xref: /freebsd/bin/mv/mv.1 (revision 1e413cf93298b5b97441a21d9a50fdcd0ee9945e)
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32.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd May 12, 2007
36.Dt MV 1
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm mv
40.Nd move files
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm
43.Op Fl f | i | n
44.Op Fl v
45.Ar source target
46.Nm
47.Op Fl f | i | n
48.Op Fl v
49.Ar source ... directory
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51In its first form, the
52.Nm
53utility renames the file named by the
54.Ar source
55operand to the destination path named by the
56.Ar target
57operand.
58This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
59existing directory.
60.Pp
61In its second form,
62.Nm
63moves each file named by a
64.Ar source
65operand to a destination file in the existing directory named by the
66.Ar directory
67operand.
68The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced by the
69concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final pathname
70component of the named file.
71.Pp
72The following options are available:
73.Bl -tag -width indent
74.It Fl f
75Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
76path.
77(The
78.Fl f
79option overrides any previous
80.Fl i
81or
82.Fl n
83options.)
84.It Fl i
85Cause
86.Nm
87to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
88overwrite an existing file.
89If the response from the standard input begins with the character
90.Ql y
91or
92.Ql Y ,
93the move is attempted.
94(The
95.Fl i
96option overrides any previous
97.Fl f
98or
99.Fl n
100options.)
101.It Fl n
102Do not overwrite an existing file.
103(The
104.Fl n
105option overrides any previous
106.Fl f
107or
108.Fl i
109options.)
110.It Fl v
111Cause
112.Nm
113to be verbose, showing files after they are moved.
114.El
115.Pp
116It is an error for the
117.Ar source
118operand to specify a directory if the target exists and is not a directory.
119.Pp
120If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
121.Nm
122prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
123.Fl i
124option.
125.Pp
126As the
127.Xr rename 2
128call does not work across file systems,
129.Nm
130uses
131.Xr cp 1
132and
133.Xr rm 1
134to accomplish the move.
135The effect is equivalent to:
136.Bd -literal -offset indent
137rm -f destination_path && \e
138cp -pRP source_file destination && \e
139rm -rf source_file
140.Ed
141.Sh EXIT STATUS
142.Ex -std
143.Sh COMPATIBILITY
144The
145.Fl n
146and
147.Fl v
148options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
149.Sh SEE ALSO
150.Xr cp 1 ,
151.Xr rm 1 ,
152.Xr symlink 7
153.Sh STANDARDS
154The
155.Nm
156utility is expected to be
157.St -p1003.2
158compatible.
159.Sh HISTORY
160A
161.Nm
162command appeared in
163.At v1 .
164