Editing Cp (Unix) (section)

{{Short description|Shell command that copies file}}
{{lowercase}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = cp
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = Cp-example-command-gimp.gif
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = Example usage of <code>cp</code> command
| author                 = [[Bell Labs|AT&T Bell Laboratories]]
| developer              = Various [[open-source software|open-source]] and [[commercial software|commercial]] developers
| released               = {{Start date and age|1971|11|03}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| programming language   = Plan 9: [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system       = [[Unix]], [[Unix-like]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[Inferno (operating system)|Inferno]], [[KolibriOS]]
| platform               = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre                  = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license                = [[coreutils]]: [[GPLv3]]<br />Plan 9: [[MIT License]]
| website                = 
}}
'''<code>cp</code>''' is a [[shell (computing)|shell]] [[command (computing)|command]] for copying [[computer file|files]] and [[directory (computing)|directories]]. 

If the [[computer user|user]] has write access to a target file, the command copies the content by opening it in update mode. This preserves the file's [[inode]] instead of creating a new file with default permissions.

The command was part of [[Version 1 Unix]],<ref name="reader">{{cite tech report |first1=M. D. |last1=McIlroy |author-link1=Doug McIlroy |year=1987 |url=http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~doug/reader.pdf |title=A Research Unix reader: annotated excerpts from the Programmer's Manual, 1971–1986 |series=CSTR |number=139 |institution=Bell Labs}}</ref> and is specified by [[POSIX]]. The implementation from [[GNU]] has many additional options beyond the POSIX specification.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/cp-invocation.html#cp-invocation|title=GNU Coreutils: cp invocation|website=GNU }}</ref> The command is bundled in [[GNU Core Utilities]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://linux.die.net/man/1/cp|title=Cp(1): Copy files/Directories - Linux man page}}</ref> and is available in the [[Unified Extensible Firmware Interface|EFI shell]].<ref name="EFI-Shells-and-Scripting">{{cite web
 | url = http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/efi-shells-and-scripting/
 | title = EFI Shells and Scripting
 | publisher = [[Intel]]
 | access-date = 2013-09-25
}}</ref>