rename — rename files
rename [options] expression
replacement file...
rename will
rename the specified files by replacing the first occurrence
of expression in
their name by replacement.
−s,
−−symlinkDo not rename a symlink but its target.
−v,
−−verboseShow which files where renamed, if any.
−V,
−−versionDisplay version information and exit.
−h,
−−helpDisplay help text and exit.
Given the files foo1, ...,
foo9, foo10, ..., foo278, the commands
rename foo foo0 foo? rename foo foo0 foo??
will turn them into foo001,
..., foo009, foo010, ..., foo278. And
rename .htm .html *.htm
will fix the extension of your html files. Provide an empty string for shortening:
rename '_with_long_name' '' file_with_long_name.*
will remove the substring in the filenames.
The renaming has no safeguards. If the user has permission to rewrite file names, the command will perform the action without any questions. For example, the result can be quite drastic when the command is run as root in the /lib directory. Always make a backup before running the command, unless you truly know what you are doing.