Many meta-characters such as semicolons, spaces, backslashes, dollar signs, question marks, and asterisks are characters that are interpreted under Linux and Unix-like operating systems as shell commands.
Move File Starting With A Dash
The syntax is as follows:
cp -- source dest cp [option] -- source dest |
We use “--” to make Linux and Unix command stop parsing shell command line options. Now, let us see some examples.
Create a test file
Type the following command:
cd /tmp/ > '-foo.txt' > '--bar.txt' |
List files starting with a dash
Try to list them, enter:
ls -l *.txt |
You will get an error as follows:
ls: unrecognized option '--bar.txt' Try `ls --help' for more information.
To delimit the option list use -- i.e. type the following ls command:
ls -l -- *.txt |
The cp and mv commands
When a file whose name begins with - or --, copy or move files using the following syntax:
cp -- '--bar.txt' /path/to/dest cp -- '-test.doc' /home/vivek/backups/test.doc |
OR
cp -v -- '--bar.txt' /path/to/dest |
To move files:
mv -- '--bar.txt' /path/to/dest |
OR
mv -v -- '--bar.txt' /path/to/dest |
Unix and Linux copy file starting with a dash
The - or -- considered as part of command line options. Therefore, you can not copy, list, delete or move any files starting with those characters. In short, the syntax is as follows:
cp options -- '--filename' /dest mv options -- '--filename' /dest |
The -- delimit the option list. Later arguments, if any, are treated a operands even if they begin with - or —. This applies to all Linux/Unix/macOS/*BSD commands such as rm, cp, mv, ls, ln and so on:
command -- 'file' command [options] -- 'file' rm -- '--filename' rm -fr -- '-dirname' rmdir -- '--dirname' |
How to use find command for same purpose
The syntax is:
find /dir/to/search -maxdepth 1 -name '--filename' -delete
See GNU find man page here.
Tip: Handling a filename starting with a dash (-)
You can “hide” the dash from the command by starting the filename with ./ (dot slash). For example, try to remove a file named “-filename.txt” using rm command:
> '-filename' rm -filename # will get an error # rm ./-filename |
Conclusion
The -- is technically known as delimiting the options list. Later arguments, if any, are treated as operands even if they begin with - and syntax is:
command -- -foo
command -- -bar
command -arg1 -option2 -- -foobar
## sort will reads from the file named '-filename' ##
sort -- -filename
## grep command will find matching string named '--dom' ##
virsh --help | grep --color -- '--dom'
This page explained how to handle a Linux or Unix filename starting with a dash (-). The trick is to either start the filename with ./ or pass the -- before filename.
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mv -- -fileNameStartingWithADash newNamesee
info coreutils 'Common options'