One of the uses of the cp command is copying files (the next page discusses directories).

Command Format

cp [-options] source_file(s) destination

Examples

The following is an example of how to create a new file by making a copy of an existing file in the same directory:

$ ls
rerun
$ cp rerun marcy
$ ls
rerun marcy
$

Here is an example of how to copy more than one file to a different directory:

$ pwd
/home/chuck
$ cp marcy marcy_6 /home/Snoopy
$ ls /home/Snoopy
marcy marcy_6
$

Use cp -i so that you do not accidentally overwrite files. The -i command will prompt you when you are about to overwrite an existing file.

$ cp -i marcy rerun
cp: overwrite rerun? n
$