xref: /freebsd/bin/mv/mv.1 (revision 817420dc8eac7df799c78f5309b75092b7f7cd40)
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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
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
84options.)
85.It Fl i
86Cause
87.Nm
88to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
89overwrite an existing file.
90If the response from the standard input begins with the character
91.Sq Li y
92or
93.Sq Li Y ,
94the move is attempted.
95(The
96.Fl i
97option overrides any previous
98.Fl f
99options.)
100.It Fl v
101Cause
102.Nm
103to be verbose, showing files after they are moved.
104.El
105.Pp
106It is an error for either the
107.Ar source
108operand or the destination path to specify a directory unless both do.
109.Pp
110If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
111.Nm
112prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
113.Fl i
114option.
115.Pp
116As the
117.Xr rename  2
118call does not work across file systems,
119.Nm
120uses
121.Xr cp 1
122and
123.Xr rm 1
124to accomplish the move.
125The effect is equivalent to:
126.Bd -literal -offset indent
127rm -f destination_path && \e
128\tcp -pRP source_file destination && \e
129\trm -rf source_file
130.Ed
131.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
132The
133.Nm
134utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
135.Sh SEE ALSO
136.Xr cp 1 ,
137.Xr rm 1 ,
138.Xr symlink 7
139.Sh COMPATIBILITY
140The
141.Fl v
142option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
143.Sh STANDARDS
144The
145.Nm
146utility is expected to be
147.St -p1003.2
148compatible.
149.Sh HISTORY
150A
151.Nm
152command appeared in
153.At v1 .
154