github.com/flavio/docker@v0.1.3-0.20170117145210-f63d1a6eec47/docs/reference/commandline/cp.md (about)

     1  ---
     2  title: "cp"
     3  description: "The cp command description and usage"
     4  keywords: "copy, container, files, folders"
     5  ---
     6  
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    15  
    16  # cp
    17  
    18  ```markdown
    19  Usage:  docker cp [OPTIONS] CONTAINER:SRC_PATH DEST_PATH|-
    20          docker cp [OPTIONS] SRC_PATH|- CONTAINER:DEST_PATH
    21  
    22  Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
    23  
    24  Use '-' as the source to read a tar archive from stdin
    25  and extract it to a directory destination in a container.
    26  Use '-' as the destination to stream a tar archive of a
    27  container source to stdout.
    28  
    29  Options:
    30    -L, --follow-link   Always follow symbol link in SRC_PATH
    31        --help          Print usage
    32  ```
    33  
    34  The `docker cp` utility copies the contents of `SRC_PATH` to the `DEST_PATH`.
    35  You can copy from the container's file system to the local machine or the
    36  reverse, from the local filesystem to the container. If `-` is specified for
    37  either the `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH`, you can also stream a tar archive from
    38  `STDIN` or to `STDOUT`. The `CONTAINER` can be a running or stopped container.
    39  The `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH` can be a file or directory.
    40  
    41  The `docker cp` command assumes container paths are relative to the container's
    42  `/` (root) directory. This means supplying the initial forward slash is optional;
    43  The command sees `compassionate_darwin:/tmp/foo/myfile.txt` and
    44  `compassionate_darwin:tmp/foo/myfile.txt` as identical. Local machine paths can
    45  be an absolute or relative value. The command interprets a local machine's
    46  relative paths as relative to the current working directory where `docker cp` is
    47  run.
    48  
    49  The `cp` command behaves like the Unix `cp -a` command in that directories are
    50  copied recursively with permissions preserved if possible. Ownership is set to
    51  the user and primary group at the destination. For example, files copied to a
    52  container are created with `UID:GID` of the root user. Files copied to the local
    53  machine are created with the `UID:GID` of the user which invoked the `docker cp`
    54  command.  If you specify the `-L` option, `docker cp` follows any symbolic link
    55  in the `SRC_PATH`.  `docker cp` does *not* create parent directories for
    56  `DEST_PATH` if they do not exist.
    57  
    58  Assuming a path separator of `/`, a first argument of `SRC_PATH` and second
    59  argument of `DEST_PATH`, the behavior is as follows:
    60  
    61  - `SRC_PATH` specifies a file
    62      - `DEST_PATH` does not exist
    63          - the file is saved to a file created at `DEST_PATH`
    64      - `DEST_PATH` does not exist and ends with `/`
    65          - Error condition: the destination directory must exist.
    66      - `DEST_PATH` exists and is a file
    67          - the destination is overwritten with the source file's contents
    68      - `DEST_PATH` exists and is a directory
    69          - the file is copied into this directory using the basename from
    70            `SRC_PATH`
    71  - `SRC_PATH` specifies a directory
    72      - `DEST_PATH` does not exist
    73          - `DEST_PATH` is created as a directory and the *contents* of the source
    74             directory are copied into this directory
    75      - `DEST_PATH` exists and is a file
    76          - Error condition: cannot copy a directory to a file
    77      - `DEST_PATH` exists and is a directory
    78          - `SRC_PATH` does not end with `/.` (that is: _slash_ followed by _dot_)
    79              - the source directory is copied into this directory
    80          - `SRC_PATH` does end with `/.` (that is: _slash_ followed by _dot_)
    81              - the *content* of the source directory is copied into this
    82                directory
    83  
    84  The command requires `SRC_PATH` and `DEST_PATH` to exist according to the above
    85  rules. If `SRC_PATH` is local and is a symbolic link, the symbolic link, not
    86  the target, is copied by default. To copy the link target and not the link, specify
    87  the `-L` option.
    88  
    89  A colon (`:`) is used as a delimiter between `CONTAINER` and its path. You can
    90  also use `:` when specifying paths to a `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH` on a local
    91  machine, for example  `file:name.txt`. If you use a `:` in a local machine path,
    92  you must be explicit with a relative or absolute path, for example:
    93  
    94      `/path/to/file:name.txt` or `./file:name.txt`
    95  
    96  It is not possible to copy certain system files such as resources under
    97  `/proc`, `/sys`, `/dev`, [tmpfs](run.md#mount-tmpfs-tmpfs), and mounts created by
    98  the user in the container. However, you can still copy such files by manually
    99  running `tar` in `docker exec`. For example (consider `SRC_PATH` and `DEST_PATH`
   100  are directories):
   101  
   102      $ docker exec foo tar Ccf $(dirname SRC_PATH) - $(basename SRC_PATH) | tar Cxf DEST_PATH -
   103  
   104  or
   105  
   106      $ tar Ccf $(dirname SRC_PATH) - $(basename SRC_PATH) | docker exec -i foo tar Cxf DEST_PATH -
   107  
   108  
   109  Using `-` as the `SRC_PATH` streams the contents of `STDIN` as a tar archive.
   110  The command extracts the content of the tar to the `DEST_PATH` in container's
   111  filesystem. In this case, `DEST_PATH` must specify a directory. Using `-` as
   112  the `DEST_PATH` streams the contents of the resource as a tar archive to `STDOUT`.