TAR

TAR

NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES FUNCTION LETTERS OTHER OPTIONS BUGS

NAME

tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility

SYNOPSIS

tar [ __-__ A --catenate --concatenate | c --create | d --diff --compare | r --append | t --list | u --update | x -extract --get [ __--atime-preserve__ [ __-b, --block-size N__ [unrenderable node] [ __-C, --directory DIR__ __--checkpoint__ [ __-f, --file [[HOSTNAME:F ] __--force-local__ [unrenderable node] [ __-G, --incremental__ __-g, --listed-incremental F__ [unrenderable node] [ __-i, --ignore-zeros__ [unrenderable node] [ __--ignore-failed-read__ [unrenderable node] [ __-K, --starting-file F__ __-l, --one-file-system__ [ __-L, --tape-length N__ [ __-m, --modification-time__ [unrenderable node] [unrenderable node] [ __-o, --old-archive, --portability__ __-O, --to-stdout__ [unrenderable node] [ __-P, --absolute-names__ [ __--preserve__ [ __-R, --record-number__ __--remove-files__ [unrenderable node] [ __--same-owner__ __--numeric-owner__ [ __-S, --sparse__ [unrenderable node] [ __--null__ [ __--totals__ __-v, --verbose__ [ __-V, --label NAME__ __--version__ [unrenderable node] [ __-W, --verify__ __--exclude=FILE__ [ __-X, --exclude-from FILE__ __-Z, --compress, --uncompress__ [unrenderable node] [ __--use-compress-program PROG__ __--block-compress__ [ __--rsh-command=CMD__ __-[[0-7[lmh ]

filename1 [ filename2, ... filenameN

directory1 [ directory2, ...directoryN

DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents the GNU version of tar , an archiving program designed to store and extract files from an archive file known as a tarfile. A tarfile may be made on a tape drive, however, it is also common to write a tarfile to a normal file. The first argument to tar must be one of the options: Acdrtux, followed by any optional functions. The final arguments to tar are the names of the files or directories which should be archived. The use of a directory name always implies that the subdirectories below should be included in the archive.

EXAMPLES

tar -xvvf foo.tar

extract foo.tar

tar -xvvzf foo.tar.gz

extract gzipped foo.tar.gz

tar -cvvf foo.tar foo/

tar contents of folder foo in foo.tar

FUNCTION LETTERS

One of the following options must be used:

-A, --catenate, --concatenate

append tar files to an archive

-c, --create

create a new archive

-d, --diff, --compare

find differences between archive and file system

--delete

delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)

-r, --append

append files to the end of an archive

-t, --list

list the contents of an archive

-u, --update

only append files that are newer than copy in archive

-x, --extract, --get

extract files from an archive

OTHER OPTIONS

--atime-preserve

don't change access times on dumped files

-b, --block-size N

block size of Nx512 bytes (default N=20)

-B, --read-full-blocks

reblock as we read (for reading 4.2BSD pipes)

-C, --directory DIR

change to directory DIR

--checkpoint

print directory names while reading the archive

-f, --file [HOSTNAME:F

use archive file or device F (default

--force-local

archive file is local even if has a colon

-F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F

run script at end of each tape (implies -M)

-G, --incremental

create/list/extract old GNU-format incremental backup

-g, --listed-incremental F

create/list/extract new GNU-format incremental backup

-h, --dereference

don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to

-i, --ignore-zeros

ignore blocks of zeros in archive (normally mean EOF)

-j, --bzip2

filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files

--ignore-failed-read

don't exit with non-zero status on unreadable files

-k, --keep-old-files

keep existing files; don't overwrite them from archive

-K, --starting-file F

begin at file F in the archive

-l, --one-file-system

stay in local file system when creating an archive

-L, --tape-length N

change tapes after writing N*1024 bytes

-m, --modification-time

don't extract file modified time

-M, --multi-volume

create/list/extract multi-volume archive

-N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE

only store files newer than DATE

-o, --old-archive, --portability

write a V7 format archive, rather than ANSI format

-O, --to-stdout

extract files to standard output

-p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions

extract all protection information

-P, --absolute-paths

don't strip leading `/'s from file names

--preserve

like -p -s

-R, --record-number

show record number within archive with each message

--remove-files

remove files after adding them to the archive

-s, --same-order, --preserve-order

list of names to extract is sorted to match archive

--same-owner

create extracted files with the same ownership

--numeric-owner

always use numbers for user/group names

-S, --sparse

handle sparse files efficiently

-T, --files-from F

get names to extract or create from file F

--null

• T reads null-terminated names, disable -C

--totals

print total bytes written with --create

-v, --verbose

verbosely list files processed

-V, --label NAME

create archive with volume name NAME

--version

print tar program version number

-w, --interactive, --confirmation

ask for confirmation for every action

-W, --verify

attempt to verify the archive after writing it

--exclude=FILE

exclude file FILE

-X, --exclude-from FILE

exclude files listed in FILE

-Z, --compress, --uncompress

filter the archive through compress

-z, --gzip, --ungzip

filter the archive through gzip

--use-compress-program PROG

filter the archive through PROG (which must accept

• d)

--block-compress

block the output of compression program for tapes

--rsh-command=CMD

Use remote COMMAND instead of `rsh'. This option exists so that people who use something other than the standard `rsh' (e.g., a Kerberized `rsh') can access a remote device.

-[0-7[lmh

specify drive and density

BUGS

The GNU folks, in general, abhor man pages, and create info documents instead. The maintainer of tar falls into this category. This man page is neither complete, nor current, and was included in the Debian Linux packaging of tar entirely to reduce the frequency with which the lack of a man page gets reported as a bug in our defect tracking system.

If you really want to understand tar, then you should run info and read the tar info pages, or use the info mode in emacs.