INSTALL(1) BSD Reference Manual INSTALL(1)NAME
install - install binaries
SYNOPSIS
install [-bCcdpSs] [-B suffix] [-f flags] [-g group] [-m mode] [-o owner]
source [...] target [...]
DESCRIPTION
The source file(s) are copied to the target file or directory. If the
target file already exists, it is either renamed to file.old if the -b
option is given or overwritten if permissions allow. An alternate backup
suffix may be specified via the -B option's argument. If the -d option is
given, target directories are created, and no files are copied.
The options are as follows:
-B suffix Use suffix as the backup suffix if -b is given.
-b Backup any existing files before overwriting them by renaming
them to file.old. See -B for specifying a different backup
suffix.
-C Copy the file. If the target file already exists and the files
are the same, then don't change the modification time of the
target.
-c Copy the file. This is actually the default. The -c option is
only included for backwards compatibility.
-d Create directories. Missing parent directories are created as
required. This option cannot be used with the -B, -b, -C, -c,
-f, -p, -S, or -s options.
-f flags Specify the target's file flags. (See chflags(1) for a list of
possible flags and their meanings.)
-g group Specify a group. A numeric GID is allowed.
-m mode Specify an alternate mode. The default mode is set to
rwxr-xr-x (0755). The specified mode may be either an octal or
symbolic value; see chmod(1) for a description of possible
mode values.
-o owner Specify an owner. A numeric UID is allowed.
-p Preserve the modification time. Copy the file, as if the -C
(compare and copy) option is specified, except if the target
file doesn't already exist or is different, then preserve the
modification time of the file.
-S Safe copy. Normally, install unlinks an existing target before
installing the new file. With the -S flag a temporary file is
used and then renamed to be the target. The reason this is
safer is that if the copy or rename fails, the existing target
is left untouched.
-s install execs the command /usr/bin/strip to strip binaries so
that install can be portable over a large number of systems
and binary types. If the environment variable STRIP is set, it
is used instead.
By default, install preserves all file flags, with the exception of the
"nodump" flag.
The install utility attempts to prevent moving a file onto itself.
Installing /dev/null creates an empty file.
Upon successful completion a value of 0 is returned. Otherwise, a value
>0 is returned.
ENVIRONMENT
STRIP For an alternate strip(1) program to run. Default is
/usr/bin/strip.
FILES
INS@XXXXXXXXXX If either -S option is specified, or the -C or -p option
is used in conjunction with the -s option, temporary
files named INS@XXXXXXXXXX, where XXXXXXXXXX is decided
by mkstemp(3), are created in the target directory.
SEE ALSOchflags(1), chgrp(1), chmod(1), cp(1), mv(1), strip(1), chown(8)HISTORY
The install utility appeared in 4.2BSD.
CAVEATS
The -C, -p, and -S flags are non-standard and should not relied upon for
portability.
Temporary files may be left in the target directory if install exits ab-
normally.
MirOS BSD #10-current November 22, 2009 1