Ubuntu – Copy/Paste loop code

16.04bashcommand linedirectorypaste

I am new in Linux so here is my very basic question. I have a directory with 41 folders. I need to create a loop so that the process goes into each folder, copy all the files and then paste everything in a specific folder.

Any idea how to approach this? It would be a lot of clicking without a code solution

In the image you can see all the folders I need to access and the output folder where I want to paste everything (zPASTE_EVERYTHING_HERE)

Directory

My path is: /shared/home/data/output

Would like to paste everything in: /shared/home/data/output/zPASTE_EVERYTHING_HERE

Best Answer

Assuming that:

  • The folders to be copied and their files are under /home/gcgm/myfolders
  • The output folder is /tmp/output-folder

If you need to copy all files to another folder, you can do the following:

mkdir /tmp/output-folder
cd /home/gcgm/myfolders
cp */* /tmp/output-folder

The meaning of */* in the this commandcp / target` is:

  • Take all files (the 2nd *) in all directories (the first *) under the current directory.