Scroll to navigation

INSTALL(1) User Commands INSTALL(1)

NAME

install - copy files and set attributes

SYNOPSIS

install [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
install [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
install [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
install [OPTION]... -d DIRECTORY...

DESCRIPTION

This install program copies files (often just compiled) into destination locations you choose. If you want to download and install a ready-to-use package on a GNU/Linux system, you should instead be using a package manager like yum(1) or apt-get(1).

In the first three forms, copy SOURCE to DEST or multiple SOURCE(s) to the existing DIRECTORY, while setting permission modes and owner/group. In the 4th form, create all components of the given DIRECTORY(ies).

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

make a backup of each existing destination file
like --backup but does not accept an argument
(ignored)
compare each pair of source and destination files, and in some cases, do not modify the destination at all
treat all arguments as directory names; create all components of the specified directories
create all leading components of DEST except the last, then copy SOURCE to DEST
set group ownership, instead of process' current group
set permission mode (as in chmod), instead of rwxr-xr-x
set ownership (super-user only)
apply access/modification times of SOURCE files to corresponding destination files
strip symbol tables
program used to strip binaries
override the usual backup suffix
copy all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
treat DEST as a normal file
print the name of each directory as it is created

-P, --preserve-context (SELinux) preserve security context

(SELinux) set security context of files and directories
display this help and exit
output version information and exit

The backup suffix is `~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:

never make backups (even if --backup is given)
make numbered backups
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
always make simple backups

AUTHOR

Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS

Report install bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report install translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

The full documentation for install is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and install programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info coreutils 'install invocation'

should give you access to the complete manual.

June 2018 GNU coreutils 8.4