The cp command is a Unix command used to copy files and directories. It is a standard command that is included with most Unix systems, including Linux and macOS.
To copy a file, you can use the following syntax:
cp source destination
For example, to copy a file file1.txt to a new file file2.txt, you can use the following command:
cp file1.txt file2.txt
You can also copy a file to a different directory by specifying the destination as a directory path:
cp file1.txt /path/to/destination
To copy multiple files at once, you can specify the source files as a list:
cp file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt /path/to/destination
To copy a directory, you can use the -r option to copy the directory and its contents recursively:
cp -r source destination
For example, to copy a directory dir1 to a new directory dir2, you can use the following command:
cp -r dir1 dir2
You can also use the -p option to preserve the file permissions and ownership when copying a file or directory:
cp -p source destination
You can use the -v option to display verbose output, showing the files as they are copied:
cp -v source destination
You can use the --help option to display a list of available options for the cp command.