Files and directories

`install`

Copy files into place and set their mode, owner and group in one step; can also create directories.

install [OPTION...] SOURCE... DEST | install -d [OPTION...] DIRECTORY...

9 of 9 examples run in Debian 13.7 on 2026-10-31 · coreutils 9.7-3 · manual: install(1)

Despite the name, install has nothing to do with package managers. It is cp plus chown plus a permission change, done in one command: copy this file there, with this mode, owned by this user. Makefiles use it in their install targets, and deployment scripts use it to put configuration files and binaries in place with exactly the permissions they need.

Two details make it different from cp. The default mode is 755 (rwxr-xr-x), not the source's mode, so pass -m 644 for non-executable files. And it replaces the destination by removing it first instead of writing into it, so a program that is running from the old file keeps working.

install -d creates directories (with parents) and sets their mode and owner, like mkdir -p with extra options. -D creates the destination's missing parent directories before copying.

Examples

Install a script as an executable

$ mkdir -p bin
> install scripts/greet.sh bin/greet
> ls -l bin/greet
> bin/greet installer

output

-rwxr-xr-x 1 dev dev 37 Oct 31 20:19 bin/greet
Hello, installer!

The file is copied and given mode 755 (-rwxr-xr-x), regardless of the source's mode, so it runs straight away.

Install a config file with a specific mode

$ mkdir conf
> install -m 644 data/settings.conf conf/
> install -m 600 .env conf/
> ls -lA conf

output

total 1
-rw------- 1 dev dev  42 Oct 31 20:19 .env
-rw-r--r-- 1 dev dev 149 Oct 31 20:19 settings.conf

-m sets the mode. Plain data gets 644, and a file holding secrets gets 600, readable only by the owner.

Create directories with a given mode

$ install -d -m 750 deploy/releases deploy/shared/logs
> ls -ld deploy/releases deploy/shared deploy/shared/logs

output

drwxr-x--- 2 dev dev 2 Oct 31 20:19 deploy/releases
drwxr-xr-x 3 dev dev 3 Oct 31 20:19 deploy/shared
drwxr-x--- 2 dev dev 2 Oct 31 20:19 deploy/shared/logs

-d treats the arguments as directories and creates missing parents. The mode applies to the named directories; parents created on the way (deploy/shared) get the default mode.

Copy into a path that does not exist yet

$ install -D -m 644 src/lib/helpers.py dist/lib/python/helpers.py
> find dist

output

dist
dist/lib
dist/lib/python
dist/lib/python/helpers.py

-D creates every missing directory leading up to the destination, then copies the file.

Set owner and group while copying

Setup run before this example

useradd -M -U -r app

$ install -o app -g app -m 640 data/config.json /etc/demo-config.json
> ls -l /etc/demo-config.json

output

-rw-r----- 1 app app 244 Oct 31 20:19 /etc/demo-config.json

-o and -g set the owner and group (this needs root). One command replaces the usual cp, chown and chmod sequence, with no moment where the file has the wrong owner.

Show what is installed where

$ mkdir -p out
> install -v -m 644 data/*.csv out/

output

'data/sales.csv' -> 'out/sales.csv'
'data/users.csv' -> 'out/users.csv'

-v prints each copy. With several sources, the destination must be a directory.

Keep the previous version

Setup run before this example

mkdir -p bin
install scripts/greet.sh bin/greet

$ install -b -S .old scripts/backup.sh bin/greet
> ls bin

output

greet
greet.old

-b renames the file being replaced, and -S .old sets the suffix (the default is ~).

Skip the copy when nothing changed

Setup run before this example

mkdir -p bin
install -m 755 scripts/greet.sh bin/greet
touch -d "2026-01-01" bin/greet

$ install -C -m 755 scripts/greet.sh bin/greet
> ls -l --time-style=+%F bin/greet

output

-rwxr-xr-x 1 dev dev 37 2026-01-01 bin/greet

-C compares content, owner and mode first and leaves an identical destination alone, so its old timestamp survives and tools that watch modification times see no change.

install replaces the file, cp overwrites it in place

Setup run before this example

mkdir -p bin
install scripts/greet.sh bin/greet

$ ls -i bin/greet
> install scripts/greet.sh bin/greet && ls -i bin/greet
> cp scripts/greet.sh bin/greet && ls -i bin/greet

output

9811877 bin/greet
9466071 bin/greet
9466071 bin/greet

Each install produces a new file with a new inode number; cp wrote into the existing one, so the number stayed. A program running from the old file keeps its own copy with install, while overwriting a running binary in place with cp can fail with "Text file busy" or crash it. In Makefiles, install -m 755 prog $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/ is the standard install step for this reason.

Common pitfalls

install file dest makes dest executable (mode 755) even for a text file. Always pass -m 644 for data and config files.
install follows symlinks in the source and copies the target file; it cannot install a symlink.
With one source and a destination that is an existing directory, the file goes inside it. Use -T to treat the destination as a file name and fail otherwise.

GNU vs BSD and macOS

The examples above ran the GNU/Linux version. These are the differences that matter on macOS and the BSDs (written from their documentation, not run here).

-D, -t, -T and -v are GNU options. BSD/macOS install shares -d, -m, -o, -g, -b, -C and -c (which is a no-op on GNU, kept for compatibility).

Options worth knowing

A selection, described in our own words. For the full list, see install(1) or install --help.

Option	What it does
`-m, --mode MODE`	Set the permission mode (default 755).
`-o, --owner OWNER`	Set the owner (root only).
`-g, --group GROUP`	Set the group.
`-d, --directory`	Treat all arguments as directories to create.
`-D`	Create missing parent directories of the destination.
`-C, --compare`	Do not replace a destination that is already identical.
`-b`	Back up each existing destination file.
`-S, --suffix SUFFIX`	Use SUFFIX for backups instead of ~.
`-p, --preserve-timestamps`	Keep the source's access and modification times.
`-s, --strip`	Strip symbol tables from installed binaries.
`-t, --target-directory DIR`	Copy all sources into DIR.
`-T, --no-target-directory`	Treat DEST as a file name, never a directory.
`-v, --verbose`	Print each file or directory created.
`-c`	Ignored; accepted for compatibility with old BSD install.

Examples

Common pitfalls

GNU vs BSD and macOS

Options worth knowing

Related