.\" $NetBSD: mv.1,v 1.32 2020/06/24 17:00:58 riastradh 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 June 24, 2020 .Dt MV 1 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm mv .Nd move files .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm .Op Fl fhiv .Ar source target .Nm .Op Fl fiv .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 or when the .Fl h flag is specified. .Pp In its second form, .Nm moves each file named by a .Ar source operand to a destination file in the existing directory named by the .Ar 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. .Pp The following options are available: .Bl -tag -width flag .It Fl f Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination path. .It Fl h Try to rename the source to the target irrespective of whether the target may resolve to a directory. This option allows atomically replacing a symbolic link to a directory. .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 ``y'', the move is attempted. .It Fl v Cause .Nm to be verbose, showing files as they are processed. .El .Pp The last of any .Fl f or .Fl i options is the one which affects .Nm Ns 's behavior. .Pp It is an error for any of the .Ar source operands to specify a nonexistent file or directory. .Pp It is an error for the .Ar source operand to specify a directory if the .Ar target exists and is not a directory. .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 Should the .Xr rename 2 call fail because .Ar source and .Ar target are on different file systems, .Nm will remove the destination file, copy the source file to the destination, and then remove the source. The effect is roughly equivalent to: .Bd -literal -offset indent rm -f destination_path && \e cp -PRp source_file destination_path && \e rm -rf source_file .Ed .Sh EXIT STATUS .Ex -std mv .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr cp 1 , .Xr rename 2 , .Xr symlink 7 .Sh STANDARDS The .Nm utility is expected to be .St -p1003.2 compatible. .Pp The .Fl h and .Fl v options are extensions to .St -p1003.2 . .Sh HISTORY An .Nm utility appeared in .At v1 .