How can I copy a folder without altering their original dates of creation?

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3
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I found an old archive filled with old folders on my pc.
I would like to know how to make a copy of this archive, but keeping everything intact, including their date of creation

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

Note that most Linux filesystems don't store dates of creation Ã¢Â€Â” the best you can have is date of last modification.
â€“Â Ruslan
32 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I found an old archive filled with old folders on my pc.
I would like to know how to make a copy of this archive, but keeping everything intact, including their date of creation

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

Note that most Linux filesystems don't store dates of creation Ã¢Â€Â” the best you can have is date of last modification.
â€“Â Ruslan
32 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

favorite

I found an old archive filled with old folders on my pc.
I would like to know how to make a copy of this archive, but keeping everything intact, including their date of creation

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

I found an old archive filled with old folders on my pc.
I would like to know how to make a copy of this archive, but keeping everything intact, including their date of creation

command-line

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

edited 9 mins ago

Torquad333

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

asked 3 hours ago

MelanieDeschene

161

New contributor

MelanieDeschene is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Note that most Linux filesystems don't store dates of creation Ã¢Â€Â” the best you can have is date of last modification.
â€“Â Ruslan
32 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

Note that most Linux filesystems don't store dates of creation Ã¢Â€Â” the best you can have is date of last modification.
â€“Â Ruslan
32 mins ago

Note that most Linux filesystems don't store dates of creation Ã¢Â€Â” the best you can have is date of last modification.
â€“Â Ruslan
32 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
6
down vote

Read man cp, and, in addition to the --recursive switch use one of:

 -p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps

 --preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
 preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps), if possible
 additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

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up vote
2
down vote

sudo cp -rp /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home or
sudo cp -a /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home

This should do it.

-r is recursive

-p is preserve-mode

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

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up vote
1
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As indicated in the other answers, you need to use the terminal if you want to preserve every file attribute. However, I would suggest to use the -a (--archive) option with the cp command, which is specifically aimed at creating an identical archive copy.

cp -a <source> <destination>

The same can be achieved with the rsync utility, the local and remote file copy tool that may perform faster than cp. It also uses the option -a for the same purpose.

rsync -a <source> <destination>

For example, to copy a folder Archive in your home folder to an external USB drive mounted under /media/$USER/USB_drive:

cp -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

rsync -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

Both commands will create a folder Archive containing all your subfolders and files in the existing destination folder /media/$USER/USB_drive/.

You can find where your USB drive is mounted in the output of the command mount | grep /media

You can leave $USER in place if it is for your current user. This variable is automatically substituted by your login name.

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

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up vote
0
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simply copying an archive file won't change the created dates of the files/folders in the archive

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

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4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
6
down vote

Read man cp, and, in addition to the --recursive switch use one of:

 -p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps

 --preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
 preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps), if possible
 additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
6
down vote

Read man cp, and, in addition to the --recursive switch use one of:

 -p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps

 --preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
 preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps), if possible
 additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
6
down vote

Read man cp, and, in addition to the --recursive switch use one of:

 -p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps

 --preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
 preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps), if possible
 additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

Read man cp, and, in addition to the --recursive switch use one of:

 -p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps

 --preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
 preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps), if possible
 additional attributes: context, links, xattr, all

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

answered 3 hours ago

waltinator

21k74168

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

sudo cp -rp /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home or
sudo cp -a /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home

This should do it.

-r is recursive

-p is preserve-mode

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

sudo cp -rp /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home or
sudo cp -a /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home

This should do it.

-r is recursive

-p is preserve-mode

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

sudo cp -rp /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home or
sudo cp -a /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home

This should do it.

-r is recursive

-p is preserve-mode

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

sudo cp -rp /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home or
sudo cp -a /home/my_home /media/backup/my_home

This should do it.

-r is recursive

-p is preserve-mode

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

answered 3 hours ago

Lewis Smith

887

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

cp -a <source> <destination>

The same can be achieved with the rsync utility, the local and remote file copy tool that may perform faster than cp. It also uses the option -a for the same purpose.

rsync -a <source> <destination>

For example, to copy a folder Archive in your home folder to an external USB drive mounted under /media/$USER/USB_drive:

cp -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

rsync -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

Both commands will create a folder Archive containing all your subfolders and files in the existing destination folder /media/$USER/USB_drive/.

You can find where your USB drive is mounted in the output of the command mount | grep /media

You can leave $USER in place if it is for your current user. This variable is automatically substituted by your login name.

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

cp -a <source> <destination>

The same can be achieved with the rsync utility, the local and remote file copy tool that may perform faster than cp. It also uses the option -a for the same purpose.

rsync -a <source> <destination>

For example, to copy a folder Archive in your home folder to an external USB drive mounted under /media/$USER/USB_drive:

cp -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

rsync -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

Both commands will create a folder Archive containing all your subfolders and files in the existing destination folder /media/$USER/USB_drive/.

You can find where your USB drive is mounted in the output of the command mount | grep /media

You can leave $USER in place if it is for your current user. This variable is automatically substituted by your login name.

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

cp -a <source> <destination>

The same can be achieved with the rsync utility, the local and remote file copy tool that may perform faster than cp. It also uses the option -a for the same purpose.

rsync -a <source> <destination>

For example, to copy a folder Archive in your home folder to an external USB drive mounted under /media/$USER/USB_drive:

cp -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

rsync -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

Both commands will create a folder Archive containing all your subfolders and files in the existing destination folder /media/$USER/USB_drive/.

You can find where your USB drive is mounted in the output of the command mount | grep /media

You can leave $USER in place if it is for your current user. This variable is automatically substituted by your login name.

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

cp -a <source> <destination>

The same can be achieved with the rsync utility, the local and remote file copy tool that may perform faster than cp. It also uses the option -a for the same purpose.

rsync -a <source> <destination>

For example, to copy a folder Archive in your home folder to an external USB drive mounted under /media/$USER/USB_drive:

cp -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

rsync -a /home/$USER/Archive /media/$USER/USB_drive/

Both commands will create a folder Archive containing all your subfolders and files in the existing destination folder /media/$USER/USB_drive/.

You can find where your USB drive is mounted in the output of the command mount | grep /media

You can leave $USER in place if it is for your current user. This variable is automatically substituted by your login name.

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

answered 2 hours ago

vanadium

3,2881925

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
0
down vote

simply copying an archive file won't change the created dates of the files/folders in the archive

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
0
down vote

simply copying an archive file won't change the created dates of the files/folders in the archive

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
0
down vote

simply copying an archive file won't change the created dates of the files/folders in the archive

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

simply copying an archive file won't change the created dates of the files/folders in the archive

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

answered 2 hours ago

ghweq

New contributor

ghweq is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

Likely the OP is referring to an old archive folder, not to an archive file
â€“Â vanadium
2 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

MelanieDeschene is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.

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