Manual Pages  — CP

The following options are available:

-H
	If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
-L
	If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
-P
	No symbolic links are followed. This is the default if the -R option is specified.
-R
	If source_file designates a directory, cp copies the directory and the entire subtree connected at that point. If the source_file ends in a /, the contents of the directory are copied rather than the directory itself. This option also causes symbolic links to be copied, rather than indirected through, and for cp to create special files rather than copying them as normal files. Created directories have the same mode as the corresponding source directory, unmodified by the process' umask. Note that cp copies hard linked files as separate files. If you need to preserve hard links, consider using tar(1), cpio(1), or pax(1) instead.
-a
	Archive mode. Same as -RpP.
-f
	For each existing destination pathname, remove it and create a new file, without prompting for confirmation regardless of its permissions. (The -f option overrides any previous -i or -n options.)
-i
	Cause cp to write a prompt to the standard error output before copying a file that would overwrite an existing file. If the response from the standard input begins with the character 'y' or 'Y', the file copy is attempted. (The -i option overrides any previous -f or -n options.)
-l
	Create hard links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
-n
	Do not overwrite an existing file. (The -n option overrides any previous -f or -i options.)
-p
	Cause cp to preserve the following attributes of each source file in the copy: modification time, access time, file flags, file mode, ACL, user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions. If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message is displayed and the exit value is not altered. If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID cannot be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on and the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has both its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on, and either the user ID or group ID cannot be preserved, neither the set-user-ID nor set-group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's permissions.
-s
	Create symbolic links to regular files in a hierarchy instead of copying.
-v
	Cause cp to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.
-x
	File system mount points are not traversed.

For each destination file that already exists, its contents are overwritten if permissions allow. Its mode, user ID, and group ID are unchanged unless the -p option was specified.

In the second synopsis form, target_directory must exist unless there is only one named source_file which is a directory and the -R flag is specified.