NAME

gdal-vsi-copy - Copy files located on GDAL Virtual System Interface (VSI)

Added in version 3.11.

SYNOPSIS

Usage: gdal vsi copy [OPTIONS] <SOURCE> <DESTINATION>
Copy files located on GDAL Virtual System Interface (VSI).
Positional arguments:
  --source <SOURCE>            Source file or directory name [required]
  --destination <DESTINATION>  Destination file or directory name [required]
Common Options:
  -h, --help                   Display help message and exit
  --json-usage                 Display usage as JSON document and exit
  --config <KEY>=<VALUE>       Configuration option [may be repeated]
  -q, --quiet                  Quiet mode (no progress bar or warning message) [not available in pipelines]
Options:
  -r, --recursive              Copy subdirectories recursively
  --skip-errors                Skip errors

DESCRIPTION

gdal vsi copy copy files and directories located on GDAL Virtual File Systems (compressed, network hosted, etc...): /vsimem, /vsizip, /vsitar, /vsicurl, ....

It can copy files and directories between different virtual file systems.

This is the equivalent of the UNIX cp command, and gdal vsi cp is an alias for gdal vsi copy.

Options

-r, --recursive: Copy directories recursively.

--skip-errors: Skip errors that occur while while copying.

RETURN STATUS CODE

The program returns status code 0 in case of success, and non-zero in case of error (non-blocking errors emitted as warnings are considered as a successful execution).

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Copy recursively files from /vsis3/bucket/my_dir to local directory, creating a my_dir directory if it does not exist.

$ gdal vsi copy -r /vsis3/bucket/my_dir .

Example 2: Copy recursively files from /vsis3/bucket/my_dir to local directory, without creating a my_dir directory, without progress bar

$ gdal vsi copy --quiet -r /vsis3/bucket/my_dir/* .

AUTHOR

Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

COPYRIGHT

1998-2026

July 22, 2026