Would this do it ? -d, --no-dereference Copy symbolic links as symbolic links rather than copying the files that they point to, and preserve hard link relationships between source files in the copies. ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Rich To: opensuse@opensuse.org Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 12:00 PM Subject: cp but ignore symbolic links Hello I have a script that copies new files to my backup drive. One complication The source contains a symbolic link to the backup drive as well In effect it would copy the entire contents of the backup drive back onto itself in a different location I copy /srv/www/htdocs/ * to a backup ( to keep my web pages) But in the /srv/www/htdocs/ directory is a symbolic link to the backup drive. Can I copy but ignore symbolic links ? cp -R -v -u /srv/www/* /data1/Backup/ (copy recursively, verbose, only if file does not exist or newer) Andrew -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org