How to copy directories?

[kiros88]

Im trying to copy a ton of files in one directory to another and im using linux-2.6.30
i was wondering if there was a command or recursive way to say {yes} when it askes if you want to overwrite the existing file? i looked cp online and it says there should be a command --reply but im not really sure how to override the prompt that asking if u

[claudiu]

uhmm.. and this is related to C how?

[tabstop]

This will find its way to Tech Board soon enough.

You should type "man cp" at your terminal and read the options. I don't have a "reply", but I have an "update".

[laserlight]

This will find its way to Tech Board soon enough.

Right.

[kermit]

i was wondering if there was a command or recursive way to say {yes} when it askes if you want to overwrite the existing file?

I dunno...maybe the yes command?

Edit:

The yes man page is almost worthless. Have a look at this wiki for an idea of how it can be used.

[MK27]

This is one reason I recommend using mc as a file browser on linux. It's terminal based, which turns some people off, but

1) it actually makes way more sense to have a file browser with shell/command line integration, rather than a GUI file browser with icon/drag and drop integration. Which the later remind me more of crib toys you would hang to help an infant learn to recognize objects rather than a tool a self-respecting programmer would want.

2) GNU mc is still being developed, meaning it's like 20 years mature, and has way more to it than Nautilus, Konqueror, etc.

Anyway, here's a screenshot of me copying directories from ~/C into a tmp directory to create an iso for a dvd backup. The view is split paned between the two directories. The bold white items are directories, you click on one, press F5, it is copied into the other panel. Recursively, all attributes preserved (if the filesystem type is the same, which it is), done.

All distros have an mc package, either "yum search midnight" or "apt-cache search midnight" will find it (mc = midnight commander ).

If you want to download and build:
Midnight Commander

Anyway, that's why I dunno how to do what you are saying off the top of my head, because I have been spoiled by mc and the fact that it's always there on any linux system and even works over ssh because it is terminal based.

I've done shell scripts for this (actually I think it is doable just with cp switches), but unless you need to automate (which you could do in C anyway) it will only take 2 minutes to install mc, type "mc" in a terminal, and another 2 min to find <F5>, so that's the easy way. It asks you once if you want to overwrite, you click "all" and that's it.

[itCbitC]

Supply the "-f" switch

cp -f <src> <dest>

[brewbuck]

cp -fvR /path/to/src /path/to/dst

If you want to preserve file ownership, mode, and timestamp, give -p:

cp -fpvR /path/to/src /path/to/dst

[MK27]

I am thinking kiros88's real problem is this:

alias cp='cp -i'

Most distros put this in ~/.bashrc. So your "cp" is by default a "cp -i", which means it asks for confirmation.

Ie, it's not a switch you're missing, it's a switch you're (inadvertantly) using.

[jeffcobb]

Actually in this case I would use rsync:

rsync -av /srcdir/foo /destdir/bar/

If you want to see whats going on, add --progress. In any event, not only does this handle the recursion for you, it also handles file permissions and so on. Also if there is /src/foo.txt and /dest/foo.txt, it will only copy foo.txt if the src is newer than the destination. As an added bonus, if you are going over a network it can apply compression to the files as well as make use of ssh. Oh yeah and it also confirms the copy was good before moving on. rsync - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia