Re: cp -p

[Matthew Woehlke]

Ekanayake, Sumith wrote:
> Hello,
>
> We have a strange issue using "cp" command with -p option on Redhat
> Linux 3 kernel 2.4.21-47.ELsmp. 
>  I get the following error message...
>
> When you use without an option, no problems
> address@hidden ~]$ touch a
> address@hidden ~]$ cp a b
> address@hidden ~]$ ls -ld b
> -rw-r--r--    1 sekanaya cadd            0 Mar 16  2007 b
>
> When you use with -p option
> address@hidden ~]$ touch c
> address@hidden ~]$ cp -p c d
> cp: preserving permissions for `d': Invalid argument
>
> eventhough I get this above error message, it copies the file.
> address@hidden ~]$ ls -ld d
> -rw-r--r--    1 sekanaya cadd            0 Mar 16  2007 d
>
> I do not get this error message Redhat 4.... Any idea ???

Given that you just said "we have an issue with cp on <older OS> that 
does not happen on <newer OS>", have you considered that maybe there is 
a bug that has already been fixed? It is very likely that RH4 has a 
newer version of coreutils than RH3. I also notice you didn't give a 
version of coreutils on either system. The current (stable) version is 
6.7. Maybe you should update and see if that fixes the problem.

--
Matthew
"Have you tried that new mixed drink, 'GDR'"?
"What is it?"
"Gin, Duck and Rum. It tastes fowl."