NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     mv - move files

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     mv [-fi] source target
     mv [-fi] source ... directory

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     In its first form, the mv utility renames the file named  by
the source
     operand to the destination path named by the target operand.
This form
     is assumed when the last operand does not  name  an  already
existing directory.


     In  its  second  form,  mv moves each file named by a source
operand to a
     destination file in the  existing  directory  named  by  the
directory
     operand.  The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced
     by the concatenation of the last operand, a slash,  and  the
final pathname
     component of the named file.

     The options are as follows:

     -f       Do  not  prompt for confirmation before overwriting
the destination
             path.

     -i      Causes mv 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  ``y'',
the move is
             attempted.

     The  last  of  any -f or -i options is the one which affects
mv's behavior.

     It is an error for either the source operand or the destination path to
     specify a directory unless both do.

     If  the  destination path does not have a mode which permits
writing, mv
     prompts the user for confirmation as specified  for  the  -i
option.

     As  the rename(2) call does not work across file systems, mv
uses cp(1)
     and rm(1) to accomplish the move.  The effect is  equivalent
to:

           $   rm   -f  destination_path  &&             cp  -PRp
source_file destination &&            rm -rf source_file

     The mv utility exits 0 on success or  >0  if  an  error  occurred.

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

     $ mv -f foo bar

     Rename  file  foo  to bar, overwriting bar if it already exists.

     $ mv -i -- -f bar
     $ mv -i ./-f bar

     Either of these commands will rename the  file  -f  to  bar,
prompting for
     confirmation if bar already exists.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     cp(1), symlink(7)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The   mv   utility   is  expected  to  be  IEEE  Std  1003.2
(``POSIX.2'') compatible.

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     A mv command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD      3.6                           May      31,      1993