asked first if you really want to overwrite -- meaning replace -- the file that's already there. | | | |---|---| |  | **Don't be too "forceful"** | | | Remember that among your options is **\-f** (force), which can overwrite files without asking you if you're certain. Make sure, when you use the force option, that you *really* want to overwrite a file. | Now that we have the file sneakers.txt in the tigger directory, let's use **cp -i** to copy the file again to the same location. To overwrite the file that's already there, press **Y** and then **Enter**. Don't want to overwrite the file? Now is the time to press **N** and **Enter**. ## [Moving Files]() To move files, use the **mv** command (**man mv**), which is similar to the **cp** command, except that with **mv** the file is physically moved from one place to another, instead of being duplicated, as with **cp**. Common options available with **mv** include: - **\-i** -- interactive. Will prompt you if the file you've selected will overwrite an existing file in the destination directory. This is a good option, because like the **\-i** option in **cp**, you'll be given the chance to make sure you want to replace an existing file. - **\-f** -- force. Overrides the interactive mode and moves without prompting. Unless you know what you're doing, this option doesn't play nice; be very careful about using it until you become more comfortable with your system. - **\-v** -- verbose. Shows a list of the files being moved. If you want to move a file out of your home directory and into another directory, you would type: or, **mv sneakers.txt /home/newuser /home/newuser/tigger** using absolute pathnames. ## [Renaming Files]() Actually, we've already covered half of renaming, because when you copy or move files, you can also rename. To copy the file sneakers.txt from our login directory to our tigger subdirectory, just type: To copy and rename that file from sneakers.txt to piglet.txt, type: To *move* and rename the file, just substitute **mv** for **cp** in the above example. If you **cd** to tigger and use **ls**, you'll see the file **piglet.txt**. If you just want to rename the file and keep its location, just **mv** in your current directory: ## [Deleting Files and Directories]() We talked about creating files with the **touch** command and by using redirection in [Chapter 13](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/ch-navigating.htm). And we created the directory tigger using **mkdir**. But we haven't discussed how to delete files and directories. Deleting files and directories with the **rm** command (**man rm**) is a straightforward process. Let's take our new file piglet.txt, and delete it from the tigger directory with the **rm** command: What happens if we didn't really want to get rid of it? Too late! Again, that's where the **\-i** (interactive) option comes in handy, because it gives a second chance to think about whether we really want to toss the file. You can also delete files using the wildcard **\***, but be careful, because you can easily delete files you didn't intend to throw away. To remove a file using a wildcard, you would type: You can also remove more than one file in one command, as in: Options for removing files -- and directories -- include: - **\-i** -- interactive. Prompts you to confirm the deletion. This is good. - **\-f** -- force. Overrides interactive mode and removes the file(s) without prompting. This might not be good, unless you know exactly what you're doing. - **\-v** -- verbose. Shows a listing of files as they're being removed. - **\-r** -- recursive. When removing directories, will remove all of the files and the subdirectories of the specified directory. This can also get rid of an empty directory. To remove directories with **rm**, you must specify the **\-r** option. For example, if you want to recursively remove the directory **tigger** you would type: And if you want to combine options, such as forcing a recursive deletion, you can type: | | | |---|---| |  | **Be careful\!** | | | The **rm** is a powerful command, and can delete your entire system! If you're root and you type the simple command **rm -rf /** you're sunk -- like a snake eating its tail, the command will recursively remove everything on your system. | A safer alternative to using **rm** for removing directories is the **rmdir** command. With this command, you won't be allowed to use recursive deletions, so a directory which has files in it won't be deleted. Read the **rmdir** man page by typing **man rmdir** to find out more about the command. *** | | | | |---|---|---| | [Prev](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/s1-managing-file-types.htm) | [Home](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/index.htm) | [Next](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/p7405.htm) | | Identifying and Working with File Types | [Up](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/ch-shellmanage.htm) | Q & A |

By now, you've learned a little about the structure of the filesystem; and you've learned how to create files and directories. But just because you know how to create files and directories doesn't mean that you're stuck with the changes you've made. What if you want to rename and/or move files and directories? Let's start with the copy command. ## [Copying Files]() Like so many Linux features, you have a variety of options from which to choose when you want to manipulate files and directories. You can also use wildcards when you're copying, moving, or deleting files and directories. Basically, the copy command is not much more complex than typing: ``` cp <source> <destination> ``` so to copy the file sneakers.txt to the directory tigger in your login directory, just type: ``` cp sneakers.txt tigger ``` Notice that you also used relative pathnames to copy the file. You can use both relative and absolute pathnames with **cp**. Our login directory is the parent of the directory tigger; meaning that tigger is one directory down from ours. Read the **cp** man page (**man cp**) for a full list of the options available with **cp**. But among the options you can use with **cp** are: - **\-i** -- interactive. Prompts you to confirm if the file is going to overwrite a file in your destination. This is a handy option because it can help prevent you from making mistakes. - **\-r** -- recursive. Rather than just copying all the files and directories, copies the whole directory tree, subdirectories and all, to another location. - **\-f** -- force. Copies without prompting you for confirmation that the file should be overwritten. Unless you're sure you want to force the copy, you probably don't want to make friends with this option right now. - **\-v** - verbose. Will show the progress of the files being copied. Just by using **cp** alone, you won't see much when the command is executed. Using an option, such as **\-i**, can make the process a little more useful, because if you want to copy a file to a location that already has a file with the same name, you'll be asked first if you really want to overwrite -- meaning replace -- the file that's already there. | | | |---|---| |  | **Don't be too "forceful"** | | | Remember that among your options is **\-f** (force), which can overwrite files without asking you if you're certain. Make sure, when you use the force option, that you *really* want to overwrite a file. | Now that we have the file sneakers.txt in the tigger directory, let's use **cp -i** to copy the file again to the same location. ``` [newuser@localhost newuser]$cp -i sneakers.txt tigger cp: overwrite 'tigger/sneakers.txt'? ``` To overwrite the file that's already there, press **Y** and then **Enter**. Don't want to overwrite the file? Now is the time to press **N** and **Enter**. ## [Moving Files]() To move files, use the **mv** command (**man mv**), which is similar to the **cp** command, except that with **mv** the file is physically moved from one place to another, instead of being duplicated, as with **cp**. Common options available with **mv** include: - **\-i** -- interactive. Will prompt you if the file you've selected will overwrite an existing file in the destination directory. This is a good option, because like the **\-i** option in **cp**, you'll be given the chance to make sure you want to replace an existing file. - **\-f** -- force. Overrides the interactive mode and moves without prompting. Unless you know what you're doing, this option doesn't play nice; be very careful about using it until you become more comfortable with your system. - **\-v** -- verbose. Shows a list of the files being moved. If you want to move a file out of your home directory and into another directory, you would type: ``` mv sneakers.txt tigger ``` or, **mv sneakers.txt /home/newuser /home/newuser/tigger** using absolute pathnames. ## [Renaming Files]() Actually, we've already covered half of renaming, because when you copy or move files, you can also rename. To copy the file sneakers.txt from our login directory to our tigger subdirectory, just type: ``` cp sneakers.txt tigger ``` To copy and rename that file from sneakers.txt to piglet.txt, type: ``` cp sneakers.txt tigger/piglet.txt ``` To *move* and rename the file, just substitute **mv** for **cp** in the above example. If you **cd** to tigger and use **ls**, you'll see the file **piglet.txt**. If you just want to rename the file and keep its location, just **mv** in your current directory: ``` mv sneakers.txt piglet.txt ``` ## [Deleting Files and Directories]() We talked about creating files with the **touch** command and by using redirection in [Chapter 13](http://ftp.kh.edu.tw/Linux/Redhat/en_6.2/doc/gsg/ch-navigating.htm). And we created the directory tigger using **mkdir**. But we haven't discussed how to delete files and directories. Deleting files and directories with the **rm** command (**man rm**) is a straightforward process. Let's take our new file piglet.txt, and delete it from the tigger directory with the **rm** command: ``` rm piglet.txt ``` What happens if we didn't really want to get rid of it? Too late! Again, that's where the **\-i** (interactive) option comes in handy, because it gives a second chance to think about whether we really want to toss the file. ``` [newuser@localhost newuser]$rm -i piglet.txt rm: remove 'piglet.txt'? ``` You can also delete files using the wildcard **\***, but be careful, because you can easily delete files you didn't intend to throw away. To remove a file using a wildcard, you would type: ``` rm pig* ``` You can also remove more than one file in one command, as in: ``` rm piglet.txt sneakers.txt ``` Options for removing files -- and directories -- include: - **\-i** -- interactive. Prompts you to confirm the deletion. This is good. - **\-f** -- force. Overrides interactive mode and removes the file(s) without prompting. This might not be good, unless you know exactly what you're doing. - **\-v** -- verbose. Shows a listing of files as they're being removed. - **\-r** -- recursive. When removing directories, will remove all of the files and the subdirectories of the specified directory. This can also get rid of an empty directory. To remove directories with **rm**, you must specify the **\-r** option. For example, if you want to recursively remove the directory **tigger** you would type: ``` rm -r tigger ``` And if you want to combine options, such as forcing a recursive deletion, you can type: ``` rm -rf tigger ``` | | | |---|---| |  | **Be careful\!** | | | The **rm** is a powerful command, and can delete your entire system! If you're root and you type the simple command **rm -rf /** you're sunk -- like a snake eating its tail, the command will recursively remove everything on your system. | A safer alternative to using **rm** for removing directories is the **rmdir** command. With this command, you won't be allowed to use recursive deletions, so a directory which has files in it won't be deleted. Read the **rmdir** man page by typing **man rmdir** to find out more about the command.