Move file as root preserving ownership linux

Question

OS: Debian. I want to be able to move files and folders around as root and from the command line without changing it's owner and group. Is this possible?

Offtopic for Stackoverflow. You probably want to ask on [SuperUser](http://superuser.com/) or [Unix & Linux](http://unix.stackexchange.com/) — , Aug 20 '13 at 20:41
where did you experience that moving files as root changes permissions? it shouldn't. — mata, Aug 20 '13 at 20:45
@mata I was using mv command to move a file from x user and group. When I moved the file as root it was now owned by root and root group — Rombus, Aug 20 '13 at 20:49
This question appears to be off-topic because it is about Linux and belongs on http://unix.stackexchange.com/ — Steve Robbins, Aug 21 '13 at 01:05
@mata it seems permissions are changed if the file is being moved between filesystems — zaTricky, Mar 13 '21 at 15:55

score 15 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 20 '13 at 20:42

15

rsync :

 -A, --acls                  preserve ACLs (implies --perms)
 -X, --xattrs                preserve extended attributes
 -o, --owner                 preserve owner (super-user only)
 -g, --group                 preserve group
     --devices               preserve device files (super-user only)
     --specials              preserve special files

man rsync

answered Aug 20 '13 at 20:42

Radu Toader

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Thanks a lot Radu, I never thought of rsync for local use. It worked. I added the --remove-source-files flag so that it acts as the `mv` command. So it'll be like thís: `#rsync -o -g --remove-source-files source dest` – Rombus Aug 20 '13 at 21:05
Probably worth noting that `--remove-source-files` removes the files continuously as the move progresses. That's different from `mv` which only does so after the entire operation is complete. – smheidrich Jul 30 '22 at 18:25

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 20 '13 at 20:49

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The mv command preserves ownership and time-stamps. For the cp command there are various command line options you can use. For example

cp -p file1 file2

man cp will display all the available options

answered Aug 20 '13 at 20:49

dseiple

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I'm using mv command and the ownership and group changes. I need an mv like command. – Rombus Aug 20 '13 at 20:53
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Check to make sure your `mv` command is not aliased. Perhaps it is secretly calling `cp` behind the scene. Type `alias` to see all your aliases. – dseiple Aug 20 '13 at 20:59
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Mine is not aliased and it does not preserve anything. – Nathan J.B. Aug 11 '14 at 23:28
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If you move files between different file systems (partitions) then the owner can change. – Frank Breitling Mar 07 '17 at 20:24

Move file as root preserving ownership linux

2 Answers2