Today I Learnt: Copy files with cp

Copy a file:

cp src.txt dest.txt

Copy recursively:

cp -r srcdir/ destdir/

Tip: cp -a preserves attributes and is useful for backups.

title: "Copy a file with cp" date: "2025-09-16" tags: ["bash","til"] draft: false summary: "Use cp to copy files and preserve attributes when needed."

cp source.txt dest.txt
# preserve mode, ownership and timestamps
cp -a source.txt dest_dir/

Tips:

• Use cp -r for directories.
• cp -a keeps metadata; use sudo when copying system files.

title: "Today I Learnt: Copy files with cp" date: "2025-09-16" tags: ["bash", "til"] draft: false summary: "Copy files preserving attributes."

Copy a file preserving attributes:

cp -a source.txt dest.txt