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.\" $OpenBSD: mv.1,v 1.22 2007/05/31 19:19:15 jmc Exp $
.\" $NetBSD: mv.1,v 1.8 1995/03/21 09:06:51 cgd Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993
.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\" without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" @(#)mv.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: May 31 2007 $
.Dt MV 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mv
.Nd move files
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm mv
.Op Fl fi
.Ar source target
.Nm mv
.Op Fl fi
.Ar source ... directory
.Sh DESCRIPTION
In its first form, the
.Nm
utility renames the file named by the
.Ar source
operand to the destination path named by the
.Ar target
operand.
This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
existing directory.
.Pp
In its second form,
.Nm
moves each file named by a
.Ar source
operand to a destination specified by the
.Ar directory
operand.
It is an error if the
.Ar directory
operand does not exist.
The destination path for each
.Ar file
operand is the pathname produced by the concatenation of the
.Ar directory
operand, a slash, and the final pathname component of the named file.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl f
Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
path.
.It Fl i
Causes
.Nm
to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
overwrite an existing file.
If the response from the standard input begins with the character
.Dq y ,
the move is attempted.
.El
.Pp
The last of any
.Fl f
or
.Fl i
options is the one which affects
.Nm mv Ns 's
behavior.
.Pp
If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
.Nm
prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
.Fl i
option.
.Pp
As the
.Xr rename 2
call does not work across file systems,
.Nm
uses
.Xr cp 1
and
.Xr rm 1
to accomplish the move.
The effect is equivalent to:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
$ rm -f destination_path && \e
cp -PRp source_file destination && \e
rm -rf source_file
.Ed
.Pp
.Ex -std mv
.Sh EXAMPLES
Rename file
.Pa foo
to
.Pa bar ,
overwriting
.Pa bar
if it already exists:
.Pp
.Dl $ mv -f foo bar
.Pp
Either of these commands will rename the file
.Pa -f
to
.Pa bar ,
prompting for confirmation if
.Pa bar
already exists:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
$ mv -i -- -f bar
$ mv -i ./-f bar
.Ed
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is compliant with the
.St -p1003.1-2004
specification.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v1 .
.Sh CAVEATS
In the second synopsis form
if the destination path exists,
the
.Ar source
operand and the destination path
must both be a file or must both be a directory
for the operation to succeed.
For example, if
.Pa f
is a file and
.Pa d
and
.Pa d/f
are directories, the following command will fail:
.Pp
.Dl $ mv f d
|
