github.com/hanks177/podman/v4@v4.1.3-0.20220613032544-16d90015bc83/docs/source/markdown/podman-cp.1.md (about) 1 % podman-cp(1) 2 3 ## NAME 4 podman\-cp - Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem 5 6 ## SYNOPSIS 7 **podman cp** [*options*] [*container*:]*src_path* [*container*:]*dest_path* 8 9 **podman container cp** [*options*] [*container*:]*src_path* [*container*:]*dest_path* 10 11 ## DESCRIPTION 12 **podman cp** allows copying the contents of **src_path** to the **dest_path**. Files can be copied from a container to the local machine and vice versa or between two containers. 13 If `-` is specified for either the `SRC_PATH` or `DEST_PATH`, one can also stream a tar archive from `STDIN` or to `STDOUT`. 14 15 The containers can be either running or stopped and the *src_path* or *dest_path* can be a file or directory. 16 17 *IMPORTANT: The **podman cp** command assumes container paths are relative to the container's root directory (`/`), which means supplying the initial forward slash is optional and therefore sees `compassionate_darwin:/tmp/foo/myfile.txt` and `compassionate_darwin:tmp/foo/myfile.txt` as identical.* 18 19 Local machine paths can be an absolute or relative value. 20 The command interprets a local machine's relative paths as relative to the current working directory where **podman cp** is run. 21 22 Assuming a path separator of `/`, a first argument of **src_path** and second argument of **dest_path**, the behavior is as follows: 23 24 **src_path** specifies a file: 25 - **dest_path** does not exist 26 - the file is saved to a file created at **dest_path** (note that parent directory must exist). 27 - **dest_path** exists and is a file 28 - the destination is overwritten with the source file's contents. 29 - **dest_path** exists and is a directory 30 - the file is copied into this directory using the base name from **src_path**. 31 32 **src_path** specifies a directory: 33 - **dest_path** does not exist 34 - **dest_path** is created as a directory and the contents of the source directory are copied into this directory. 35 - **dest_path** exists and is a file 36 - Error condition: cannot copy a directory to a file. 37 - **dest_path** exists and is a directory 38 - **src_path** ends with `/` 39 - the source directory is copied into this directory. 40 - **src_path** ends with `/.` (i.e., slash followed by dot) 41 - the content of the source directory is copied into this directory. 42 43 The command requires **src_path** and **dest_path** to exist according to the above rules. 44 45 If **src_path** is local and is a symbolic link, the symbolic target, is copied by default. 46 47 A *colon* ( : ) is used as a delimiter between a container and its path, it can also be used when specifying paths to a **src_path** or **dest_path** on a local machine, for example, `file:name.txt`. 48 49 *IMPORTANT: while using a *colon* ( : ) in a local machine path, one must be explicit with a relative or absolute path, for example: `/path/to/file:name.txt` or `./file:name.txt`* 50 51 Using `-` as the **src_path** streams the contents of `STDIN` as a tar archive. The command extracts the content of the tar to the `DEST_PATH` in the container. In this case, **dest_path** must specify a directory. Using `-` as the **dest_path** streams the contents of the resource (can be a directory) as a tar archive to `STDOUT`. 52 53 Note that `podman cp` ignores permission errors when copying from a running rootless container. The TTY devices inside a rootless container are owned by the host's root user and hence cannot be read inside the container's user namespace. 54 55 Further note that `podman cp` does not support globbing (e.g., `cp dir/*.txt`). If you want to copy multiple files from the host to the container you may use xargs(1) or find(1) (or similar tools for chaining commands) in conjunction with `podman cp`. If you want to copy multiple files from the container to the host, you may use `podman mount CONTAINER` and operate on the returned mount point instead (see ALTERNATIVES below). 56 57 ## OPTIONS 58 59 #### **--archive**, **-a** 60 61 Archive mode (copy all uid/gid information). 62 When set to true, files copied to a container will have changed ownership to the primary UID/GID of the container. 63 When set to false, maintain uid/gid from archive sources instead of changing them to the primary uid/gid of the destination container. 64 The default is **true**. 65 66 ## ALTERNATIVES 67 68 Podman has much stronger capabilities than just `podman cp` to achieve copying files between the host and containers. 69 70 Using standard **[podman-mount(1)](podman-mount.1.md)** and **[podman-unmount(1)](podman-unmount.1.md)** takes advantage of the entire linux tool chain, rather than just cp. 71 72 copying contents out of a container or into a container, can be achieved with a few simple commands. For example: 73 74 To copy the `/etc/foobar` directory out of a container and onto `/tmp` on the host, the following commands can be executed: 75 76 mnt=$(podman mount CONTAINERID) 77 cp -R ${mnt}/etc/foobar /tmp 78 podman umount CONTAINERID 79 80 To untar a tar ball into a container, following commands can be executed: 81 82 mnt=$(podman mount CONTAINERID) 83 tar xf content.tgz -C ${mnt} 84 podman umount CONTAINERID 85 86 To install a package into a container that 87 does not have dnf installed, following commands can be executed: 88 89 mnt=$(podman mount CONTAINERID) 90 dnf install --installroot=${mnt} httpd 91 chroot ${mnt} rm -rf /var/log/dnf /var/cache/dnf 92 podman umount CONTAINERID 93 94 By using `podman mount` and `podman unmount`, one can use all of the 95 standard linux tools for moving files into and out of containers, not just 96 the cp command. 97 98 ## EXAMPLES 99 100 - Copy a file from host to a container. 101 ``` 102 podman cp /myapp/app.conf containerID:/myapp/app.conf 103 ``` 104 105 - Copy a file from a container to a directory on another container. 106 ``` 107 podman cp containerID1:/myfile.txt containerID2:/tmp 108 ``` 109 110 - Copy a directory on a container to a directory on the host. 111 ``` 112 podman cp containerID:/myapp/ /myapp/ 113 ``` 114 115 - Copy the contents of a directory on a container to a directory on the host. 116 ``` 117 podman cp containerID:/home/myuser/. /home/myuser/ 118 ``` 119 120 - Copy a directory on a container into a directory on another. 121 ``` 122 podman cp containerA:/myapp containerB:/yourapp 123 ``` 124 125 - Stream a tar archive from `STDIN` to a container. 126 ``` 127 podman cp - containerID:/myfiles.tar.gz < myfiles.tar.gz 128 ``` 129 130 ## SEE ALSO 131 **[podman(1)](podman.1.md)**, **[podman-mount(1)](podman-mount.1.md)**, **[podman-unmount(1)](podman-unmount.1.md)**