Move multiple files from multiple directories to source-relative destination

Question

Having the following file hierarchy:

dir
├── dirA
│   └── snapshot
│       └── subdir1
│           └── file1
└── dirB
    └── snapshot
        └── subdir2
            └── file2

I want to move files from each snapshot/subdir directory do the parent directory of snapshot in a single command. That would be:

dir
├── dirA
│   └── file1
│   └── snapshot
│       └── subdir1
└── dirB
    └── file2
    └── snapshot
        └── subdir2

I've tried mv dir/*/snapshot/*/* ../../ but since the destination part ../../ is relative to the working directory it obviously does not work.

Is it possible with bash commands (since I've never written a single line of bash script)?

Just so you know, bash scripts are nothing more than a file of bash commands. In their simplest form, just what you would run in the terminal, pasted one command per line. — terdon
– terdon ♦, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 17:45
Because Bash is a common shell, you may be using it by default, so beware the temptation to choose this tag by default! Use bash only if your question is about Bash-specific syntax or the interactive use of Bash. Use the tag shell instead if your question is about a sh (Bourne or POSIX) script. Use shell-script if you have a question about a shell’s interaction with other programs. — Jeff Schaller
– Jeff Schaller ♦, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 17:49

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07 19:05:22Z

2

Based on @Don_Christ's keen observation, this answer was edited thereby saving a subshell:

for i in dir/*/snapshot; do
     mv "$i"/*/* "$i"/..
done

answered Apr 7, 2017 at 18:06

user218374

1 Answer 1