you do not need to supply full path of the subbranch in your second parameter. Just use the new name you want to rename to. /appl/iwov/iw-home/bin/iwrename 'main/Sub_Branch/NextOne/THEHEAD/071209' 'OLD_071209' Also, I am not sure if you really need to use quotes for the parameters. So your command should be /appl/iwov/iw-home/bin/iwrename main/Sub_Branch/NextOne/THEHEAD/071209 OLD_071209