Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 13:19:56 +0200 From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: user@dhp.com Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: cp/mv/etc : argument list too long ... I am sick of this Message-ID: <20051206111956.GA1602@flame.pc> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0512051747390.8684-100000@shell.dhp.com> References: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0512051747390.8684-100000@shell.dhp.com>
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On 2005-12-05 17:56, user <user@dhp.com> wrote:
>
> Ok, so I have some big directories with lots of files. If I do mv or cp,
> it always refuses, telling me:
>
> cp: argument list too long
I very often find that I want to move around huge trees, including
mostly source code, but compiled object code too. One of the most
useful tricks for moving entire hierarchies is to use cpio(1):
$ cd ~/branches/foo
$ find . | cpio -p -dmvu ~/branches/bar
This is guaranteed to work with thousands of files, regardless of the
current shell, UNIX version or current per-process user limits :)
> - what is the number of files that is too many ? (err... arguments)
>
> - since I live in 2005, what can I do to my FreeBSD system to upgrade it
> to handle the directories I have ? How do I fix this so I can do normal,
> simple command lines instead of butchered ridiculous hacks like above ?
Nothing. The limits are there for a good reason. To avoid letting a
rogue process that leaks memory like mad to bring the entire system to
a halt for lack of free memory :)
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