Using terminal to cp a directory from one volume to another with error log.

A friend of mine said that I could use this pice of code to copy files from one location to another and have it also output an error log

SOURCEDIR="/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime"
DESTDIR="/Volumes/5TB FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime"
for d in "${SOURCEDIR}/"*; do echo 'copying `basename "${d}"`';cp -r "${d}" "${DESTDIR}/`basename ${d}`" 2> err.log; done

The original line of code he gave me, that I was going to used before I asked if he could have it output the errors to a log, was`` SOURCEDIR="/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime" DESTDIR="/Volumes/5TB FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime" for d in "${SOURCEDIR}/"*; do echo "copying basename "${d}"`"; cp -r "${d}" "${DESTDIR}"; done

Your screenshot shows what appears to be a MacOS Finder window. What operating system are you using?

Edit: The references to AirDrop and iCloud Drive suggest that you are running MacOSX Yosemite, rather than a Linux desktop themed to look like MacOS, so I've moved this thread to the Other Operating Systems -> Mac OSX sub-forum.

You posted this bash-related question in New to Ubuntu, the tagline for which clearly states:

The perfect place to post for your Ubuntu support if you are new to Linux.

Although members proficient in bash in Ubuntu may be able to help you, you may be better off in a MacOS forum which caters for those Mac users who wish to use the terminal.

In addition to what Coffeecat said, I have a couple questions:

Why are you using cp rather than rsync? Is there a specific reason you want to get a list of errors that occurred during the copy?

Try this:

#/bin/bash

source="/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime"
destination="/Volumes/5TB FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/Anime"
error="/home/$(whoami)/error.log"
cp -rv $source $destination 2> $error