MV(1)                      OpenBSD Reference Manual                      MV(1)

NAME
     mv - move files

SYNOPSIS
     mv [-fi] source target
     mv [-fi] source ... directory

DESCRIPTION
     In its first form, the mv utility moves the file named by the source
     operand to the destination path named by the target operand.  This form
     is assumed when the last operand does not name an already existing direc-
     tory.

     In its second form, mv moves each file named by a source operand to a
     destination specified by the directory operand.  It is an error if the
     directory operand does not exist.  The destination path for each source
     operand is the pathname produced by the concatenation of the directory
     operand, a slash, and the final pathname component of the named file.

     The options are as follows:

     -f      Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
             path.

     -i      Causes mv to write a prompt to standard error before moving a
             file that would overwrite an existing file.  If the response from
             the standard input begins with the character ``y'', the move is
             attempted.

     The last of any -f or -i options is the one which affects mv's behavior.

     The mv utility moves symbolic links, not the files referenced by the
     links.

     If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing, mv
     prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the -i option.

     Should the rename(2) call fail because the source and destination are on
     different file systems, mv will use cp(1) and rm(1) to accomplish the
     move.  The effect is equivalent to:

           $ rm -f destination_path && \
               cp -PRp source_file destination && \
               rm -rf source_file

     The mv utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
     Rename file foo to bar, overwriting bar if it already exists:

           $ mv -f foo bar

     Either of these commands will rename the file -f to bar, prompting for
     confirmation if bar already exists:

           $ mv -i -- -f bar
           $ mv -i ./-f bar

SEE ALSO
     cp(1), rm(1), rename(2), symlink(7)

STANDARDS
     The mv utility is compliant with the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (``POSIX'')
     specification.

HISTORY
     A mv command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

CAVEATS
     In the second synopsis form if the destination path exists, the source
     operand and the destination path must both be a file or must both be a
     directory for the operation to succeed.  For example, if f is a file and
     d and d/f are directories, the following command will fail:

           $ mv f d

OpenBSD 4.7                    February 8, 2009                              2
