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 exec's 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.

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.

EXIT STATUS

SEE ALSO
chflags(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 abnormally.