MV

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: March 2007
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NAME

mv - move (rename) files

SYNOPSIS

mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
mv [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...

DESCRIPTION

Rename SOURCE to DEST, or move SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

--backup[=CONTROL]: make a backup of each existing destination file
-b: like --backup but does not accept an argument
-f, --force: do not prompt before overwriting
-i, --interactive: prompt before overwrite
--strip-trailing-slashes: remove any trailing slashes from each SOURCE argument
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX: override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY: move all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
-T, --no-target-directory: treat DEST as a normal file
-u, --update: move only when the SOURCE file is newer than the destination file or when the destination file is missing
-v, --verbose: explain what is being done
--help: display this help and exit
--version: output version information and exit

The backup suffix is `~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:

none, off: never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t: make numbered backups
existing, nil: numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never: always make simple backups

AUTHOR

Written by Mike Parker, David MacKenzie, and Jim Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.