NAME
mv —
move files
SYNOPSIS
mv |
[-fiv] source target |
mv |
[-fiv] source ...
directory |
DESCRIPTION
In its first form, themv 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 following options are available:
-f- Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination path.
-i- Causes
mvto 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. -v- Cause
mvto be verbose, showing files as they are processed.
The last of any -f or
-i options is the one which affects
mv's behavior.
It is an error for any of the source operands to specify a nonexistent file or directory.
It is an error for the source operand to specify a directory if the target exists and is not a directory.
If the destination path does not have a mode which permits
writing, mv prompts the user for confirmation as
specified for the -i option.
Should the
rename(2) call fail because source and
target are on different file systems,
mv will remove the destination file, copy the source
file to the destination, and then remove the source. The effect is roughly
equivalent to:
rm -f destination_path && \ cp -PRp source_file destination_path && \ rm -rf source_file
EXIT STATUS
The mv utility exits 0 on success,
and >0 if an error occurs.
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
The mv utility is expected to be
IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”)
compatible.
The -v option is an extension to
IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”).
HISTORY
An mv utility appeared in
Version 1 AT&T UNIX.