Rename directory in hdfs

Question

I need to rename a directory in hdfs. What is the command for that ?

hadoop fs -mv   

The above command moves the src f

Answer 1

I think you are missing the point about mv command(linux/hdfs).

When the destination already exists, if it's a file, an error message mv: 'dest': File exists.
In case of directory, the source will go inside it. So the command is working acceptably, just try it with a non-existent dest.

Now to resolve this, you can make use of hadoop's test command along with short circuit OR of linux.

hadoop fs -test -e dest || hadoop fs -mv src dest 

If the directory doesn't exist, invoke mv. You can even go further with the following:

hadoop fs -rmr dest  
hadoop fs -mv src dest  

This one deletes the dest dir first, then performs the move action. if this is not your intention, use the previous solution.