Using a Linux/Unix terminal to copy many files to a new location

Question

I'm trying to use the a Linux terminal to copy many files to a new location. I tired the command:

sudo locate -i *file_I_want* | xargs cp $1 /place_I_want_everything_copied_to/

Which, gives an error. What's the correct way to handle this?

Answer 1

xargs doesn't work that way. It doesn't use $1. It normally just postpends the argument to the end of the param list. But in this case it won't work, since it's the target, not the destination and a trailing parameter is not what's needed.

Check out the -i flag to xargs, it allows you to have a substitution. The default is to use {}, I guess to be consistent with find

sudo locate -i *file_I_want* | xargs -i cp {} /place_I_want_everything_copied_to/

@javano 's comment is an answer as well, though would break if there are spaces in the filenames (though I believe spaces would break the xargs usage above as well)