xref: /freebsd/bin/mv/mv.1 (revision 42c159fe388a3765f69860c84183700af37aca8a)
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35.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
36.\" $FreeBSD$
37.\"
38.Dd May 31, 1993
39.Dt MV 1
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm mv
43.Nd move files
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Nm
46.Op Fl f | Fl i | Fl n
47.Op Fl v
48.Ar source target
49.Nm
50.Op  Fl f | Fl i
51.Op Fl v
52.Ar source ... directory
53.Sh DESCRIPTION
54In its first form, the
55.Nm
56utility renames the file named by the
57.Ar source
58operand to the destination path named by the
59.Ar target
60operand.
61This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
62existing directory.
63.Pp
64In its second form,
65.Nm
66moves each file named by a
67.Ar source
68operand to a destination file in the existing directory named by the
69.Ar directory
70operand.
71The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced by the
72concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final pathname
73component of the named file.
74.Pp
75The following options are available:
76.Bl -tag -width flag
77.It Fl f
78Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
79path.
80(The
81.Fl f
82option overrides any previous
83.Fl i
84or
85.Fl n
86options.)
87.It Fl i
88Cause
89.Nm
90to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
91overwrite an existing file.
92If the response from the standard input begins with the character
93.Sq Li y
94or
95.Sq Li Y ,
96the move is attempted.
97(The
98.Fl i
99option overrides any previous
100.Fl f
101or
102.Fl n
103options.)
104.It Fl n
105Do not overwriting an existing file.
106(The
107.Fl n
108option overrides any previous
109.Fl f
110or
111.Fl i
112options.)
113.It Fl v
114Cause
115.Nm
116to be verbose, showing files after they are moved.
117.El
118.Pp
119It is an error for either the
120.Ar source
121operand or the destination path to specify a directory unless both do.
122.Pp
123If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
124.Nm
125prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
126.Fl i
127option.
128.Pp
129As the
130.Xr rename  2
131call does not work across file systems,
132.Nm
133uses
134.Xr cp 1
135and
136.Xr rm 1
137to accomplish the move.
138The effect is equivalent to:
139.Bd -literal -offset indent
140rm -f destination_path && \e
141\tcp -pRP source_file destination && \e
142\trm -rf source_file
143.Ed
144.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
145.Ex -std
146.Sh SEE ALSO
147.Xr cp 1 ,
148.Xr rm 1 ,
149.Xr symlink 7
150.Sh COMPATIBILITY
151The
152.Fl n
153and
154.Fl v
155options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
156.Sh STANDARDS
157The
158.Nm
159utility is expected to be
160.St -p1003.2
161compatible.
162.Sh HISTORY
163A
164.Nm
165command appeared in
166.At v1 .
167