1DD(1) User Commands DD(1)
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6 dd - convert and copy a file
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9 dd [OPERAND]...
10 dd OPTION
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13 Copy a file, converting and formatting according to the operands.
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15 bs=BYTES
16 read and write up to BYTES bytes at a time (default: 512); over‐
17 rides ibs and obs
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19 cbs=BYTES
20 convert BYTES bytes at a time
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22 conv=CONVS
23 convert the file as per the comma separated symbol list
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25 count=N
26 copy only N input blocks
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28 ibs=BYTES
29 read up to BYTES bytes at a time (default: 512)
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31 if=FILE
32 read from FILE instead of stdin
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34 iflag=FLAGS
35 read as per the comma separated symbol list
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37 obs=BYTES
38 write BYTES bytes at a time (default: 512)
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40 of=FILE
41 write to FILE instead of stdout
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43 oflag=FLAGS
44 write as per the comma separated symbol list
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46 seek=N skip N obs-sized blocks at start of output
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48 skip=N skip N ibs-sized blocks at start of input
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50 status=LEVEL
51 The LEVEL of information to print to stderr; 'none' suppresses
52 everything but error messages, 'noxfer' suppresses the final
53 transfer statistics, 'progress' shows periodic transfer statis‐
54 tics
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56 N and BYTES may be followed by the following multiplicative suffixes: c
57 =1, w =2, b =512, kB =1000, K =1024, MB =1000*1000, M =1024*1024, xM
58 =M, GB =1000*1000*1000, G =1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.
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60 Each CONV symbol may be:
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62 ascii from EBCDIC to ASCII
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64 ebcdic from ASCII to EBCDIC
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66 ibm from ASCII to alternate EBCDIC
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68 block pad newline-terminated records with spaces to cbs-size
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70 unblock
71 replace trailing spaces in cbs-size records with newline
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73 lcase change upper case to lower case
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75 ucase change lower case to upper case
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77 sparse try to seek rather than write the output for NUL input blocks
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79 swab swap every pair of input bytes
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81 sync pad every input block with NULs to ibs-size; when used with
82 block or unblock, pad with spaces rather than NULs
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84 excl fail if the output file already exists
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86 nocreat
87 do not create the output file
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89 notrunc
90 do not truncate the output file
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92 noerror
93 continue after read errors
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95 fdatasync
96 physically write output file data before finishing
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98 fsync likewise, but also write metadata
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100 Each FLAG symbol may be:
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102 append append mode (makes sense only for output; conv=notrunc sug‐
103 gested)
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105 direct use direct I/O for data
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107 directory
108 fail unless a directory
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110 dsync use synchronized I/O for data
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112 sync likewise, but also for metadata
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114 fullblock
115 accumulate full blocks of input (iflag only)
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117 nonblock
118 use non-blocking I/O
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120 noatime
121 do not update access time
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123 nocache
124 Request to drop cache. See also oflag=sync
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126 noctty do not assign controlling terminal from file
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128 nofollow
129 do not follow symlinks
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131 count_bytes
132 treat 'count=N' as a byte count (iflag only)
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134 skip_bytes
135 treat 'skip=N' as a byte count (iflag only)
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137 seek_bytes
138 treat 'seek=N' as a byte count (oflag only)
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140 Sending a USR1 signal to a running 'dd' process makes it print I/O sta‐
141 tistics to standard error and then resume copying.
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143 Options are:
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145 --help display this help and exit
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147 --version
148 output version information and exit
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151 Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, and Stuart Kemp.
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154 GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
155 Report dd translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
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158 Copyright © 2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
159 GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
160 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
161 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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164 Full documentation at: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/dd>
165 or available locally via: info '(coreutils) dd invocation'
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169GNU coreutils 8.30 July 2018 DD(1)