Mv

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The mv command is used to move files around the file system. It can also be used to rename files.

Moving file(s)

The obvious use for the mv command, as it's name implies, is to move files from one location on a file system to another, both to and from locally attached or network share file systems. Some examples:

# mv /usr/home/bob/song.ogg /use/home/bob/mymusic/

This will simply move the file 'song.ogg' (a sound file) from the Bob's user directory into his dedicated directory called 'mymusic'. This could also be done from the directory itself, using what is known as relative paths:

# cd /usr/home/bob
# mv song.ogg mymusic/

Similar to many file system commands it is possible to use wildcards as a parameter. For example:

# cd /usr/home/bob
# mv *.ogg  mymusic/

Which will move all files ending in '.ogg' into the 'mymusic' directory, whether there was one or more such sound files.

Renaming file(s)

The other use for the mv command is to rename files. This is because there is no 'rename' command as found on other operating systems (Microsoft's DOS, for example, uses the command 'ren' to rename files separate from the 'move' command to move files). The mv command will rename a file when only two filenames are provided, without a directory path, for example:

# cd /usr/home/bob
# mv song.ogg heavymetaltrack.ogg

This simply renames the file 'song.ogg' to 'heavymetaltrack.ogg'.

Command switches

-v verbose
-i prompt before overwriting existing files 
-n no-overwriting existing files -- cancels any previous -f switches
-f force -- cancels out any previous -i or -n switches