Node fs.rename() Method

The `fs.rename()` method is employed for the asynchronous renaming of a file, moving it from the specified old path to a designated new path. If a file already exists at the new path, it will be overwritten by the operation.

Syntax:

fs.rename( oldPath, newPath, callback )

Parameters: This method accepts three parameters as mentioned above and described below:

• oldPath: It holds the path of the file that has to be renamed. It can be a string, buffer, or URL.
• newPath: It holds the new path that the file has to be renamed. It can be a string, buffer, or URL.
• callback: It is the function that would be called when the method is executed. It has an optional argument for showing any error that occurs during the process.

Example 1: Below examples illustrate the fs.rename() method in Node.js:

Javascript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// fs.rename() method

// Import filesystem module
const fs = require('fs');
// List all the filenames before renaming
getCurrentFilenames();

// Rename the file
fs.rename(
    'hello.txt',
    'world.txt',
    () => {
        console.log("\nFile Renamed!\n");
        // List all the filenames after renaming
        getCurrentFilenames();
    });

// Function to get current filenames
// in directory
function getCurrentFilenames() {
    console.log("Current filenames:");
    fs.readdirSync(__dirname)
        .forEach(file => {
            console.log(file);
        });
}

Output:

Current filenames:
hello.txt
index.js

File Renamed!

Current filenames:
index.js
world.txt

Example 2: This example uses fs.rename() method to demonstrate an error during file renaming.

Javascript

// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// fs.rename() method

// Import filesystem module
const fs = require('fs');

// List all the filenames before renaming
getCurrentFilenames();

// Rename the file
fs.rename('hello.txt', 'geeks.txt',
    (error) => {
        if (error) {
            // Show the error
            console.log(error);
        }
        else {
            // List all the filenames after renaming
            console.log("\nFile Renamed\n");
            // List all the filenames after renaming
            getCurrentFilenames();
        }
    });

// Function to get current filenames
// in directory
function getCurrentFilenames() {
    console.log("Current filenames:");
    fs.readdirSync(__dirname)
        .forEach(file => {
            console.log(file);
        });
}

Output:

Current filenames:
index.js
package.json
world.txt
[Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename 
'G:\tutorials\nodejs-fs-rename\hello.txt' ->
'G:\tutorials\nodejs-fs-rename\geeks.txt'] {
  errno: -4058,
  code: 'ENOENT',
  syscall: 'rename',
  path: 'G:\\tutorials\\nodejs-fs-rename\\hello.txt',
  dest: 'G:\\tutorials\\nodejs-fs-rename\\geeks.txt'
}

We have a complete reference article on File System methods, where we have covered all the File System methods to check those please go through File System Complete Reference article