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Prompt to confirm copy even with cp -f?

Posted 8th April in Linux, Shell, System Administration. 5 Comments

Wow – I get so frustrated when I try to copy some files over old ones and I get:

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[root@server1 wordpress]# cp -Rf * ../public_html/
cp: overwrite `../public_html/license.txt'? y

-R is recursive, but -f is supposed to copy over without confirmation. What could it be?!

Check out your alias command using ‘alias’:

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[root@server1 wordpress]# alias
alias cp='cp -i'

Sure enough – alias is set on Redhat Based systems into -i, or interactive mode. Remove this alias with ‘unalias cp’ and it will be removed.

Happy copying!


Originally posted 20080408 and last touched 20080408
Dave Drager+ is the Chief Technology Officer at XDA-Developers, where he keeps the server farm running efficiently for millions of visitors per day. He has written previously for the technology blogs Lifehacker and MakeUseOf.

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  • Anstar

    also you can use full path to command:
    /bin/cp -Rf * ../public_html/

    in this case alias will not work :)

  • Anstar

    also you can use full path to command:
    /bin/cp -Rf * ../public_html/

    in this case alias will not work :)

  • mandy

    Hi,
    I am also looking for the solution for the above code.Did you get the chance to write the bash script for that .If possible send me that program it would be very helpful for me.

    Thanks

  • mandy

    Hi,
    I am also looking for the solution for the above code.Did you get the chance to write the bash script for that .If possible send me that program it would be very helpful for me.

    Thanks

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