MV
Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: March 2021
Page Index
NAME
mv - move (rename) files
SYNOPSIS
mv
[
,OPTION/]... [
,-T/]
,SOURCE DEST/
mv
[
,OPTION/]...
,SOURCE/...
,DIRECTORY/
mv
[
,OPTION/]...
,-t DIRECTORY SOURCE/...
DESCRIPTION
Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
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
- -f, --force
-
do not prompt before overwriting
- -i, --interactive
-
prompt before overwrite
- -n, --no-clobber
-
do not overwrite an existing file
If you specify more than one of -i, -f, -n, only the final one takes effect.
- --strip-trailing-slashes
-
remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE
argument
- -S, --suffix=,SUFFIX/
-
override the usual backup suffix
- -t, --target-directory=,DIRECTORY/
-
move all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
- -T, --no-target-directory
-
treat DEST as a normal file
- -u, --update
-
move only when the SOURCE file is newer
than the destination file or when the
destination file is missing
- -v, --verbose
-
explain what is being done
- -Z, --context
-
set SELinux security context of destination
file to default type
- --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 Mike Parker, David MacKenzie, and Jim Meyering.
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.
SEE ALSO
rename(2)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mv>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mv invocation'