Copy via tar pipe while preserving file permissions (cp does not!; run this command with root!)

cp -pr olddirectory newdirectory

cp options: -p will preserve the file mode, ownership, and timestamps -r will copy files recursively also, if you want to keep symlinks in addition to the above: use the -a/--archive option

By: stanishjohnd

2009-08-22 22:11:24

2 Alternatives + Submit Alt

Copy via tar pipe while preserving file permissions (run this command as root!)

It's the same like 'cp -p' if available. It's faster over networks than scp. If you have to copy gigs of data you could also use netcat and the tar -z option in conjunction -- on the receiving end do: # nc -l 7000 | tar -xzvpf - ...and on the sending end do: # tar -czf - * | nc otherhost 7000
This is sample output - yours may be different.
1

tar -C /oldirectory -cvpf - . | tar -C /newdirector -xvf -

Cowboy · 2009-08-22 20:05:49 5
Bulk copy large blocks of data between File Systems (run as root iff you do not own all of the files!)

Using tape archive create a tar file in Stdout (-) and pipe that into a compound command to extract the tar file from Stdin at the destination. This similar to "Copy via tar pipe ...", but copies across file systems boundaries. I prefer to use cp -pr for copying within the same file system. Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
Script started on Sun Sep 20 13:07:18 2009
$ pwd
/Volumes/Photos1/Users/Videos/PixelPerfect
$ du -sh 2006
1.1G	2006
$ ls -1R 2006 | wc -l
      15
$ tar cpof - 2006 |( cd ~/Videos/; tar xpof -)
$ du -sh !$
$ du -sh ~/Videos/2006
1.1G	/Users/davidpotter42/Videos/2006
Script done on Sun Sep 20 13:11:37 2009
```
-2

tar cpof - src |( cd des; tar xpof -)

davidpotter42 · 2009-09-20 20:43:30 3

What Others Think

This command will not preserve symbolic links or hard links. 'cp -P' preserves symlinks, but it cannot preserve hard links (note this is not the same as the --link option). Tar will preserve hard links and symlinks by default.

arcege · 788 weeks and 3 days ago

seofox · 141 weeks and 1 day ago

seofox · 139 weeks and 6 days ago

Firstly, Have you been struggling to rehome a Pug Puppies for Sale Under $500 Near Me? Search no more, Excellent Home Pug Puppy Home has beautiful, friendly and potty trained pug puppies just for you. Also, We guarantee the health of pug puppies to AKC standard. Inbox for rehoming procedures

rahimhh21 · 110 weeks and 2 days ago

rahimhh21 · 110 weeks and 2 days ago

Perfecthomepugs · 101 weeks and 6 days ago

???? ??????? ??????

apadanaa44 · 82 weeks and 6 days ago

pugpuppies95 · 63 weeks and 6 days ago

What do you think?

Any thoughts on this command? Does it work on your machine? Can you do the same thing with only 14 characters?

You must be signed in to comment.

What's this?

commandlinefu.com is the place to record those command-line gems that you return to again and again. That way others can gain from your CLI wisdom and you from theirs too. All commands can be commented on, discussed and voted up or down.

Share Your Commands

Similar Commands

Use a tar pipe to copy one directory to another, preserving file permissions.

Tar Pipe

transfer files locally to be sure that file permissions are kept correctly showing progress

Terminate script or shell if not launched as root

Stay in the loop…

Follow the Tweets.

Every new command is wrapped in a tweet and posted to Twitter. Following the stream is a great way of staying abreast of the latest commands. For the more discerning, there are Twitter accounts for commands that get a minimum of 3 and 10 votes - that way only the great commands get tweeted.

» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu3
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu10

Subscribe to the feeds.

Use your favourite RSS aggregator to stay in touch with the latest commands. There are feeds mirroring the 3 Twitter streams as well as for virtually every other subset (users, tags, functions,…):

Subscribe to the feed for:

» all commands
» commands with 3 up-votes (commandlinefu3)
» commands with 10 up-votes (commandlinefu10)