Home / ubuntu / Questions / 26727
Accepted
user3215
Asked: 2011-02-17 18:33:05 +0800 CST

cp command process info

  • 772

Is there any specific package for cp command which shows the process of being copied.

I'm wondering if there is any package cp which shows additional information that what has been copied and what are left or how many percentage it has been copied...etc. Any body using any?

command-line

2 Answers

  1. You can use rsync to do the copy. If you use the -P option (show progress), it does just that.

    I tend to use rsync -avP <source> <dest> for most copying.

    • 8
  2. Best Answer

    You can pipe things into the pv command to add progress indication to programs that might not have their own progress meter. 

    cp -a source/ dest/ | pv

    However if I'm doing a copy large enough that I need a progress bar I end up using rsync anyway as Jeremy recommends. He also points out that you'll need to arrange your pipeline so that the data is piped though pv - the example gives only tells you how much data the cp is printing out, not how much is being copied. Something like this will work for single files: pv source > dest.

    However, for copying directories, you'll need to get more complex.

    • 7