I just copied an entire directory structure from one location on my server to another:
cp -r /home/abc/public_html/* /home/xyz/public_html/
That worked fine. Except the dirs & files are now owned by root and the group is root as well.
How do I perform this copy action and retain the dirs & files ownership, groups, and permission settings?
Here is my man cp
NAME
cp - copy files and directories
SYNOPSIS
cp [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
cp [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
DESCRIPTION
Copy SOURCE to DEST, or multiple SOURCE(s) to DIRECTORY.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-a, --archive
same as -dR --preserve=all
--backup[=CONTROL]
make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
--copy-contents
copy contents of special files when recursive
-d same as --no-dereference --preserve=links
-f, --force
if an existing destination file cannot be opened, remove it and try again (redundant if the -n option is used)
-i, --interactive
prompt before overwrite (overrides a previous -n option)
-H follow command-line symbolic links in SOURCE
-l, --link
link files instead of copying
-L, --dereference
always follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-n, --no-clobber
do not overwrite an existing file (overrides a previous -i option)
-P, --no-dereference
never follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps
--preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
from man cp
-p Cause cp to preserve the following attributes of each source file
in the copy: modification time, access time, file flags, file mode,
ACL, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions.
so cp -pr