Linux CLI find and cp issues

Question

Im trying to find a set number of files in a directory and then copy them to another directory using the find and cp command.

this is the command i have so far:

find /usr/share -name a* -type f -group admin -size -10240c | cp /usr/share/ ./thecopy/

Now it finds the files but does not copy the files to the location I'm trying to send them but finds the files in question. Any suggestions please?

Answer 1

find /usr/share -name a* -type f -group admin -size -10240c -exec cp {} ./thecopy/\;

That won't recreate any directory structure under thecopy. But will copy the files it finds to your directory needed

Answer 2

Try something like:

find /usr/share -name a* -type f -group admin -size -10240c | cp {} ./thecopy/ \;

{} is the placeholder for the files that match your criteria

If you want to retain the directory structure you can try something like:

find /usr/share -name a* -type f -group admin -size -10240c | rsync -av {} ./thecopy/ \;