Cp (Unix)
| cp | |
|---|---|
Example usage of cp command | |
| Original author(s) | AT&T Bell Laboratories |
| Developer(s) | Various open-source and commercial developers |
| Initial release | November 3, 1971 |
| Written in | Plan 9: C |
| Operating system | Unix, Unix-like, Plan 9, Inferno, KolibriOS |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Command |
| License | coreutils: GPLv3 Plan 9: MIT License |
cp is a shell command for copying files and directories.
If the user has write access to a target file, the command copies the content by opening it in update mode. This preserves the file's inode instead of creating a new file with default permissions.
The command was part of Version 1 Unix, and is specified by POSIX. The implementation from GNU has many additional options beyond the POSIX specification. The command is bundled in GNU Core Utilities and is available in the EFI shell.