How do I copy directories recursively with gulp?

I am trying to stage a project from a working directory to a server (same machine). Using the following code:

gulp.src([
    'index.php',
    'css/**',
    'js/**',
    'src/**',
])
.pipe(gulp.dest('/var/www/'));

I would expect to see all the files copied. However it flattens the dir structure - all directories are copied but every file is placed in the root /var/www

Gulp seems like a great build tool but copying items should be a simple process surely?

Solution 1:

The following works without flattening the folder structure:

gulp.src(['input/folder/**/*']).pipe(gulp.dest('output/folder'));

The '**/*' is the important part. That expression is a glob which is a powerful file selection tool. For example, for copying only .js files use: 'input/folder/**/*.js'

Solution 2:

Turns out that to copy a complete directory structure gulp needs to be provided with a base for your gulp.src() method.

So gulp.src( [ files ], { "base" : "." }) can be used in the structure above to copy all the directories recursively.

If, like me, you may forget this then try:

gulp.copy=function(src,dest){
    return gulp.src(src, {base:"."})
        .pipe(gulp.dest(dest));
};