I have just started to work on a Imac macOS HighSierra and when trying to copy some files I keep getting the error:
I just made a test directory to clarify the issue:
The directory test contains:
file1.txt file2.txt folder1
Using the following command in the parent directory:
cp -R test/ .
I get this error:
cp: illegal option -- ?
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvXc] source_file target_file
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvXc] source_file ... target_directory
According to manual page for cp, the -R argument means:
If source_file designates a directory, cp copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. If the source_file ends in a /, the contents of the
directory are copied rather than the directory itself.
Any suggestions as to why I get the error ?
I have bash version version 3.2.57(1)-release
----UPDATE---
According to comments to this issue, I provide some additional information:
which cp returns /bin/cp
echo cp -R test/ .returns cp -R test/ .
set | grep cp returns nothing
cp --version and cp --help returns cp: illegal option -- ? usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvXc] source_file target_file cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvXc] source_file ... target_directory
man cp returns the manual page but it doesn't seem to depict anything about the version except BSD February 23, 2005 BSD
For Mac OS, change the cp commands as below examples
Ex 1.
"copy:schemas": "cp --parents schematics/*/schema.json ../../dist/my-lib/",
as
"copy:schemas": "find schematics -type f -name 'schema.json' -exec rsync -R {} ../../dist/my-lib/ \\;",
Ex 2.
copy:files": "cp --parents -p schematics/*/files/** ../../dist/my-lib/",
as
"copy:files": "find schematics/*/files/** -exec rsync -R {} ../../dist/my-lib/ \\;",
Hope this helps 😊.
Does this solve your issue:
cp -R test/* .
or:
cp -R test/* ./
By adding the asterisk, you mention that you are copying files, not a directory.
Related
I am trying to move files from folder A to folder B whenever a file contains a certain string:
grep -Rli '22/05/2018' ads/ | awk -F "//" '{print $2}' | xargs cp $0 projection/$1
cp: illegal option -- b
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory
how to fix this?
Following may help you here.
grep -L -Z -r 'your_string_to_be_checked' . | xargs -0 -I{} mv {} target_directory/
Explanation:
grep -L: Means leave those files which are NOT having that specific string which we are searching for.
-Z: means output should have \0 in file names so space is not being used as delimiter.
-I{} mv {} new_directory/ means replace {} with file names and make it like mv filename new_directory and run it to move the files to new place.
I am using mv here you could use cp too here.
Not sure why you're using awk.
Solution:
grep -lir '22/05/2018' ~/ads/* | xargs cp -t $DEST_FOLDER
Source
Once you have the list of filenames you want to copy you could just use xargs -I:
$ cat listOfFileNames | xargs -I{} cp {} $destFolder
the -I option gives a name to the list of arguments, allowing you to place them wherever you want.
I am trying to copy the contents of a folder called exampleSite into my current folder.
My command is like this:
cp themes/goa/exampleSite/* . -r
however i'm getting the following error
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory
Any suggestions?
The correct way to use copy command in unix is -
cp -r themes/goa/exampleSite/* .
where, cp is the <command>
themes/goa/exampleSite/* is <1st arugment> i.e. SOURCE
. is <2nd argument> i.e. DESTINATION
Whenever a command you run, fails unexpectedly immediately due to some syntax error. Please run
man <command>
This will show you the right syntax!
Hope it helps..
How could I use cp -r command to copy more directories? For example, I'd to copy awesome.txt, neat.txt in the folder something with the command cp -r awesome.txt neat.txt something, but I have an error.
Error :
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory
Thanks!
There are several ways you could achieve this. The easiest I have seen is to use the following.
cp /home/usr/dir/{file1,file2,file3,file4} /home/usr/destination/
The syntax uses the cp command followed by the path to the directory the desired files are located in with all the files you wish to copy wrapped in brackets and separated by commas.
Make sure to note that there are no spaces between the files. The last part of the command, /home/usr/destination/, is the directory you wish to copy the files into.
or if the all the files have the same prefix but different endings you could do something like this:
cp /home/usr/dir/file{1..4} ./
Where file1,file2,file3 and file4 would be copied.
I'm writing a shell script on MacOSX for the first time, and I'm a little stuck. I'm creating a website, and wanted a simple way to manage updating my files from my git repo to the localhost server. It's also just an excuse to learn shell scripting. Here's what I have so far:
#!/bin/bash
echo "Removing old Files..."
rm -r /Library/WebServer/Documents/ServerObserver/*
echo "Copying new Files to WebServer"
cp -r /Users/ajay/Documents/ServerObserverRepo/* /WebServer/Documents/ServerObserver/
echo "Done!"
The removing part works fine, but copying does not work. I get this message in my Terminal:
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory
Of course, it didn't copy either. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
~Carpetfizz
You should consider rsync, as in
rsync --delete -a /Users/ajay/Documents/ServerObserverRepo/ /WebServer/Documents/ServerObserver/
that removes the need for the rm command and the cp command, and only copies the changed files / removes the deleted ones. :)
change
cp -r /Users/ajay/Documents/ServerObserverRepo/* /WebServer/Documents/ServerObserver/
to
cp -r /Users/ajay/Documents/ServerObserverRepo/* /WebServer/Documents/ServerObserver/.
I want to copy all files that begin with a string to a folder in the same directory. I've tried cp foo* backup/foo* but get
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file
cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory
How can I copy accomplish this?
cp foo* backup/
Just specify the target directory. This isn't a DOS command window.