/bin/mv/mv.1

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 32.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
 33.\" $FreeBSD$
 34.\"
 35.Dd August 28, 2012
 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 hv
 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 h
 85If the
 86.Ar target
 87operand is a symbolic link to a directory,
 88do not follow it.
 89This causes the
 90.Nm
 91utility to rename the file
 92.Ar source
 93to the destination path
 94.Ar target
 95rather than moving
 96.Ar source
 97into the directory referenced by
 98.Ar target .
 99.It Fl i
100Cause
101.Nm
102to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
103overwrite an existing file.
104If the response from the standard input begins with the character
105.Ql y
106or
107.Ql Y ,
108the move is attempted.
109(The
110.Fl i
111option overrides any previous
112.Fl f
113or
114.Fl n
115options.)
116.It Fl n
117Do not overwrite an existing file.
118(The
119.Fl n
120option overrides any previous
121.Fl f
122or
123.Fl i
124options.)
125.It Fl v
126Cause
127.Nm
128to be verbose, showing files after they are moved.
129.El
130.Pp
131It is an error for the
132.Ar source
133operand to specify a directory if the target exists and is not a directory.
134.Pp
135If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
136.Nm
137prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
138.Fl i
139option.
140.Pp
141As the
142.Xr rename 2
143call does not work across file systems,
144.Nm
145uses
146.Xr cp 1
147and
148.Xr rm 1
149to accomplish the move.
150The effect is equivalent to:
151.Bd -literal -offset indent
152rm -f destination_path && \e
153cp -pRP source_file destination && \e
154rm -rf source_file
155.Ed
156.Sh EXIT STATUS
157.Ex -std
158.Sh COMPATIBILITY
159The
160.Fl h ,
161.Fl n ,
162and
163.Fl v
164options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.
165.Sh SEE ALSO
166.Xr cp 1 ,
167.Xr rm 1 ,
168.Xr symlink 7
169.Sh STANDARDS
170The
171.Nm
172utility is expected to be
173.St -p1003.2
174compatible.
175.Sh HISTORY
176A
177.Nm
178command appeared in
179.At v1 .