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mv

Terminal window
mv --help
Usage: mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
or: mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
or: mv [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
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
--debug
explain how a file is copied. Implies -v
--exchange
exchange source and destination
-f, --force
do not prompt before overwriting
-i, --interactive
prompt before overwrite
-n, --no-clobber
do not overwrite an existing file
If you specify more than one of -i, -f, -n, only the final one takes effect.
--no-copy
do not copy if renaming fails
--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
--update[=UPDATE]
control which existing files are updated;
UPDATE={all,none,none-fail,older(default)}
-u
equivalent to --update[=older]. See below
-v, --verbose
explain what is being done
-Z, --context
set SELinux security context of destination file to default type
--help
display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
UPDATE controls which existing files in the destination are replaced.
'all' is the default operation when an --update option is not specified,
and results in all existing files in the destination being replaced.
'none' is like the --no-clobber option, in that no files in the
destination are replaced, and skipped files do not induce a failure.
'none-fail' also ensures no files are replaced in the destination,
but any skipped files are diagnosed and induce a failure.
'older' is the default operation when --update is specified, and results
in files being replaced if they're older than the corresponding source file.
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
Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mv>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mv invocation'