Does mv on a FAT filesystem actually rename or does it copy and delete?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Sat, 3 Feb 2018 12:29:10 +0000, Chris Green wrote:
>On Sat, Feb 03, 2018 at 09:50:31AM +0000, Chris Green wrote:
>> I want to rename some picture files on a mounted digital camera
>> filesystem.  It is a VFAT filesystem.
>> 
>> If I rename one of the files using 'mv <xxxx.yyy>' will the file  
>
>Typo of course, I meant 'mv file1 file2'.
>
>> *actually* be renamed by changing the directory entry only or will
>> mv copy the file to one with the new name and then delete the old
>> one? 
>Thanks for the answers so far but to re-emphasise why I asked the
>question:-
>
>    I know that mv of a file in a directory on a Linux type filesystem
>    will just write the new name of a file in the directory without
>    moving the data/contents of the file.
>
>    However in different circumstances (e.g. across filesystems) it
>    *can't* do this and has to copy/delete.  I was just asking if
>    anyone knows if 'mv file1 file2' on a VFAT (i.e. not native Linux)
>    filesystem does the 'easy' thing (copy/delete) or not.

As already pointed out, you still could run "strace" ;).