freebsd-dev/bin/mv/mv.1

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.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
.\" $FreeBSD$
.\"
.Dd March 15, 2013
.Dt MV 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mv
.Nd move files
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl f | i | n
.Op Fl hv
.Ar source target
.Nm
.Op Fl f | i | n
.Op Fl v
.Ar source ... directory
.Sh DESCRIPTION
In its first form, the
.Nm
utility renames the file named by the
.Ar source
operand to the destination path named by the
.Ar target
operand.
This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
existing directory.
.Pp
In its second form,
.Nm
moves each file named by a
.Ar source
operand to a destination file in the existing directory named by the
.Ar directory
operand.
The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced by the
concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final pathname
component of the named file.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl f
Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
path.
(The
.Fl f
option overrides any previous
.Fl i
or
.Fl n
options.)
.It Fl h
If the
.Ar target
operand is a symbolic link to a directory,
do not follow it.
This causes the
.Nm
utility to rename the file
.Ar source
to the destination path
.Ar target
rather than moving
.Ar source
into the directory referenced by
.Ar target .
.It Fl i
Cause
.Nm
to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
overwrite an existing file.
If the response from the standard input begins with the character
.Ql y
or
.Ql Y ,
the move is attempted.
(The
.Fl i
option overrides any previous
.Fl f
or
.Fl n
options.)
.It Fl n
Do not overwrite an existing file.
(The
.Fl n
option overrides any previous
.Fl f
or
.Fl i
options.)
.It Fl v
Cause
.Nm
to be verbose, showing files after they are moved.
.El
.Pp
It is an error for the
.Ar source
operand to specify a directory if the target exists and is not a directory.
.Pp
If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
.Nm
prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
.Fl i
option.
.Pp
As the
.Xr rename 2
call does not work across file systems,
.Nm
uses
.Xr cp 1
and
.Xr rm 1
to accomplish the move.
The effect is equivalent to:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
rm -f destination_path && \e
cp -pRP source_file destination && \e
rm -rf source_file
.Ed
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh EXAMPLES
Rename file
.Pa foo
to
.Pa bar ,
overwriting
.Pa bar
if it already exists:
.Pp
.Dl $ mv -f foo bar
.Sh COMPATIBILITY
The
.Fl h ,
.Fl n ,
and
.Fl v
options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr rm 1 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is expected to be
.St -p1003.2
compatible.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v1 .