Ubuntu – Copy files without losing file/folder permissions

12.04chmod

How can I copy files/folders from an ubuntu computer on a ext4 filesystem to another ubuntu computer which also is on an ext4 filesystem, using a usb stick which uses a vfat filesystem without losing file permissions?

I've tried the basic ctrl-c from source computer, then ctrl-v to usb, then ctrl-c from usb then ctrl-v to target computer, and none of the file/folder permissions stay intact.

Best Answer

You can make a tar archive of the source, copy that to the other computer using the USB drive, and extract it there. Tar preserves file permissions.

1 - On the source computer:

cd /path/to/folder/to/copy
tar cvpzf put_your_name_here.tar.gz .

2 - Copy put_your_name_here.tar.gz to the USB drive and then to the other computer

3 - On the destination computer:

cd /path/to/destination/folder
tar xpvzf put_your_name_here.tar.gz

tar will recreate the archived folder structure with all permissions intact.

Those commands will archive the contents of the source folder and then extract them into the destination folder. If you want to copy the folder itself, then you should, at step 1:

cd /path/to/parent/folder
tar cvpzf put_your_name_here.tar.gz folder_to_copy

The same mechanism could be used for single files.

If you can connect from one computer to the other using ssh, @siddharthart answer (rsync) might be more practical.

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