cp $path/[!.]* doesn't work

[iandunn]

I'm new to shell scripting and have a problem with a script. The problem is with this statement:

cp -rp "$DEVPATH/httpdocs/[!.]*" "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs"

The console puts out

cp: cannot stat `/var/www/vhosts/q2.com/httpdocs/[!.]*': No such file or directory

If I manually type that line at the shell prompt it works fine.

#!/bin/bash
LIVEPATH="/var/www/vhosts/qTEST.com"
DEVPATH="/var/www/vhosts/q2.com"

clear
echo -ne "Have you updated all the database tables and set the SITE constant\nto 'live'? (yes/no) "
read READY

if [ "$READY" = "yes" ]; then
        alias cp='cp' # override cp-I alias
        rm -rf "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs.bak"
        cp -R "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs" "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs.bak"
        # [!.] excludes files starting with a ., specifically htaccess/htpasswd
        cp -rp "$DEVPATH/httpdocs/[!.]*" "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs"
        chown -R jbronec "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs"

        echo -e "\nThe dev files have been copied to live.\nMake sure you rebuild the homepage cache and change the SITE constant\non dev to 'dev'"
else
        echo -e "\nYou need to update the database tables and SITE constant first."
fi

[Franklin52]

Hi,

cp don't copy files with names started with a dot (hidden files).
Try this (without double quotes):

cp -rp $DEVPATH/httpdocs/* $LIVEPATH/httpdocs

instead of:

cp -rp "$DEVPATH/httpdocs/[!.]*" "$LIVEPATH/httpdocs"

To copy all (hidden and regular) files you can do this:

cp -rp $DEVPATH/httpdocs/ $LIVEPATH/

To copy only hidden files:

cp -rp $DEVPATH/httpdocs/.[a-zA-Z0-9]* $LIVEPATH/

Regards

[likwid]

-a, the archive option I believe is synonymous with -rp. I use it frequently

Err correction, it's the same as -dpR

[iandunn]

Actually, the quotes were the problem. I removed them and it works fine. Thanks.