The ‘install’ command allows to copy files and set attributes to the copied files using a very straightforward syntax.

Table of Contents

Basic usage

Copy from <SOURCE> to <TARGET>:

install <SOURCE> <TARGET>

install file1 file2

By default, install set the following permissions on the copied file: rwxr-xr-x or 755. Check the following section to know how to change that. <TARGET> can be a directory or a file.

Parameters

You need root permissions to change some file attributes (like the owner).

  • -m <permissions>: set file permissions (using a numeric code). 
    install -m 600 file1 out/file2
  • -o <owner>: set the file owner.
  • -g <group>: set the file group. 
    install -m 600 -o ricardo -g ricardo file1 file2
  • -p: preserve timestamps.
Test with this online terminal:

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