7.1 Advanced Directory and File Management Using the Command Line
7.1.4 Renaming and moving directories
Renaming Within the Current Directory
The
mv command is a multi-purpose command that can be used to rename a directory or move it to a different location. The command format below shows two different formats for the mv command depending on your goal. As with files, the mv command has two basic formats used to rename and move directories. Figure shows the Move Old Name to New Name format which is used to rename directories within the current directory.

Figure demonstrates using the mv command to rename a directory within the current directory. In the example, the cd command changes to your home directory and the pwd command verifies this. Next, the mkdir command is used to create the maildir directory using a relative pathname. The mv command is then used to rename the maildir directory to monthly.

Renaming in a Non-Current Directory
This example uses the same command format as the prior one. Figure demonstrates how to use the
mv command to rename a file in a non-current directory. Here the mv command is used to rename the project subdirectory in the practice directory to project2 using a relative pathname.

Moving a Directory and Its Contents
Figure shows the command format to move a directory and its contents to another directory or location in the directory tree. Figure demonstrates using the
mv command to move the practice directory from /home/user2 to the existing dir3 directory. When moving a directory this way, if the target location exists, the source directory will be copied into the target location. If the location does not exist, the source directory will be renamed.

Interactive Media Activity (Flash, 93 kB)
  Renaming and Moving Directories

In this media activity, you are logged in as user2 and your current working directory is: /home/user2/dir2. Refer to the Class File Tree Structure by clicking the 'tree' button located on the Menu Bar and type the commands that would accomplish the requested objectives. 
Note: Be sure to press enter after each one. Click on step 1 to begin.

 

Lab Activity (Adobe Acrobat Reader, 48 kB)
  Renaming and Moving Files and Directories

In this lab, you will work with the versatile mv (move) command to rename and move files as well as directories.