INSTALL

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: March 2021
Page Index

NAME

install - copy files and set attributes

SYNOPSIS

install [,OPTION/]... [,-T/] ,SOURCE DEST/
install [,OPTION/]... ,SOURCE/... ,DIRECTORY/
install [,OPTION/]... ,-t DIRECTORY SOURCE/...
install [,OPTION/]... ,-d DIRECTORY/...

DESCRIPTION

This install program copies files (often just compiled) into destination locations you choose. If you want to download and install a ready-to-use package on a GNU/Linux system, you should instead be using a package manager like yum(1) or apt-get(1).

In the first three forms, copy SOURCE to DEST or multiple SOURCE(s) to the existing DIRECTORY, while setting permission modes and owner/group. In the 4th form, create all components of the given DIRECTORY(ies).

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

--backup[=,CONTROL/]: make a backup of each existing destination file
-b: like --backup but does not accept an argument
-c: (ignored)
-C, --compare: compare each pair of source and destination files, and in some cases, do not modify the destination at all
-d, --directory: treat all arguments as directory names; create all components of the specified directories
-D: create all leading components of DEST except the last, or all components of --target-directory, then copy SOURCE to DEST
-g, --group=,GROUP/: set group ownership, instead of process' current group
-m, --mode=,MODE/: set permission mode (as in chmod), instead of rwxr-xr-x
-o, --owner=,OWNER/: set ownership (super-user only)
-p, --preserve-timestamps: apply access/modification times of SOURCE files to corresponding destination files
-s, --strip: strip symbol tables
--strip-program=,PROGRAM/: program used to strip binaries
-S, --suffix=,SUFFIX/: override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=,DIRECTORY/: copy all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
-T, --no-target-directory: treat DEST as a normal file
-v, --verbose: print the name of each directory as it is created
-P, --preserve-context: preserve SELinux security context (-P deprecated)
-Z: set SELinux security context of destination file and each created directory to default type
--context[=,CTX/]: like -Z, or if CTX is specified then set the SELinux or SMACK security context to CTX
--help: display this help and exit
--version: output version information and exit

The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:

none, off: never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t: make numbered backups
existing, nil: numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never: always make simple backups

AUTHOR

Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS

GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.