Ubuntu – Move to directory that was no directory

I did this:

mv couchpotato_11-08-2016_09-35.tar.gz ~/AtoMiC-ToolKit/backup
mv transmission-daemon_11-08-2016_09-36.tar.gz ~/AtoMiC-ToolKit/backup
mv sickrage_11-08-2016_09-35.tar.gz ~/AtoMiC-ToolKit/backup

But backup was no directory or file, and now the files are gone.

How do I find or restore these files?

Best Answer

Your files are gone and only your last file 'sickrage_11-08-2016_09-35.tar.gz ' is still there and renamed to 'backup' in '~/AtoMiC-ToolKit/'

To restoring it back just run (assuming you didn't change your working directory yet)

mv ~/AtoMiC-ToolKit/backup $PWD/sickrage_11-08-2016_09-35.tar.gz

Detailed Step-by-Step Guide

Assume you're becko and you want to move the files to bob's home directory. Thus the paths for your homes are as follows (by default):

becko: /home/becko/
bob: /home/bob/

Now let's say the paths of the files you want to move are as follows:

/home/becko/file_01
/home/becko/file_02
/home/becko/file_03

Now, with this introduction, we can start.

NOTE: This example assumes all relevant files are one level below your home directory.

Step One: Make your home directory world-readable and writeable

While logged in as yourself, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).

Go to your home directory and make it world-readable:

$ cd ~
$ chmod 0777 .

Step Two: Login into his Account

Then, using the example provided above:

$ su - bob

You'll be prompted with his password.

Step Three: Move your files to his directory

After you login, you should see the following prompt (or something close to it):

bob@hellsdesk:~$

Now you are in bob's home directory. Now, time to move your stuff over.

The following commands should do it:

$ mv /home/becko/file_01 .
$ mv /home/becko/file_02 .
$ mv /home/becko/file_03 .

Step Four: Change Ownership of Files:

NOTE: For me, the ownership changed to bob automatically, but might as well be safe than sorry. :)

Commands:

$ chown bob:bob file_01
$ chown bob:bob file_02
$ chown bob:bob file_03

Step Five: Logout of His Account

This one's easy. Type:

$ logout

Your prompt should then change back to something like:

becko@hellsdesk:~$

Step Six: Revert your home directory permissions.

By default, the permissions are 0755. So, we'll do that:

$ chmod 0755 .

Close the terminal and you're done!

Ubuntu – How to find the file which was moved without destination

If you have only two files, eg:

IDENTIFIER_1
IDENTIFIER_2

then you have overwritten IDENTIFIER_2 with the content of IDENTIFIER_1.

Example:

$ cat IDENTIFIER_1
IDENTIFIER_1

$ cat IDENTIFIER_2
IDENTIFIER_2

$ ls -og IDENTIFIER_*
-rw-rw-r-- 1  0 Mai 19 18:28 IDENTIFIER_1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 13 Mai 19 18:27 IDENTIFIER_2

$ mv IDENTIFIER_*

$ ls -og IDENTIFIER_*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 13 Mai 19 18:30 IDENTIFIER_2

$ cat IDENTIFIER_2 
IDENTIFIER_1

If you had had more than two files, then would be an error:

$ ls -og IDENTIFIER_*
-rw-rw-r-- 1  0 Mai 19 18:28 IDENTIFIER_1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 13 Mai 19 18:27 IDENTIFIER_2
-rw-rw-r-- 1  0 Mai 19 18:28 IDENTIFIER_3

$ mv IDENTIFIER_*
mv: target ‘IDENTIFIER_3’ is not a directory

For an even better explanation see @Serg.