mv - move (rename) files

mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
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

-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,older(default)}. See below

-u

equivalent to --update[=older]

-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 similar to the --no-clobber option, in that no files in the destination are replaced, but also skipped files do not 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

rename(2)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mv>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mv invocation'