LFCS Phase 1 Part 25: Moving and Renaming Files with the mv Command

# Create file
touch oldname.txt

# Verify it exists
ls -l oldname.txt

# Rename
mv oldname.txt newname.txt

# Verify rename
ls -l newname.txt    # Exists
ls -l oldname.txt    # No such file or directory

# Alternative: see both operations
ls -l
# Should show only newname.txt

# Create structure
mkdir -p /tmp/practice
touch /tmp/practice/testfile.txt

# Verify original location
ls -l /tmp/practice/testfile.txt

# Move to parent
cd /tmp/practice
mv testfile.txt ..

# Verify it's gone from practice
ls /tmp/practice/

# Verify it's in parent
ls -l /tmp/testfile.txt

# Create files
cd /tmp
touch file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt file4.txt file5.txt

# Create destination
mkdir archive

# Move all at once
mv file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt file4.txt file5.txt archive/

# Verify
ls /tmp/file*.txt      # Should find nothing
ls /tmp/archive/       # Should show all 5 files

# Alternative using wildcard:
touch file{6..10}.txt
mv file*.txt archive/

# Create files with different content
echo "important data" > original.txt
echo "backup data" > backup.txt

# Verify different content
cat original.txt
cat backup.txt

# Attempt interactive move
mv -i backup.txt original.txt
# When prompted: mv: overwrite 'original.txt'?
# Type: n (no)

# Verify original is unchanged
cat original.txt   # Should still show "important data"
ls -l backup.txt   # Should still exist

# Create directory with files
mkdir project
touch project/file{1..3}.txt

# Verify structure
ls -l project/

# Create destination
mkdir -p /tmp/projects

# Move entire directory (no -r needed!)
mv project /tmp/projects/

# Verify move
ls project/             # Should fail (directory moved)
ls /tmp/projects/project/  # Should show 3 files

# Create files
cd /tmp
touch error.log access.log debug.log system.log app.log

# Create destination
mkdir logs

# Move with verbose output
mv -v *.log logs/

# Expected output:
# renamed 'access.log' -> 'logs/access.log'
# renamed 'app.log' -> 'logs/app.log'
# renamed 'debug.log' -> 'logs/debug.log'
# renamed 'error.log' -> 'logs/error.log'
# renamed 'system.log' -> 'logs/system.log'

# Verify
ls logs/

# Create files with identifiable content
echo "first file" > file1.txt
echo "second file" > file2.txt

# Try to overwrite with -n (no clobber)
mv -n file2.txt file1.txt

# Check contents - file1 should be unchanged
cat file1.txt     # Should show "first file"

# file2 should still exist (move didn't happen)
cat file2.txt     # Should show "second file"

# Compare to without -n:
echo "first" > test1.txt
echo "second" > test2.txt
mv test2.txt test1.txt  # Overwrites silently
cat test1.txt           # Shows "second"
ls test2.txt            # No such file (was moved/renamed)

# Create mixed files
touch file{1..5}.txt file{1..5}.log

# Verify mix
ls

# Create destination
mkdir documents

# Move only txt files
mv *.txt documents/

# Verify
ls          # Should show only .log files
ls documents/  # Should show only .txt files

# Count to verify
ls *.log | wc -l    # Should be 5
ls documents/*.txt | wc -l  # Should be 5

# Create config file
echo "setting=value" > app.conf

# Get today's date
date +%F   # Shows YYYY-MM-DD format

# Rename with date
mv app.conf app.conf.$(date +%F)

# Verify
ls -l app.conf.*

# Example result: app.conf.2025-12-15

# Alternative: create backup series
touch nginx.conf
mv nginx.conf nginx.conf.$(date +%F-%H%M%S)
# Result: nginx.conf.2025-12-15-143022

# Create old file
echo "old content" > old.txt

# Wait to ensure timestamp difference
sleep 5

# Create newer file
echo "new content" > new.txt

# Check timestamps
ls -l old.txt new.txt

# Test update mode - should overwrite (new is newer)
mv -u new.txt old.txt

# Verify old.txt now has new content
cat old.txt  # Should show "new content"

# new.txt was moved
ls new.txt   # No such file or directory

# Test opposite direction
echo "old" > file1.txt
sleep 2
echo "new" > file2.txt
cp file2.txt file2-copy.txt

# This does nothing (file1 is older than file2)
mv -u file1.txt file2.txt
ls file1.txt  # Still exists (wasn't moved)

# Create source structure
mkdir -p /tmp/source
echo "test content" > /tmp/source/file.txt

# Create destination directory
mkdir -p /tmp/dest

# Move and rename simultaneously
mv /tmp/source/file.txt /tmp/dest/newname.txt

# Verify
ls /tmp/source/       # Should be empty
ls /tmp/dest/         # Should show newname.txt
cat /tmp/dest/newname.txt  # Should show "test content"

# Create test file
echo "test" > /tmp/myfile.txt

# Try to move to /root
mv /tmp/myfile.txt /root/
# Expected error: mv: cannot move '/tmp/myfile.txt' to '/root/myfile.txt': Permission denied

# Why? You don't have write permission on /root directory

# Check /root permissions
ls -ld /root
# drwxr-x---. 10 root root 4096 ...
# Only root can write to /root

# Solution: use sudo if you have privileges
sudo mv /tmp/myfile.txt /root/

# Verify
sudo ls /root/myfile.txt

# Alternative: move to your home
mv /tmp/myfile.txt ~/
ls ~/myfile.txt

# Create mixed files
cd /tmp/organize
touch file{1..5}.txt
touch log{1..5}.log
touch config{1..5}.conf
touch script{1..5}.sh

# Create type-specific directories
mkdir -p {documents,logs,configs,scripts}

# Move by type
mv *.txt documents/
mv *.log logs/
mv *.conf configs/
mv *.sh scripts/

# Verify organization
echo "Documents:"; ls documents/
echo "Logs:"; ls logs/
echo "Configs:"; ls configs/
echo "Scripts:"; ls scripts/

# Verify root is clean
ls /tmp/organize/*.* 2>/dev/null || echo "All files organized!"

# Create original file
echo "production settings" > production.conf

# Safety: create backup first
cp production.conf production.conf.backup

# Now safely rename
mv production.conf production.conf.old

# Verify
ls production.conf.*

# If you need to restore:
# cp production.conf.backup production.conf

# Better practice: timestamped backups
cp production.conf production.conf.$(date +%F).backup
mv production.conf production.conf.old

# Create alphabet files
touch {a..z}.txt

# Verify all created
ls *.txt | wc -l  # Should be 26

# Create destination directories
mkdir first-half second-half

# Move first half (a-m)
mv [a-m].txt first-half/

# Move second half (n-z)
mv [n-z].txt second-half/

# Verify distribution
echo "First half (a-m):"; ls first-half/ | wc -l  # Should be 13
echo "Second half (n-z):"; ls second-half/ | wc -l # Should be 13

# Verify root is empty of txt files
ls *.txt 2>/dev/null || echo "All files organized!"

# Create files with capital F
touch File{1..5}.txt

# Verify
ls File*.txt

# Rename to lowercase in loop
for file in File*.txt; do
    # Get the new name by converting to lowercase
    newname=$(echo "$file" | tr 'F' 'f')
    mv "$file" "$newname"
    echo "Renamed: $file -> $newname"
done

# Verify all renamed
ls file*.txt  # Should show file1.txt through file5.txt
ls File*.txt  # Should find nothing

# Alternative using parameter expansion (bash):
for file in File*.txt; do
    mv "$file" "${file/File/file}"
done

# Create directory
mkdir /tmp/age-test
cd /tmp/age-test

# Create old files (backdated)
touch -t 202512010800 old1.txt
touch -t 202512010900 old2.txt

# Create recent files
touch recent1.txt recent2.txt

# Wait to ensure time difference
sleep 2

# Create destination
mkdir archive

# Find and move files older than 2 minutes
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*.txt" -mmin +2 -exec mv {} archive/ \;

# Verify
echo "Archived:"; ls archive/
echo "Remaining:"; ls *.txt 2>/dev/null

# Alternative: move files older than 1 day
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -mtime +1 -exec mv {} archive/ \;

# Create test configs in /tmp
cd /tmp
touch config{1..10}.conf

# Create destination (need sudo for /etc)
sudo mkdir -p /etc/backup

# Interactive move (prompts for each file)
sudo mv -i config*.conf /etc/backup/

# For each file, you'll see:
# mv: overwrite '/etc/backup/config1.conf'?
# Type y or n for each

# Verify
sudo ls /etc/backup/

# Alternative: verbose + interactive
sudo mv -iv config*.conf /etc/backup/
# Shows filename AND prompts for overwrite

# Create dated log files
cd /tmp/logs
touch app-2025-11-{01..30}.log
touch app-2025-12-{01..15}.log

# Verify
ls -1 | wc -l  # Should be 45 files

# Create month directories
mkdir november december

# Move November logs
mv app-2025-11-*.log november/

# Move December logs
mv app-2025-12-*.log december/

# Verify organization
echo "November:"; ls november/ | wc -l  # Should be 30
echo "December:"; ls december/ | wc -l  # Should be 15

# Alternative: organize by year
mkdir 2025
mv app-2025-*.log 2025/

# Create messy downloads directory
mkdir -p ~/Downloads/messy
cd ~/Downloads/messy

# Create mixed files
touch photo{1..10}.jpg
touch video{1..10}.mp4
touch document{1..10}.pdf
touch presentation{1..10}.pptx
touch archive{1..5}.zip
touch archive{6..10}.tar.gz
touch misc{1..5}.txt

# Verify chaos
ls -1 | wc -l  # Should be 50 files

# Create organized structure
mkdir -p ~/Downloads/organized/{images,documents,archives,videos,other}

# Move by type
mv *.jpg ~/Downloads/organized/images/
mv *.{mp4,avi,mkv,mov} ~/Downloads/organized/videos/ 2>/dev/null
mv *.{pdf,doc,docx,pptx} ~/Downloads/organized/documents/
mv *.{zip,tar,tar.gz,tar.bz2} ~/Downloads/organized/archives/ 2>/dev/null
mv * ~/Downloads/organized/other/ 2>/dev/null

# Verify organization
cd ~/Downloads/organized
for dir in */; do
    echo "$dir: $(ls "$dir" | wc -l) files"
done

# Expected output:
# images/: 10 files
# documents/: 20 files
# archives/: 10 files
# videos/: 10 files
# other/: 5 files (the .txt files)