Purpose of the mv command

The mv(move) command in the Linux/Unix operating system is used to move or rename files and directories. It allows you to move files from one directory to another, and to rename files and directories in the current directory or in another directory. mv can be used to rename a file or directory if the new file or directory name is specified in the same directory where the original file or directory is located.

Command syntax

The syntax of mv is as follows:

mv [options] source_file/directory target_directory

To move a file to another directory, you must enter the full path to the original file and the target directory:

mv /home/user/documents/file.txt /home/user/downloads/

To rename a file in the current directory, specify the old file name and the new file name:

mv old_name.txt new_name.txt

To rename a file in another directory, you must enter the full path to the file and the new file name:

mv /home/user/documents/old_name.txt /home/user/downloads/new_name.txt

There are still options for the mv command that can be used to more precisely control the movement of files and directories.

For example:

1. -f - overwrite the file without warning;
2. -i - ask for confirmation before overwriting a file;
3. -v - display file movement information on the screen.

Example of using the options:

mv -i old_name.txt new_name.txt

This command asks for confirmation before renaming the file old_name.txt to new_name. txt.