{"id":274,"date":"2026-10-13T07:01:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2010\/07\/22\/samples-of-the-ant-copy-task\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T07:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:01:48","slug":"samples-of-the-ant-copy-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/samples-of-the-ant-copy-task\/","title":{"rendered":"Apache Ant Copy Task Examples: File, FileSet, Include\/Exclude, and Flatten Patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Apache Ant\u2019s copy<\/code> task is a core build step for moving resources into output directories. This guide helps build and release engineers choose the right copy pattern, avoid common mistakes, and reuse practical snippets in build.xml<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on 2010-07-22; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ant copy task example<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick syntax reference for the Ant copy task<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Use file<\/code> and tofile<\/code> for one-to-one copies, and use todir<\/code> with a nested fileset<\/code> for bulk copies selected by patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n

<copy<\/span> file<\/span>='${resources.dir}\/MANIFEST.MF'<\/span> tofile<\/span>='${temp.dir.meta-inf}\/MANIFEST.MF'<\/span> overwrite<\/span>='true'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<copy<\/span> file<\/span>='${resources.dir}\/managed-beans.xml'<\/span> tofile<\/span>='${temp.dir.web-inf}\/managed-beans.xml'<\/span> overwrite<\/span>='true'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<copy<\/span> file<\/span>='${resources.dir}\/navigation-rules.xml'<\/span> tofile<\/span>='${temp.dir.web-inf}\/navigation-rules.xml'<\/span> overwrite<\/span>='true'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<copy<\/span> file<\/span>='${resources.dir}\/faces-config.xml'<\/span> tofile<\/span>='${temp.dir.web-inf}\/faces-config.xml'<\/span> overwrite<\/span>='true'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<copy<\/span> file<\/span>='${resources.dir}\/log4j.properties'<\/span> tofile<\/span>='${temp.dir.classes}\/log4j.properties'<\/span> overwrite<\/span>='true'<\/span> \/><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
<copy<\/span> todir<\/span>='${temp.dir.classes}'<\/span>><\/span>\n  <fileset<\/span> dir<\/span>='${src.dir}'<\/span>><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.xml'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.xsl'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.properties'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n  <\/fileset<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/copy<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Choose the right copy pattern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Pattern<\/th>Example form<\/th>Keeps directory tree<\/th>Best for<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Single file to explicit destination<\/td><copy file=’…’ tofile=’…’ \/><\/td>No<\/td>Manifest or one config file with a fixed target name<\/td><\/tr>
Bulk copy with fileset<\/td><copy todir=’…’><fileset … \/><\/copy><\/td>Yes<\/td>Resource folders with many files<\/td><\/tr>
Pattern-filtered copy<\/td>Include and exclude patterns<\/td>Yes<\/td>Copy only certain file types or paths<\/td><\/tr>
Flattened bulk copy<\/td>flatten=’true’<\/td>No<\/td>Collect jars and zips into one runtime lib directory<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Practical examples for include, exclude, flatten, and cleanup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Copy images while excluding GIF files (attribute form)<\/h3>\n\n\n
<copy<\/span> todir<\/span>='${dist}'<\/span>><\/span>\n  <fileset<\/span> dir<\/span>='${src}'<\/span> includes<\/span>='**\/images\/*'<\/span> excludes<\/span>='**\/*.gif'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<\/copy<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The same filter using nested include and exclude elements<\/h3>\n\n\n
<copy<\/span> todir<\/span>='${dist}'<\/span>><\/span>\n  <fileset<\/span> dir<\/span>='${src}'<\/span>><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/images\/*'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <exclude<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.gif'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n  <\/fileset<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/copy<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Flatten nested libraries into one output folder<\/h3>\n\n\n
<copy<\/span> todir<\/span>='${temp.dir.lib}'<\/span> flatten<\/span>='true'<\/span>><\/span>\n  <fileset<\/span> dir<\/span>='${lib.dir}'<\/span>><\/span>\n    <exclude<\/span> name<\/span>='${cob.lib.dir}'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <exclude<\/span> name<\/span>='junit*'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.jar'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n    <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.zip'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n  <\/fileset<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/copy<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Delete the original selection after copying (when your process requires cleanup)<\/h3>\n\n\n
<delete<\/span> dir<\/span>='${dist}'<\/span>><\/span>\n  <include<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/images\/*'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n  <exclude<\/span> name<\/span>='**\/*.gif'<\/span> \/><\/span>\n<\/delete<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Copy-stage workflow in a typical Ant build<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This flow shows where targeted copies, filtered copies, and optional cleanup usually sit between compilation and packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nflowchart LR\n    A[Compile sources] --> B[Copy fixed config files]\n    B --> C[Copy fileset resources]\n    C --> D{Use flatten}\n    D -- Yes --> E[Write into one lib directory]\n    D -- No --> F[Keep source folder layout]\n    E --> G[Package artifact]\n    F --> G\n    G --> H[Optional cleanup]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Best practices and common pitfalls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Use Ant properties for all source and destination paths so environments stay portable.<\/li>
  • Prefer explicit include and exclude rules instead of copying entire trees blindly.<\/li>
  • Be careful with flatten='true'<\/code>: files with identical names from different folders can overwrite each other.<\/li>
  • Use overwrite='true'<\/code> only when deterministic replacement is desired.<\/li>
  • Keep copy and delete rules close to packaging targets so the build intent is obvious.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Learn practical Apache Ant copy task patterns for real build pipelines, from single-file copies to filtered FileSets and flattened library bundles. Includes reusable XML snippets and a workflow diagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[209,4193,4196,4190,4194,4192,4188,4195,4189,4191],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apache-ant","tag-ant","tag-ant-copy-task-examples","tag-ant-copy-task-guide","tag-ant-copy-task-samples","tag-ant-task-copy-delete-examples","tag-apache-ant-copy","tag-copy-task","tag-how-to-use-ant-copy-task","tag-samples","tag-samples-ant-copy-task"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79103,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/79103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}