Table of Contents
tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
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, --incremental ] [ -g, --listed-incremental
F ] [ -h, --dereference ] [ -i, --ignore-zeros ] [ --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, --absolute-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 ]
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.
- 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
- --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)
- --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
- -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
- -[0-7][lmh]
- specify drive and density
Table of Contents