119 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
119 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "cp"
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description: "The cp command description and usage"
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keywords: "copy, container, files, folders"
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---
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# cp
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```markdown
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Usage: docker cp [OPTIONS] CONTAINER:SRC_PATH DEST_PATH|-
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docker cp [OPTIONS] SRC_PATH|- CONTAINER:DEST_PATH
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Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
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Use '-' as the source to read a tar archive from stdin
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and extract it to a directory destination in a container.
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Use '-' as the destination to stream a tar archive of a
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container source to stdout.
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Options:
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-L, --follow-link Always follow symbol link in SRC_PATH
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-a, --archive Archive mode (copy all uid/gid information)
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--help Print usage
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```
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## Description
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The `docker cp` utility copies the contents of `SRC_PATH` to the `DEST_PATH`.
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You can copy from the container's file system to the local machine or the
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reverse, from the local filesystem to the container. If `-` is specified for
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either the `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH`, you can also stream a tar archive from
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`STDIN` or to `STDOUT`. The `CONTAINER` can be a running or stopped container.
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The `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH` can be a file or directory.
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The `docker cp` command assumes container paths are relative to the container's
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`/` (root) directory. This means supplying the initial forward slash is optional;
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The command sees `compassionate_darwin:/tmp/foo/myfile.txt` and
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`compassionate_darwin:tmp/foo/myfile.txt` as identical. Local machine paths can
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be an absolute or relative value. The command interprets a local machine's
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relative paths as relative to the current working directory where `docker cp` is
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run.
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The `cp` command behaves like the Unix `cp -a` command in that directories are
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copied recursively with permissions preserved if possible. Ownership is set to
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the user and primary group at the destination. For example, files copied to a
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container are created with `UID:GID` of the root user. Files copied to the local
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machine are created with the `UID:GID` of the user which invoked the `docker cp`
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command. However, if you specify the `-a` option, `docker cp` sets the ownership
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to the user and primary group at the source.
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If you specify the `-L` option, `docker cp` follows any symbolic link
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in the `SRC_PATH`. `docker cp` does *not* create parent directories for
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`DEST_PATH` if they do not exist.
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Assuming a path separator of `/`, a first argument of `SRC_PATH` and second
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argument of `DEST_PATH`, the behavior is as follows:
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- `SRC_PATH` specifies a file
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- `DEST_PATH` does not exist
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- the file is saved to a file created at `DEST_PATH`
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- `DEST_PATH` does not exist and ends with `/`
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- Error condition: the destination directory must exist.
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- `DEST_PATH` exists and is a file
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- the destination is overwritten with the source file's contents
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- `DEST_PATH` exists and is a directory
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- the file is copied into this directory using the basename from
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`SRC_PATH`
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- `SRC_PATH` specifies a directory
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- `DEST_PATH` does not exist
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- `DEST_PATH` is created as a directory and the *contents* of the source
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directory are copied into this directory
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- `DEST_PATH` exists and is a file
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- Error condition: cannot copy a directory to a file
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- `DEST_PATH` exists and is a directory
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- `SRC_PATH` does not end with `/.` (that is: _slash_ followed by _dot_)
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- the source directory is copied into this directory
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- `SRC_PATH` does end with `/.` (that is: _slash_ followed by _dot_)
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- the *content* of the source directory is copied into this
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directory
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The command requires `SRC_PATH` and `DEST_PATH` to exist according to the above
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rules. If `SRC_PATH` is local and is a symbolic link, the symbolic link, not
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the target, is copied by default. To copy the link target and not the link, specify
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the `-L` option.
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A colon (`:`) is used as a delimiter between `CONTAINER` and its path. You can
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also use `:` when specifying paths to a `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH` on a local
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machine, for example `file:name.txt`. If you use a `:` in a local machine path,
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you must be explicit with a relative or absolute path, for example:
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`/path/to/file:name.txt` or `./file:name.txt`
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It is not possible to copy certain system files such as resources under
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`/proc`, `/sys`, `/dev`, [tmpfs](run.md#mount-tmpfs-tmpfs), and mounts created by
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the user in the container. However, you can still copy such files by manually
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running `tar` in `docker exec`. Both of the following examples do the same thing
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in different ways (consider `SRC_PATH` and `DEST_PATH` are directories):
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```bash
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$ docker exec CONTAINER tar Ccf $(dirname SRC_PATH) - $(basename SRC_PATH) | tar Cxf DEST_PATH -
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```
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```bash
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$ tar Ccf $(dirname SRC_PATH) - $(basename SRC_PATH) | docker exec -i CONTAINER tar Cxf DEST_PATH -
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```
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Using `-` as the `SRC_PATH` streams the contents of `STDIN` as a tar archive.
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The command extracts the content of the tar to the `DEST_PATH` in container's
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filesystem. In this case, `DEST_PATH` must specify a directory. Using `-` as
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the `DEST_PATH` streams the contents of the resource as a tar archive to `STDOUT`.
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