--- name: "install" section: "1" platform: "macos" package: "file_cmds" version: "479" release: "macOS 26.5" platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/install" --- # install(1) install binaries ## NAME **install** – install binaries ## SYNOPSIS **install** \[**-bCcpSsUv**\] \[**-B** *suffix*\] \[**-D** *destdir*\] \[**-f** *flags*\] \[**-g** *group*\] \[**-h** *hash*\] \[**-l** *linkflags*\] \[**-M** *metalog*\] \[**-m** *mode*\] \[**-o** *owner*\] \[**-T** *tags*\] *file1* *file2* **install** \[**-bCcpSsUv**\] \[**-B** *suffix*\] \[**-D** *destdir*\] \[**-f** *flags*\] \[**-g** *group*\] \[**-h** *hash*\] \[**-l** *linkflags*\] \[**-M** *metalog*\] \[**-m** *mode*\] \[**-o** *owner*\] \[**-T** *tags*\] *file1* *...* *fileN* *directory* **install** **-d** \[**-Uv**\] \[**-D** *destdir*\] \[**-g** *group*\] \[**-h** *hash*\] \[**-M** *metalog*\] \[**-m** *mode*\] \[**-o** *owner*\] \[**-T** *tags*\] *directory* *...* ## DESCRIPTION The file(s) are copied (or linked if the **-l** option is specified) to the target file or directory. If the destination is a directory, then the *file* is copied into *directory* with its original filename. If the target file already exists, it is either renamed to *file**.old* if the **-b** option is given or overwritten if permissions allow. An alternate backup suffix may be specified via the **-B** option's argument. The options are as follows: - **-B** *suffix* Use *suffix* as the backup suffix if **-b** is given. - **-b** Back up any existing files before overwriting them by renaming them to *file**.old*. See **-B** for specifying a different backup suffix. - **-C** Copy the file. If the target file already exists and the files are the same, then do not change the modification time of the target. If the target's file flags and mode need not to be changed, the target's inode change time is also unchanged. - **-c** Copy the file. This is actually the default. The **-c** option is only included for backwards compatibility. - **-D** *destdir* Specify the DESTDIR (top of the file hierarchy) that the items are installed in to. If **-M** *metalog* is in use, a leading string of “*destdir*” will be removed from the file names logged to the *metalog*. This option does not affect where the actual files are installed. - **-d** Create directories. Missing parent directories are created as required. - **-f** *flags* Specify the target's file flags; see [chflags(1)](/chflags/1.md) for a list of possible flags and their meanings. - **-g** *group* Specify a group. A numeric GID is allowed. - **-h** *hash* When copying, calculate the digest of the files with *hash* to store in the **-M** *metalog*. When **-d** is given no hash is emitted. Supported digests: - **none** No hash. This is the default. - **sha1** The SHA-1 cryptographic message digest. - **sha256** The 256-bits SHA-2 cryptographic message digest of the file. - **sha512** The 512-bits SHA-2 cryptographic message digest of the file. - **-l** *linkflags* Instead of copying the file make a link to the source. The type of the link is determined by the *linkflags* argument. Valid *linkflags* are: *a* (absolute), *r* (relative), *h* (hard), *s* (symbolic), *m* (mixed). Absolute and relative have effect only for symbolic links. Mixed links are hard links for files on the same filesystem, symbolic otherwise. - **-M** *metalog* Write the metadata associated with each item installed to *metalog* in an [mtree(8)](/mtree/8.md) “full path” specification line. The metadata includes: the file name and file type, and depending upon other options, the owner, group, file flags, modification time, and tags. - **-m** *mode* Specify an alternate mode. The default mode is set to rwxr-xr-x (0755). The specified mode may be either an octal or symbolic value; see [chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md) for a description of possible mode values. - **-o** *owner* Specify an owner. A numeric UID is allowed. - **-p** Preserve the access and modification times. Copy the file, as if the **-C** (compare and copy) option is specified, except if the target file does not already exist or is different, then preserve the access and modification times of the source file. - **-S** Flush each file to disk after copying. This has a non-negligible impact on performance, but reduces the risk of being left with a partial file if the system crashes or loses power shortly after **install** runs. Historically, **-S** also enabled the use of temporary files to ensure atomicity when replacing an existing target. Temporary files are no longer optional. - **-s** **install** exec's the command [strip(1)](/strip/1.md) to strip binaries so that **install** can be portable over a large number of systems and binary types. See below for how **install** can be instructed to use another program to strip binaries. - **-T** *tags* Specify the [mtree(8)](/mtree/8.md) tags to write out for the file when using **-M** *metalog*. - **-U** Indicate that install is running unprivileged, and that it should not try to change the owner, the group, or the file flags of the destination. The information that would have been updated can be stored in a log file with **-M** *metalog*. - **-v** Cause **install** to be verbose, showing files as they are installed or backed up. By default, **install** preserves all file flags, with the exception of the “nodump” flag. The **install** utility attempts to prevent moving a file onto itself. Installing */dev/null* creates an empty file. ## ENVIRONMENT The **install** utility checks for the presence of the STRIPBIN environment variable and if present, uses the assigned value as the program to run if and when the **-s** option has been specified. If the DONTSTRIP environment variable is present, **install** will ignore any specification of the **-s** option. ## FILES - *INS@XXXXXX* Temporary files named *INS@XXXXXX*, where *XXXXXX* is decided by [mkstemp(3)](/mkstemp/3.md), are created in the target directory. ## EXIT STATUS The **install** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs. ## COMPATIBILITY Historically **install** moved files by default. The default was changed to copy in FreeBSD 4.4. ## SEE ALSO [chflags(1)](/chflags/1.md), [chgrp(1)](/chgrp/1.md), [chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md), [cp(1)](/cp/1.md), [mv(1)](/mv/1.md), [strip(1)](/strip/1.md), [getgrnam(3)](/getgrnam/3.md), [getpwnam(3)](/getpwnam/3.md), [chown(8)](/chown/8.md) ## HISTORY The **install** utility appeared in 4.2BSD. ## BUGS The meaning of the **-M** option has changed as of FreeBSD 9.2 and it now takes an argument. Command lines that used the old **-M** will get an error or in rare cases will append logs to the first of multiple source files rather than installing it. Temporary files may be left in the target directory if **install** exits abnormally. File flags cannot be set by [fchflags(2)](/fchflags/2.md) over a NFS file system. Other file systems do not have a concept of flags. The **install** utility will only warn when flags could not be set on a file system that does not support them. The **install** utility with **-v** falsely says a file is copied when **-C** snaps hard links.