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] [-B,
--read-full-blocks] [-C, --directory=DIR] [--checkpoint]
[-f, --file=[HOSTNAME:]F] [--force-local] [-F,
--info-script=F, --new-volume-script=F] [-G, --incremen
tal] [-g, --listed-incremental=F] [-h, --dereference] [-i,
--ignore-zeros] [-j, --bzip2, --bunzip2]
[--ignore-failed-read] [-k, --keep-old-files] [-K,
--starting-file=F] [-l, --one-file-system] [-L,
--tape-length=N] [-m, --modification-time] [-M,
--multi-volume] [-N, --after-date=DATE, --newer=DATE] [-o,
--old-archive, --portability] [-O, --to-stdout] [-p,
--same-permissions, --preserve-permissions] [-P, --abso
lute-paths] [--preserve] [-R, --record-number]
[--remove-files] [-s, --same-order, --preserve-order]
[--same-owner] [-S, --sparse] [-T, --files-from=F]
[--null] [--totals] [-v, --verbose] [-V, --label=NAME]
[--version] [-w, --interactive, --confirmation] [-W,
--verify] [--exclude=FILE] [-X, --exclude-from=FILE] [-Z,
--compress, --uncompress] [-z, --gzip, --ungzip]
[--use-compress-program=PROG] [--block-compress]
[-[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.
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
-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 /dev/rmt0)
--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, --bunzip2
filter the archive through bzip2
--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
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
-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
-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
-[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 track
ing 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.
Version 1.13.25 14 December 2000 TAR(1)
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