1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @comment %**start of header
5 @settitle GNU tar @value{VERSION}
14 @c 1. Pay attention to @FIXME{}s and @UNREVISED{}s
15 @c 2. Before creating final variant:
16 @c 2.1. Run `make check-options' to make sure all options are properly
18 @c 2.2. Run `make master-menu' (see comment before the master menu).
20 @include rendition.texi
26 @c Put everything in one index (arbitrarily chosen to be the concept index).
35 This manual is for @acronym{GNU} @command{tar} (version
36 @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}), which creates and extracts files
39 Copyright @copyright{} 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001,
40 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
43 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
44 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
45 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
46 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
47 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
48 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
51 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to
52 copy and modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF
53 supports it in developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
57 @dircategory Archiving
59 * Tar: (tar). Making tape (or disk) archives.
62 @dircategory Individual utilities
64 * tar: (tar)tar invocation. Invoking @GNUTAR{}.
67 @shorttitlepage @acronym{GNU} @command{tar}
70 @title @acronym{GNU} tar: an archiver tool
71 @subtitle @value{RENDITION} @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}
72 @author John Gilmore, Jay Fenlason et al.
75 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
81 @top @acronym{GNU} tar: an archiver tool
86 @cindex archiving files
88 The first part of this master menu lists the major nodes in this Info
89 document. The rest of the menu lists all the lower level nodes.
92 @c The master menu goes here.
94 @c NOTE: To update it from within Emacs, make sure mastermenu.el is
95 @c loaded and run texinfo-master-menu.
96 @c To update it from the command line, run
107 * Date input formats::
110 * Reliability and security::
115 * Configuring Help Summary::
116 * Fixing Snapshot Files::
119 * Free Software Needs Free Documentation::
120 * GNU Free Documentation License::
121 * Index of Command Line Options::
125 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
129 * Book Contents:: What this Book Contains
130 * Definitions:: Some Definitions
131 * What tar Does:: What @command{tar} Does
132 * Naming tar Archives:: How @command{tar} Archives are Named
133 * Authors:: @GNUTAR{} Authors
134 * Reports:: Reporting bugs or suggestions
136 Tutorial Introduction to @command{tar}
139 * stylistic conventions::
140 * basic tar options:: Basic @command{tar} Operations and Options
141 * frequent operations::
142 * Two Frequent Options::
143 * create:: How to Create Archives
144 * list:: How to List Archives
145 * extract:: How to Extract Members from an Archive
148 Two Frequently Used Options
154 How to Create Archives
156 * prepare for examples::
157 * Creating the archive::
166 How to Extract Members from an Archive
168 * extracting archives::
171 * extracting untrusted archives::
177 * using tar options::
187 The Three Option Styles
189 * Long Options:: Long Option Style
190 * Short Options:: Short Option Style
191 * Old Options:: Old Option Style
192 * Mixing:: Mixing Option Styles
194 All @command{tar} Options
196 * Operation Summary::
198 * Short Option Summary::
210 Advanced @GNUTAR{} Operations
219 How to Add Files to Existing Archives: @option{--append}
221 * appending files:: Appending Files to an Archive
228 Options Used by @option{--create}
230 * override:: Overriding File Metadata.
231 * Ignore Failed Read::
233 Options Used by @option{--extract}
235 * Reading:: Options to Help Read Archives
236 * Writing:: Changing How @command{tar} Writes Files
237 * Scarce:: Coping with Scarce Resources
239 Options to Help Read Archives
241 * read full records::
244 Changing How @command{tar} Writes Files
246 * Dealing with Old Files::
247 * Overwrite Old Files::
252 * Data Modification Times::
253 * Setting Access Permissions::
254 * Directory Modification Times and Permissions::
255 * Writing to Standard Output::
256 * Writing to an External Program::
259 Coping with Scarce Resources
264 Performing Backups and Restoring Files
266 * Full Dumps:: Using @command{tar} to Perform Full Dumps
267 * Incremental Dumps:: Using @command{tar} to Perform Incremental Dumps
268 * Backup Levels:: Levels of Backups
269 * Backup Parameters:: Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
270 * Scripted Backups:: Using the Backup Scripts
271 * Scripted Restoration:: Using the Restore Script
273 Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
275 * General-Purpose Variables::
276 * Magnetic Tape Control::
278 * backup-specs example:: An Example Text of @file{Backup-specs}
280 Choosing Files and Names for @command{tar}
282 * file:: Choosing the Archive's Name
283 * Selecting Archive Members::
284 * files:: Reading Names from a File
285 * exclude:: Excluding Some Files
286 * wildcards:: Wildcards Patterns and Matching
287 * quoting styles:: Ways of Quoting Special Characters in Names
288 * transform:: Modifying File and Member Names
289 * after:: Operating Only on New Files
290 * recurse:: Descending into Directories
291 * one:: Crossing File System Boundaries
293 Reading Names from a File
299 * problems with exclude::
301 Wildcards Patterns and Matching
303 * controlling pattern-matching::
305 Crossing File System Boundaries
307 * directory:: Changing Directory
308 * absolute:: Absolute File Names
312 * General date syntax:: Common rules.
313 * Calendar date items:: 19 Dec 1994.
314 * Time of day items:: 9:20pm.
315 * Time zone items:: @sc{est}, @sc{pdt}, @sc{gmt}.
316 * Day of week items:: Monday and others.
317 * Relative items in date strings:: next tuesday, 2 years ago.
318 * Pure numbers in date strings:: 19931219, 1440.
319 * Seconds since the Epoch:: @@1078100502.
320 * Specifying time zone rules:: TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0".
321 * Authors of parse_datetime:: Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.
323 Controlling the Archive Format
325 * Compression:: Using Less Space through Compression
326 * Attributes:: Handling File Attributes
327 * Portability:: Making @command{tar} Archives More Portable
328 * cpio:: Comparison of @command{tar} and @command{cpio}
330 Using Less Space through Compression
332 * gzip:: Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
333 * sparse:: Archiving Sparse Files
335 Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
337 * lbzip2:: Using lbzip2 with @GNUTAR{}.
339 Making @command{tar} Archives More Portable
341 * Portable Names:: Portable Names
342 * dereference:: Symbolic Links
343 * hard links:: Hard Links
344 * old:: Old V7 Archives
345 * ustar:: Ustar Archives
346 * gnu:: GNU and old GNU format archives.
347 * posix:: @acronym{POSIX} archives
348 * Checksumming:: Checksumming Problems
349 * Large or Negative Values:: Large files, negative time stamps, etc.
350 * Other Tars:: How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using
351 Other @command{tar} Implementations
353 @GNUTAR{} and @acronym{POSIX} @command{tar}
355 * PAX keywords:: Controlling Extended Header Keywords.
357 How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using Other @command{tar} Implementations
359 * Split Recovery:: Members Split Between Volumes
360 * Sparse Recovery:: Sparse Members
362 Tapes and Other Archive Media
364 * Device:: Device selection and switching
365 * Remote Tape Server::
366 * Common Problems and Solutions::
367 * Blocking:: Blocking
368 * Many:: Many archives on one tape
369 * Using Multiple Tapes:: Using Multiple Tapes
370 * label:: Including a Label in the Archive
376 * Format Variations:: Format Variations
377 * Blocking Factor:: The Blocking Factor of an Archive
379 Many Archives on One Tape
381 * Tape Positioning:: Tape Positions and Tape Marks
382 * mt:: The @command{mt} Utility
386 * Multi-Volume Archives:: Archives Longer than One Tape or Disk
387 * Tape Files:: Tape Files
388 * Tarcat:: Concatenate Volumes into a Single Archive
393 * Standard:: Basic Tar Format
394 * Extensions:: @acronym{GNU} Extensions to the Archive Format
395 * Sparse Formats:: Storing Sparse Files
402 * PAX 0:: PAX Format, Versions 0.0 and 0.1
403 * PAX 1:: PAX Format, Version 1.0
407 * Generate Mode:: File Generation Mode.
408 * Status Mode:: File Status Mode.
409 * Exec Mode:: Synchronous Execution mode.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: License for copying this manual
419 @chapter Introduction
422 and manipulates @dfn{archives} which are actually collections of
423 many other files; the program provides users with an organized and
424 systematic method for controlling a large amount of data.
425 The name ``tar'' originally came from the phrase ``Tape ARchive'', but
426 archives need not (and these days, typically do not) reside on tapes.
429 * Book Contents:: What this Book Contains
430 * Definitions:: Some Definitions
431 * What tar Does:: What @command{tar} Does
432 * Naming tar Archives:: How @command{tar} Archives are Named
433 * Authors:: @GNUTAR{} Authors
434 * Reports:: Reporting bugs or suggestions
438 @section What this Book Contains
440 The first part of this chapter introduces you to various terms that will
441 recur throughout the book. It also tells you who has worked on @GNUTAR{}
442 and its documentation, and where you should send bug reports
445 The second chapter is a tutorial (@pxref{Tutorial}) which provides a
446 gentle introduction for people who are new to using @command{tar}. It is
447 meant to be self-contained, not requiring any reading from subsequent
448 chapters to make sense. It moves from topic to topic in a logical,
449 progressive order, building on information already explained.
451 Although the tutorial is paced and structured to allow beginners to
452 learn how to use @command{tar}, it is not intended solely for beginners.
453 The tutorial explains how to use the three most frequently used
454 operations (@samp{create}, @samp{list}, and @samp{extract}) as well as
455 two frequently used options (@samp{file} and @samp{verbose}). The other
456 chapters do not refer to the tutorial frequently; however, if a section
457 discusses something which is a complex variant of a basic concept, there
458 may be a cross-reference to that basic concept. (The entire book,
459 including the tutorial, assumes that the reader understands some basic
460 concepts of using a Unix-type operating system; @pxref{Tutorial}.)
462 The third chapter presents the remaining five operations, and
463 information about using @command{tar} options and option syntax.
465 The other chapters are meant to be used as a reference. Each chapter
466 presents everything that needs to be said about a specific topic.
468 One of the chapters (@pxref{Date input formats}) exists in its
469 entirety in other @acronym{GNU} manuals, and is mostly self-contained.
470 In addition, one section of this manual (@pxref{Standard}) contains a
471 big quote which is taken directly from @command{tar} sources.
473 In general, we give both long and short (abbreviated) option names
474 at least once in each section where the relevant option is covered, so
475 that novice readers will become familiar with both styles. (A few
476 options have no short versions, and the relevant sections will
480 @section Some Definitions
484 The @command{tar} program is used to create and manipulate @command{tar}
485 archives. An @dfn{archive} is a single file which contains the contents
486 of many files, while still identifying the names of the files, their
487 owner(s), and so forth. (In addition, archives record access
488 permissions, user and group, size in bytes, and data modification time.
489 Some archives also record the file names in each archived directory, as
490 well as other file and directory information.) You can use @command{tar}
491 to @dfn{create} a new archive in a specified directory.
494 @cindex archive member
497 The files inside an archive are called @dfn{members}. Within this
498 manual, we use the term @dfn{file} to refer only to files accessible in
499 the normal ways (by @command{ls}, @command{cat}, and so forth), and the term
500 @dfn{member} to refer only to the members of an archive. Similarly, a
501 @dfn{file name} is the name of a file, as it resides in the file system,
502 and a @dfn{member name} is the name of an archive member within the
507 The term @dfn{extraction} refers to the process of copying an archive
508 member (or multiple members) into a file in the file system. Extracting
509 all the members of an archive is often called @dfn{extracting the
510 archive}. The term @dfn{unpack} can also be used to refer to the
511 extraction of many or all the members of an archive. Extracting an
512 archive does not destroy the archive's structure, just as creating an
513 archive does not destroy the copies of the files that exist outside of
514 the archive. You may also @dfn{list} the members in a given archive
515 (this is often thought of as ``printing'' them to the standard output,
516 or the command line), or @dfn{append} members to a pre-existing archive.
517 All of these operations can be performed using @command{tar}.
520 @section What @command{tar} Does
523 The @command{tar} program provides the ability to create @command{tar}
524 archives, as well as various other kinds of manipulation. For example,
525 you can use @command{tar} on previously created archives to extract files,
526 to store additional files, or to update or list files which were already
529 Initially, @command{tar} archives were used to store files conveniently on
530 magnetic tape. The name @command{tar} comes from this use; it stands for
531 @code{t}ape @code{ar}chiver. Despite the utility's name, @command{tar} can
532 direct its output to available devices, files, or other programs (using
533 pipes). @command{tar} may even access remote devices or files (as archives).
535 You can use @command{tar} archives in many ways. We want to stress a few
536 of them: storage, backup, and transportation.
538 @FIXME{the following table entries need a bit of work.}
541 Often, @command{tar} archives are used to store related files for
542 convenient file transfer over a network. For example, the
543 @acronym{GNU} Project distributes its software bundled into
544 @command{tar} archives, so that all the files relating to a particular
545 program (or set of related programs) can be transferred as a single
548 A magnetic tape can store several files in sequence. However, the tape
549 has no names for these files; it only knows their relative position on
550 the tape. One way to store several files on one tape and retain their
551 names is by creating a @command{tar} archive. Even when the basic transfer
552 mechanism can keep track of names, as FTP can, the nuisance of handling
553 multiple files, directories, and multiple links makes @command{tar}
556 Archive files are also used for long-term storage. You can think of
557 this as transportation from the present into the future. (It is a
558 science-fiction idiom that you can move through time as well as in
559 space; the idea here is that @command{tar} can be used to move archives in
560 all dimensions, even time!)
563 Because the archive created by @command{tar} is capable of preserving
564 file information and directory structure, @command{tar} is commonly
565 used for performing full and incremental backups of disks. A backup
566 puts a collection of files (possibly pertaining to many users and
567 projects) together on a disk or a tape. This guards against
568 accidental destruction of the information in those files.
569 @GNUTAR{} has special features that allow it to be
570 used to make incremental and full dumps of all the files in a
574 You can create an archive on one system, transfer it to another system,
575 and extract the contents there. This allows you to transport a group of
576 files from one system to another.
579 @node Naming tar Archives
580 @section How @command{tar} Archives are Named
582 Conventionally, @command{tar} archives are given names ending with
583 @samp{.tar}. This is not necessary for @command{tar} to operate properly,
584 but this manual follows that convention in order to accustom readers to
585 it and to make examples more clear.
590 Often, people refer to @command{tar} archives as ``@command{tar} files,'' and
591 archive members as ``files'' or ``entries''. For people familiar with
592 the operation of @command{tar}, this causes no difficulty. However, in
593 this manual, we consistently refer to ``archives'' and ``archive
594 members'' to make learning to use @command{tar} easier for novice users.
597 @section @GNUTAR{} Authors
599 @GNUTAR{} was originally written by John Gilmore,
600 and modified by many people. The @acronym{GNU} enhancements were
601 written by Jay Fenlason, then Joy Kendall, and the whole package has
602 been further maintained by Thomas Bushnell, n/BSG, Fran@,{c}ois
603 Pinard, Paul Eggert, and finally Sergey Poznyakoff with the help of
604 numerous and kind users.
606 We wish to stress that @command{tar} is a collective work, and owes much to
607 all those people who reported problems, offered solutions and other
608 insights, or shared their thoughts and suggestions. An impressive, yet
609 partial list of those contributors can be found in the @file{THANKS}
610 file from the @GNUTAR{} distribution.
612 @FIXME{i want all of these names mentioned, Absolutely. BUT, i'm not
613 sure i want to spell out the history in this detail, at least not for
614 the printed book. i'm just not sure it needs to be said this way.
615 i'll think about it.}
617 @FIXME{History is more important, and surely more interesting, than
618 actual names. Quoting names without history would be meaningless. FP}
620 Jay Fenlason put together a draft of a @GNUTAR{}
621 manual, borrowing notes from the original man page from John Gilmore.
622 This was withdrawn in version 1.11. Thomas Bushnell, n/BSG and Amy
623 Gorin worked on a tutorial and manual for @GNUTAR{}.
624 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard put version 1.11.8 of the manual together by
625 taking information from all these sources and merging them. Melissa
626 Weisshaus finally edited and redesigned the book to create version
627 1.12. The book for versions from 1.14 up to @value{VERSION} were edited
628 by the current maintainer, Sergey Poznyakoff.
630 For version 1.12, Daniel Hagerty contributed a great deal of technical
631 consulting. In particular, he is the primary author of @ref{Backups}.
633 In July, 2003 @GNUTAR{} was put on CVS at savannah.gnu.org
634 (see @url{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tar}), and
635 active development and maintenance work has started
636 again. Currently @GNUTAR{} is being maintained by Paul Eggert, Sergey
637 Poznyakoff and Jeff Bailey.
639 Support for @acronym{POSIX} archives was added by Sergey Poznyakoff.
642 @section Reporting bugs or suggestions
645 @cindex reporting bugs
646 If you find problems or have suggestions about this program or manual,
647 please report them to @file{bug-tar@@gnu.org}.
649 When reporting a bug, please be sure to include as much detail as
650 possible, in order to reproduce it. @FIXME{Be more specific, I'd
651 like to make this node as detailed as 'Bug reporting' node in Emacs
655 @chapter Tutorial Introduction to @command{tar}
657 This chapter guides you through some basic examples of three @command{tar}
658 operations: @option{--create}, @option{--list}, and @option{--extract}. If
659 you already know how to use some other version of @command{tar}, then you
660 may not need to read this chapter. This chapter omits most complicated
661 details about how @command{tar} works.
665 * stylistic conventions::
666 * basic tar options:: Basic @command{tar} Operations and Options
667 * frequent operations::
668 * Two Frequent Options::
669 * create:: How to Create Archives
670 * list:: How to List Archives
671 * extract:: How to Extract Members from an Archive
676 @section Assumptions this Tutorial Makes
678 This chapter is paced to allow beginners to learn about @command{tar}
679 slowly. At the same time, we will try to cover all the basic aspects of
680 these three operations. In order to accomplish both of these tasks, we
681 have made certain assumptions about your knowledge before reading this
682 manual, and the hardware you will be using:
686 Before you start to work through this tutorial, you should understand
687 what the terms ``archive'' and ``archive member'' mean
688 (@pxref{Definitions}). In addition, you should understand something
689 about how Unix-type operating systems work, and you should know how to
690 use some basic utilities. For example, you should know how to create,
691 list, copy, rename, edit, and delete files and directories; how to
692 change between directories; and how to figure out where you are in the
693 file system. You should have some basic understanding of directory
694 structure and how files are named according to which directory they are
695 in. You should understand concepts such as standard output and standard
696 input, what various definitions of the term @samp{argument} mean, and the
697 differences between relative and absolute file names. @FIXME{and what
701 This manual assumes that you are working from your own home directory
702 (unless we state otherwise). In this tutorial, you will create a
703 directory to practice @command{tar} commands in. When we show file names,
704 we will assume that those names are relative to your home directory.
705 For example, my home directory is @file{/home/fsf/melissa}. All of
706 my examples are in a subdirectory of the directory named by that file
707 name; the subdirectory is called @file{practice}.
710 In general, we show examples of archives which exist on (or can be
711 written to, or worked with from) a directory on a hard disk. In most
712 cases, you could write those archives to, or work with them on any other
713 device, such as a tape drive. However, some of the later examples in
714 the tutorial and next chapter will not work on tape drives.
715 Additionally, working with tapes is much more complicated than working
716 with hard disks. For these reasons, the tutorial does not cover working
717 with tape drives. @xref{Media}, for complete information on using
718 @command{tar} archives with tape drives.
720 @FIXME{this is a cop out. need to add some simple tape drive info.}
723 @node stylistic conventions
724 @section Stylistic Conventions
726 In the examples, @samp{$} represents a typical shell prompt. It
727 precedes lines you should type; to make this more clear, those lines are
728 shown in @kbd{this font}, as opposed to lines which represent the
729 computer's response; those lines are shown in @code{this font}, or
730 sometimes @samp{like this}.
732 @c When we have lines which are too long to be
733 @c displayed in any other way, we will show them like this:
735 @node basic tar options
736 @section Basic @command{tar} Operations and Options
738 @command{tar} can take a wide variety of arguments which specify and define
739 the actions it will have on the particular set of files or the archive.
740 The main types of arguments to @command{tar} fall into one of two classes:
741 operations, and options.
743 Some arguments fall into a class called @dfn{operations}; exactly one of
744 these is both allowed and required for any instance of using @command{tar};
745 you may @emph{not} specify more than one. People sometimes speak of
746 @dfn{operating modes}. You are in a particular operating mode when you
747 have specified the operation which specifies it; there are eight
748 operations in total, and thus there are eight operating modes.
750 The other arguments fall into the class known as @dfn{options}. You are
751 not required to specify any options, and you are allowed to specify more
752 than one at a time (depending on the way you are using @command{tar} at
753 that time). Some options are used so frequently, and are so useful for
754 helping you type commands more carefully that they are effectively
755 ``required''. We will discuss them in this chapter.
757 You can write most of the @command{tar} operations and options in any
758 of three forms: long (mnemonic) form, short form, and old style. Some
759 of the operations and options have no short or ``old'' forms; however,
760 the operations and options which we will cover in this tutorial have
761 corresponding abbreviations. We will indicate those abbreviations
762 appropriately to get you used to seeing them. Note, that the ``old
763 style'' option forms exist in @GNUTAR{} for compatibility with Unix
764 @command{tar}. In this book we present a full discussion of this way
765 of writing options and operations (@pxref{Old Options}), and we discuss
766 the other two styles of writing options (@xref{Long Options}, and
767 @pxref{Short Options}).
769 In the examples and in the text of this tutorial, we usually use the
770 long forms of operations and options; but the ``short'' forms produce
771 the same result and can make typing long @command{tar} commands easier.
772 For example, instead of typing
775 @kbd{tar --create --verbose --file=afiles.tar apple angst aspic}
781 @kbd{tar -c -v -f afiles.tar apple angst aspic}
787 @kbd{tar -cvf afiles.tar apple angst aspic}
791 For more information on option syntax, see @ref{Advanced tar}. In
792 discussions in the text, when we name an option by its long form, we
793 also give the corresponding short option in parentheses.
795 The term, ``option'', can be confusing at times, since ``operations''
796 are often lumped in with the actual, @emph{optional} ``options'' in certain
797 general class statements. For example, we just talked about ``short and
798 long forms of options and operations''. However, experienced @command{tar}
799 users often refer to these by shorthand terms such as, ``short and long
800 options''. This term assumes that the ``operations'' are included, also.
801 Context will help you determine which definition of ``options'' to use.
803 Similarly, the term ``command'' can be confusing, as it is often used in
804 two different ways. People sometimes refer to @command{tar} ``commands''.
805 A @command{tar} @dfn{command} is the entire command line of user input
806 which tells @command{tar} what to do --- including the operation, options,
807 and any arguments (file names, pipes, other commands, etc.). However,
808 you will also sometimes hear the term ``the @command{tar} command''. When
809 the word ``command'' is used specifically like this, a person is usually
810 referring to the @command{tar} @emph{operation}, not the whole line.
811 Again, use context to figure out which of the meanings the speaker
814 @node frequent operations
815 @section The Three Most Frequently Used Operations
817 Here are the three most frequently used operations (both short and long
818 forms), as well as a brief description of their meanings. The rest of
819 this chapter will cover how to use these operations in detail. We will
820 present the rest of the operations in the next chapter.
825 Create a new @command{tar} archive.
828 List the contents of an archive.
831 Extract one or more members from an archive.
834 @node Two Frequent Options
835 @section Two Frequently Used Options
837 To understand how to run @command{tar} in the three operating modes listed
838 previously, you also need to understand how to use two of the options to
839 @command{tar}: @option{--file} (which takes an archive file as an argument)
840 and @option{--verbose}. (You are usually not @emph{required} to specify
841 either of these options when you run @command{tar}, but they can be very
842 useful in making things more clear and helping you avoid errors.)
851 @unnumberedsubsec The @option{--file} Option
854 @xopindex{file, tutorial}
855 @item --file=@var{archive-name}
856 @itemx -f @var{archive-name}
857 Specify the name of an archive file.
860 You can specify an argument for the @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f @var{archive-name}}) option whenever you
861 use @command{tar}; this option determines the name of the archive file
862 that @command{tar} will work on.
865 If you don't specify this argument, then @command{tar} will examine
866 the environment variable @env{TAPE}. If it is set, its value will be
867 used as the archive name. Otherwise, @command{tar} will use the
868 default archive, determined at compile time. Usually it is
869 standard output or some physical tape drive attached to your machine
870 (you can verify what the default is by running @kbd{tar
871 --show-defaults}, @pxref{defaults}). If there is no tape drive
872 attached, or the default is not meaningful, then @command{tar} will
873 print an error message. The error message might look roughly like one
877 tar: can't open /dev/rmt8 : No such device or address
878 tar: can't open /dev/rsmt0 : I/O error
882 To avoid confusion, we recommend that you always specify an archive file
883 name by using @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f @var{archive-name}}) when writing your @command{tar} commands.
884 For more information on using the @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f @var{archive-name}}) option, see
887 @node verbose tutorial
888 @unnumberedsubsec The @option{--verbose} Option
891 @xopindex{verbose, introduced}
894 Show the files being worked on as @command{tar} is running.
897 @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) shows details about the results of running
898 @command{tar}. This can be especially useful when the results might not be
899 obvious. For example, if you want to see the progress of @command{tar} as
900 it writes files into the archive, you can use the @option{--verbose}
901 option. In the beginning, you may find it useful to use
902 @option{--verbose} at all times; when you are more accustomed to
903 @command{tar}, you will likely want to use it at certain times but not at
904 others. We will use @option{--verbose} at times to help make something
905 clear, and we will give many examples both using and not using
906 @option{--verbose} to show the differences.
908 Each instance of @option{--verbose} on the command line increases the
909 verbosity level by one, so if you need more details on the output,
912 When reading archives (@option{--list}, @option{--extract},
913 @option{--diff}), @command{tar} by default prints only the names of
914 the members being extracted. Using @option{--verbose} will show a full,
915 @command{ls} style member listing.
917 In contrast, when writing archives (@option{--create}, @option{--append},
918 @option{--update}), @command{tar} does not print file names by
919 default. So, a single @option{--verbose} option shows the file names
920 being added to the archive, while two @option{--verbose} options
921 enable the full listing.
923 For example, to create an archive in verbose mode:
926 $ @kbd{tar -cvf afiles.tar apple angst aspic}
933 Creating the same archive with the verbosity level 2 could give:
936 $ @kbd{tar -cvvf afiles.tar apple angst aspic}
937 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 62373 2006-06-09 12:06 apple
938 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 11481 2006-06-09 12:06 angst
939 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 23152 2006-06-09 12:06 aspic
943 This works equally well using short or long forms of options. Using
944 long forms, you would simply write out the mnemonic form of the option
948 $ @kbd{tar --create --verbose --verbose @dots{}}
952 Note that you must double the hyphens properly each time.
954 Later in the tutorial, we will give examples using @w{@option{--verbose
957 @anchor{verbose member listing}
958 The full output consists of six fields:
961 @item File type and permissions in symbolic form.
962 These are displayed in the same format as the first column of
963 @command{ls -l} output (@pxref{What information is listed,
964 format=verbose, Verbose listing, fileutils, GNU file utilities}).
966 @item Owner name and group separated by a slash character.
967 If these data are not available (for example, when listing a @samp{v7} format
968 archive), numeric @acronym{ID} values are printed instead.
970 @item Size of the file, in bytes.
972 @item File modification date in ISO 8601 format.
974 @item File modification time.
977 If the name contains any special characters (white space, newlines,
978 etc.) these are displayed in an unambiguous form using so called
979 @dfn{quoting style}. For the detailed discussion of available styles
980 and on how to use them, see @ref{quoting styles}.
982 Depending on the file type, the name can be followed by some
983 additional information, described in the following table:
986 @item -> @var{link-name}
987 The file or archive member is a @dfn{symbolic link} and
988 @var{link-name} is the name of file it links to.
990 @item link to @var{link-name}
991 The file or archive member is a @dfn{hard link} and @var{link-name} is
992 the name of file it links to.
995 The archive member is an old GNU format long link. You will normally
999 The archive member is an old GNU format long name. You will normally
1002 @item --Volume Header--
1003 The archive member is a GNU @dfn{volume header} (@pxref{Tape Files}).
1005 @item --Continued at byte @var{n}--
1006 Encountered only at the beginning of a multi-volume archive
1007 (@pxref{Using Multiple Tapes}). This archive member is a continuation
1008 from the previous volume. The number @var{n} gives the offset where
1009 the original file was split.
1011 @item unknown file type @var{c}
1012 An archive member of unknown type. @var{c} is the type character from
1013 the archive header. If you encounter such a message, it means that
1014 either your archive contains proprietary member types @GNUTAR{} is not
1015 able to handle, or the archive is corrupted.
1020 For example, here is an archive listing containing most of the special
1021 suffixes explained above:
1025 V--------- 0/0 1536 2006-06-09 13:07 MyVolume--Volume Header--
1026 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 456783 2006-06-09 12:06 aspic--Continued at byte 32456--
1027 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 62373 2006-06-09 12:06 apple
1028 lrwxrwxrwx gray/staff 0 2006-06-09 13:01 angst -> apple
1029 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 35793 2006-06-09 12:06 blues
1030 hrw-r--r-- gray/staff 0 2006-06-09 12:06 music link to blues
1038 @unnumberedsubsec Getting Help: Using the @option{--help} Option
1044 The @option{--help} option to @command{tar} prints out a very brief list of
1045 all operations and option available for the current version of
1046 @command{tar} available on your system.
1050 @section How to Create Archives
1053 @cindex Creation of the archive
1054 @cindex Archive, creation of
1055 One of the basic operations of @command{tar} is @option{--create} (@option{-c}), which
1056 you use to create a @command{tar} archive. We will explain
1057 @option{--create} first because, in order to learn about the other
1058 operations, you will find it useful to have an archive available to
1061 To make this easier, in this section you will first create a directory
1062 containing three files. Then, we will show you how to create an
1063 @emph{archive} (inside the new directory). Both the directory, and
1064 the archive are specifically for you to practice on. The rest of this
1065 chapter and the next chapter will show many examples using this
1066 directory and the files you will create: some of those files may be
1067 other directories and other archives.
1069 The three files you will archive in this example are called
1070 @file{blues}, @file{folk}, and @file{jazz}. The archive is called
1071 @file{collection.tar}.
1073 This section will proceed slowly, detailing how to use @option{--create}
1074 in @code{verbose} mode, and showing examples using both short and long
1075 forms. In the rest of the tutorial, and in the examples in the next
1076 chapter, we will proceed at a slightly quicker pace. This section
1077 moves more slowly to allow beginning users to understand how
1078 @command{tar} works.
1081 * prepare for examples::
1082 * Creating the archive::
1088 @node prepare for examples
1089 @subsection Preparing a Practice Directory for Examples
1091 To follow along with this and future examples, create a new directory
1092 called @file{practice} containing files called @file{blues}, @file{folk}
1093 and @file{jazz}. The files can contain any information you like:
1094 ideally, they should contain information which relates to their names,
1095 and be of different lengths. Our examples assume that @file{practice}
1096 is a subdirectory of your home directory.
1098 Now @command{cd} to the directory named @file{practice}; @file{practice}
1099 is now your @dfn{working directory}. (@emph{Please note}: Although
1100 the full file name of this directory is
1101 @file{/@var{homedir}/practice}, in our examples we will refer to
1102 this directory as @file{practice}; the @var{homedir} is presumed.)
1104 In general, you should check that the files to be archived exist where
1105 you think they do (in the working directory) by running @command{ls}.
1106 Because you just created the directory and the files and have changed to
1107 that directory, you probably don't need to do that this time.
1109 It is very important to make sure there isn't already a file in the
1110 working directory with the archive name you intend to use (in this case,
1111 @samp{collection.tar}), or that you don't care about its contents.
1112 Whenever you use @samp{create}, @command{tar} will erase the current
1113 contents of the file named by @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f @var{archive-name}}) if it exists. @command{tar}
1114 will not tell you if you are about to overwrite an archive unless you
1115 specify an option which does this (@pxref{backup}, for the
1116 information on how to do so). To add files to an existing archive,
1117 you need to use a different option, such as @option{--append} (@option{-r}); see
1118 @ref{append} for information on how to do this.
1120 @node Creating the archive
1121 @subsection Creating the Archive
1123 @xopindex{create, introduced}
1124 To place the files @file{blues}, @file{folk}, and @file{jazz} into an
1125 archive named @file{collection.tar}, use the following command:
1128 $ @kbd{tar --create --file=collection.tar blues folk jazz}
1131 The order of the arguments is not very important, @emph{when using long
1132 option forms}. You could also say:
1135 $ @kbd{tar blues --create folk --file=collection.tar jazz}
1139 However, you can see that this order is harder to understand; this is
1140 why we will list the arguments in the order that makes the commands
1141 easiest to understand (and we encourage you to do the same when you use
1142 @command{tar}, to avoid errors).
1144 Note that the sequence
1145 @option{--file=@-collection.tar} is considered to be @emph{one} argument.
1146 If you substituted any other string of characters for
1147 @kbd{collection.tar}, then that string would become the name of the
1148 archive file you create.
1150 The order of the options becomes more important when you begin to use
1151 short forms. With short forms, if you type commands in the wrong order
1152 (even if you type them correctly in all other ways), you may end up with
1153 results you don't expect. For this reason, it is a good idea to get
1154 into the habit of typing options in the order that makes inherent sense.
1155 @xref{short create}, for more information on this.
1157 In this example, you type the command as shown above: @option{--create}
1158 is the operation which creates the new archive
1159 (@file{collection.tar}), and @option{--file} is the option which lets
1160 you give it the name you chose. The files, @file{blues}, @file{folk},
1161 and @file{jazz}, are now members of the archive, @file{collection.tar}
1162 (they are @dfn{file name arguments} to the @option{--create} operation.
1163 @xref{Choosing}, for the detailed discussion on these.) Now that they are
1164 in the archive, they are called @emph{archive members}, not files.
1165 (@pxref{Definitions,members}).
1167 When you create an archive, you @emph{must} specify which files you
1168 want placed in the archive. If you do not specify any archive
1169 members, @GNUTAR{} will complain.
1171 If you now list the contents of the working directory (@command{ls}), you will
1172 find the archive file listed as well as the files you saw previously:
1175 blues folk jazz collection.tar
1179 Creating the archive @samp{collection.tar} did not destroy the copies of
1180 the files in the directory.
1182 Keep in mind that if you don't indicate an operation, @command{tar} will not
1183 run and will prompt you for one. If you don't name any files, @command{tar}
1184 will complain. You must have write access to the working directory,
1185 or else you will not be able to create an archive in that directory.
1187 @emph{Caution}: Do not attempt to use @option{--create} (@option{-c}) to add files to
1188 an existing archive; it will delete the archive and write a new one.
1189 Use @option{--append} (@option{-r}) instead. @xref{append}.
1191 @node create verbose
1192 @subsection Running @option{--create} with @option{--verbose}
1194 @xopindex{create, using with @option{--verbose}}
1195 @xopindex{verbose, using with @option{--create}}
1196 If you include the @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option on the command line,
1197 @command{tar} will list the files it is acting on as it is working. In
1198 verbose mode, the @code{create} example above would appear as:
1201 $ @kbd{tar --create --verbose --file=collection.tar blues folk jazz}
1207 This example is just like the example we showed which did not use
1208 @option{--verbose}, except that @command{tar} generated the remaining
1210 lines (note the different font styles).
1216 In the rest of the examples in this chapter, we will frequently use
1217 @code{verbose} mode so we can show actions or @command{tar} responses that
1218 you would otherwise not see, and which are important for you to
1222 @subsection Short Forms with @samp{create}
1224 As we said before, the @option{--create} (@option{-c}) operation is one of the most
1225 basic uses of @command{tar}, and you will use it countless times.
1226 Eventually, you will probably want to use abbreviated (or ``short'')
1227 forms of options. A full discussion of the three different forms that
1228 options can take appears in @ref{Styles}; for now, here is what the
1229 previous example (including the @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option) looks like
1230 using short option forms:
1233 $ @kbd{tar -cvf collection.tar blues folk jazz}
1240 As you can see, the system responds the same no matter whether you use
1241 long or short option forms.
1243 @FIXME{i don't like how this is worded:} One difference between using
1244 short and long option forms is that, although the exact placement of
1245 arguments following options is no more specific when using short forms,
1246 it is easier to become confused and make a mistake when using short
1247 forms. For example, suppose you attempted the above example in the
1251 $ @kbd{tar -cfv collection.tar blues folk jazz}
1255 In this case, @command{tar} will make an archive file called @file{v},
1256 containing the files @file{blues}, @file{folk}, and @file{jazz}, because
1257 the @samp{v} is the closest ``file name'' to the @option{-f} option, and
1258 is thus taken to be the chosen archive file name. @command{tar} will try
1259 to add a file called @file{collection.tar} to the @file{v} archive file;
1260 if the file @file{collection.tar} did not already exist, @command{tar} will
1261 report an error indicating that this file does not exist. If the file
1262 @file{collection.tar} does already exist (e.g., from a previous command
1263 you may have run), then @command{tar} will add this file to the archive.
1264 Because the @option{-v} option did not get registered, @command{tar} will not
1265 run under @samp{verbose} mode, and will not report its progress.
1267 The end result is that you may be quite confused about what happened,
1268 and possibly overwrite a file. To illustrate this further, we will show
1269 you how an example we showed previously would look using short forms.
1274 $ @kbd{tar blues --create folk --file=collection.tar jazz}
1278 is confusing as it is. When shown using short forms, however, it
1279 becomes much more so:
1282 $ @kbd{tar blues -c folk -f collection.tar jazz}
1286 It would be very easy to put the wrong string of characters
1287 immediately following the @option{-f}, but doing that could sacrifice
1290 For this reason, we recommend that you pay very careful attention to
1291 the order of options and placement of file and archive names,
1292 especially when using short option forms. Not having the option name
1293 written out mnemonically can affect how well you remember which option
1294 does what, and therefore where different names have to be placed.
1297 @subsection Archiving Directories
1299 @cindex Archiving Directories
1300 @cindex Directories, Archiving
1301 You can archive a directory by specifying its directory name as a
1302 file name argument to @command{tar}. The files in the directory will be
1303 archived relative to the working directory, and the directory will be
1304 re-created along with its contents when the archive is extracted.
1306 To archive a directory, first move to its superior directory. If you
1307 have followed the previous instructions in this tutorial, you should
1316 This will put you into the directory which contains @file{practice},
1317 i.e., your home directory. Once in the superior directory, you can
1318 specify the subdirectory, @file{practice}, as a file name argument. To
1319 store @file{practice} in the new archive file @file{music.tar}, type:
1322 $ @kbd{tar --create --verbose --file=music.tar practice}
1326 @command{tar} should output:
1333 practice/collection.tar
1336 Note that the archive thus created is not in the subdirectory
1337 @file{practice}, but rather in the current working directory---the
1338 directory from which @command{tar} was invoked. Before trying to archive a
1339 directory from its superior directory, you should make sure you have
1340 write access to the superior directory itself, not only the directory
1341 you are trying archive with @command{tar}. For example, you will probably
1342 not be able to store your home directory in an archive by invoking
1343 @command{tar} from the root directory; @xref{absolute}. (Note
1344 also that @file{collection.tar}, the original archive file, has itself
1345 been archived. @command{tar} will accept any file as a file to be
1346 archived, regardless of its content. When @file{music.tar} is
1347 extracted, the archive file @file{collection.tar} will be re-written
1348 into the file system).
1350 If you give @command{tar} a command such as
1353 $ @kbd{tar --create --file=foo.tar .}
1357 @command{tar} will report @samp{tar: ./foo.tar is the archive; not
1358 dumped}. This happens because @command{tar} creates the archive
1359 @file{foo.tar} in the current directory before putting any files into
1360 it. Then, when @command{tar} attempts to add all the files in the
1361 directory @file{.} to the archive, it notices that the file
1362 @file{./foo.tar} is the same as the archive @file{foo.tar}, and skips
1363 it. (It makes no sense to put an archive into itself.) @GNUTAR{}
1364 will continue in this case, and create the archive
1365 normally, except for the exclusion of that one file. (@emph{Please
1366 note:} Other implementations of @command{tar} may not be so clever;
1367 they will enter an infinite loop when this happens, so you should not
1368 depend on this behavior unless you are certain you are running
1369 @GNUTAR{}. In general, it is wise to always place the archive outside
1370 of the directory being dumped.)
1373 @section How to List Archives
1376 Frequently, you will find yourself wanting to determine exactly what a
1377 particular archive contains. You can use the @option{--list}
1378 (@option{-t}) operation to get the member names as they currently
1379 appear in the archive, as well as various attributes of the files at
1380 the time they were archived. For example, you can examine the archive
1381 @file{collection.tar} that you created in the last section with the
1385 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=collection.tar}
1389 The output of @command{tar} would then be:
1398 The archive @file{bfiles.tar} would list as follows:
1407 Be sure to use a @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f
1408 @var{archive-name}}) option just as with @option{--create}
1409 (@option{-c}) to specify the name of the archive.
1411 @xopindex{list, using with @option{--verbose}}
1412 @xopindex{verbose, using with @option{--list}}
1413 If you use the @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option with
1414 @option{--list}, then @command{tar} will print out a listing
1415 reminiscent of @w{@samp{ls -l}}, showing owner, file size, and so
1416 forth. This output is described in detail in @ref{verbose member listing}.
1418 If you had used @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) mode, the example
1419 above would look like:
1422 $ @kbd{tar --list --verbose --file=collection.tar folk}
1423 -rw-r--r-- myself/user 62 1990-05-23 10:55 folk
1426 @cindex listing member and file names
1427 @anchor{listing member and file names}
1428 It is important to notice that the output of @kbd{tar --list
1429 --verbose} does not necessarily match that produced by @kbd{tar
1430 --create --verbose} while creating the archive. It is because
1431 @GNUTAR{}, unless told explicitly not to do so, removes some directory
1432 prefixes from file names before storing them in the archive
1433 (@xref{absolute}, for more information). In other
1434 words, in verbose mode @GNUTAR{} shows @dfn{file names} when creating
1435 an archive and @dfn{member names} when listing it. Consider this
1440 $ @kbd{tar --create --verbose --file archive /etc/mail}
1441 tar: Removing leading `/' from member names
1443 /etc/mail/sendmail.cf
1445 $ @kbd{tar --test --file archive}
1447 etc/mail/sendmail.cf
1452 @opindex show-stored-names
1453 This default behavior can sometimes be inconvenient. You can force
1454 @GNUTAR{} show member names when creating archive by supplying
1455 @option{--show-stored-names} option.
1458 @item --show-stored-names
1459 Print member (as opposed to @emph{file}) names when creating the archive.
1462 @cindex File name arguments, using @option{--list} with
1463 @xopindex{list, using with file name arguments}
1464 You can specify one or more individual member names as arguments when
1465 using @samp{list}. In this case, @command{tar} will only list the
1466 names of members you identify. For example, @w{@kbd{tar --list
1467 --file=afiles.tar apple}} would only print @file{apple}.
1469 Because @command{tar} preserves file names, these must be specified as
1470 they appear in the archive (i.e., relative to the directory from which
1471 the archive was created). Therefore, it is essential when specifying
1472 member names to @command{tar} that you give the exact member names.
1473 For example, @w{@kbd{tar --list --file=bfiles.tar birds}} would produce an
1474 error message something like @samp{tar: birds: Not found in archive},
1475 because there is no member named @file{birds}, only one named
1476 @file{./birds}. While the names @file{birds} and @file{./birds} name
1477 the same file, @emph{member} names by default are compared verbatim.
1479 However, @w{@kbd{tar --list --file=bfiles.tar baboon}} would respond
1480 with @file{baboon}, because this exact member name is in the archive file
1481 @file{bfiles.tar}. If you are not sure of the exact file name,
1482 use @dfn{globbing patterns}, for example:
1485 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=bfiles.tar --wildcards '*b*'}
1489 will list all members whose name contains @samp{b}. @xref{wildcards},
1490 for a detailed discussion of globbing patterns and related
1491 @command{tar} command line options.
1498 @unnumberedsubsec Listing the Contents of a Stored Directory
1500 To get information about the contents of an archived directory,
1501 use the directory name as a file name argument in conjunction with
1502 @option{--list} (@option{-t}). To find out file attributes, include the
1503 @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option.
1505 For example, to find out about files in the directory @file{practice}, in
1506 the archive file @file{music.tar}, type:
1509 $ @kbd{tar --list --verbose --file=music.tar practice}
1512 @command{tar} responds:
1515 drwxrwxrwx myself/user 0 1990-05-31 21:49 practice/
1516 -rw-r--r-- myself/user 42 1990-05-21 13:29 practice/blues
1517 -rw-r--r-- myself/user 62 1990-05-23 10:55 practice/folk
1518 -rw-r--r-- myself/user 40 1990-05-21 13:30 practice/jazz
1519 -rw-r--r-- myself/user 10240 1990-05-31 21:49 practice/collection.tar
1522 When you use a directory name as a file name argument, @command{tar} acts on
1523 all the files (including sub-directories) in that directory.
1526 @section How to Extract Members from an Archive
1528 @cindex Retrieving files from an archive
1529 @cindex Resurrecting files from an archive
1532 Creating an archive is only half the job---there is no point in storing
1533 files in an archive if you can't retrieve them. The act of retrieving
1534 members from an archive so they can be used and manipulated as
1535 unarchived files again is called @dfn{extraction}. To extract files
1536 from an archive, use the @option{--extract} (@option{--get} or
1537 @option{-x}) operation. As with @option{--create}, specify the name
1538 of the archive with @option{--file} (@option{-f}) option. Extracting
1539 an archive does not modify the archive in any way; you can extract it
1540 multiple times if you want or need to.
1542 Using @option{--extract}, you can extract an entire archive, or specific
1543 files. The files can be directories containing other files, or not. As
1544 with @option{--create} (@option{-c}) and @option{--list} (@option{-t}), you may use the short or the
1545 long form of the operation without affecting the performance.
1548 * extracting archives::
1549 * extracting files::
1551 * extracting untrusted archives::
1552 * failing commands::
1555 @node extracting archives
1556 @subsection Extracting an Entire Archive
1558 To extract an entire archive, specify the archive file name only, with
1559 no individual file names as arguments. For example,
1562 $ @kbd{tar -xvf collection.tar}
1569 -rw-r--r-- me/user 28 1996-10-18 16:31 jazz
1570 -rw-r--r-- me/user 21 1996-09-23 16:44 blues
1571 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 folk
1574 @node extracting files
1575 @subsection Extracting Specific Files
1577 To extract specific archive members, give their exact member names as
1578 arguments, as printed by @option{--list} (@option{-t}). If you had
1579 mistakenly deleted one of the files you had placed in the archive
1580 @file{collection.tar} earlier (say, @file{blues}), you can extract it
1581 from the archive without changing the archive's structure. Its
1582 contents will be identical to the original file @file{blues} that you
1585 First, make sure you are in the @file{practice} directory, and list the
1586 files in the directory. Now, delete the file, @samp{blues}, and list
1587 the files in the directory again.
1589 You can now extract the member @file{blues} from the archive file
1590 @file{collection.tar} like this:
1593 $ @kbd{tar --extract --file=collection.tar blues}
1597 If you list the files in the directory again, you will see that the file
1598 @file{blues} has been restored, with its original permissions, data
1599 modification times, and owner.@footnote{This is only accidentally
1600 true, but not in general. Whereas modification times are always
1601 restored, in most cases, one has to be root for restoring the owner,
1602 and use a special option for restoring permissions. Here, it just
1603 happens that the restoring user is also the owner of the archived
1604 members, and that the current @code{umask} is compatible with original
1605 permissions.} (These parameters will be identical to those which
1606 the file had when you originally placed it in the archive; any changes
1607 you may have made before deleting the file from the file system,
1608 however, will @emph{not} have been made to the archive member.) The
1609 archive file, @samp{collection.tar}, is the same as it was before you
1610 extracted @samp{blues}. You can confirm this by running @command{tar} with
1611 @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
1613 Remember that as with other operations, specifying the exact member
1614 name is important. @w{@kbd{tar --extract --file=bfiles.tar birds}}
1615 will fail, because there is no member named @file{birds}. To extract
1616 the member named @file{./birds}, you must specify @w{@kbd{tar
1617 --extract --file=bfiles.tar ./birds}}. If you don't remember the
1618 exact member names, use @option{--list} (@option{-t}) option
1619 (@pxref{list}). You can also extract those members that match a
1620 specific @dfn{globbing pattern}. For example, to extract from
1621 @file{bfiles.tar} all files that begin with @samp{b}, no matter their
1622 directory prefix, you could type:
1625 $ @kbd{tar -x -f bfiles.tar --wildcards --no-anchored 'b*'}
1629 Here, @option{--wildcards} instructs @command{tar} to treat
1630 command line arguments as globbing patterns and @option{--no-anchored}
1631 informs it that the patterns apply to member names after any @samp{/}
1632 delimiter. The use of globbing patterns is discussed in detail in
1635 You can extract a file to standard output by combining the above options
1636 with the @option{--to-stdout} (@option{-O}) option (@pxref{Writing to Standard
1639 If you give the @option{--verbose} option, then @option{--extract}
1640 will print the names of the archive members as it extracts them.
1643 @subsection Extracting Files that are Directories
1645 Extracting directories which are members of an archive is similar to
1646 extracting other files. The main difference to be aware of is that if
1647 the extracted directory has the same name as any directory already in
1648 the working directory, then files in the extracted directory will be
1649 placed into the directory of the same name. Likewise, if there are
1650 files in the pre-existing directory with the same names as the members
1651 which you extract, the files from the extracted archive will replace
1652 the files already in the working directory (and possible
1653 subdirectories). This will happen regardless of whether or not the
1654 files in the working directory were more recent than those extracted
1655 (there exist, however, special options that alter this behavior
1658 However, if a file was stored with a directory name as part of its file
1659 name, and that directory does not exist under the working directory when
1660 the file is extracted, @command{tar} will create the directory.
1662 We can demonstrate how to use @option{--extract} to extract a directory
1663 file with an example. Change to the @file{practice} directory if you
1664 weren't there, and remove the files @file{folk} and @file{jazz}. Then,
1665 go back to the parent directory and extract the archive
1666 @file{music.tar}. You may either extract the entire archive, or you may
1667 extract only the files you just deleted. To extract the entire archive,
1668 don't give any file names as arguments after the archive name
1669 @file{music.tar}. To extract only the files you deleted, use the
1673 $ @kbd{tar -xvf music.tar practice/folk practice/jazz}
1679 If you were to specify two @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) options, @command{tar}
1680 would have displayed more detail about the extracted files, as shown
1681 in the example below:
1684 $ @kbd{tar -xvvf music.tar practice/folk practice/jazz}
1685 -rw-r--r-- me/user 28 1996-10-18 16:31 practice/jazz
1686 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 practice/folk
1690 Because you created the directory with @file{practice} as part of the
1691 file names of each of the files by archiving the @file{practice}
1692 directory as @file{practice}, you must give @file{practice} as part
1693 of the file names when you extract those files from the archive.
1695 @node extracting untrusted archives
1696 @subsection Extracting Archives from Untrusted Sources
1698 Extracting files from archives can overwrite files that already exist.
1699 If you receive an archive from an untrusted source, you should make a
1700 new directory and extract into that directory, so that you don't have
1701 to worry about the extraction overwriting one of your existing files.
1702 For example, if @file{untrusted.tar} came from somewhere else on the
1703 Internet, and you don't necessarily trust its contents, you can
1704 extract it as follows:
1707 $ @kbd{mkdir newdir}
1709 $ @kbd{tar -xvf ../untrusted.tar}
1712 It is also a good practice to examine contents of the archive
1713 before extracting it, using @option{--list} (@option{-t}) option, possibly combined
1714 with @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}).
1716 @node failing commands
1717 @subsection Commands That Will Fail
1719 Here are some sample commands you might try which will not work, and why
1722 If you try to use this command,
1725 $ @kbd{tar -xvf music.tar folk jazz}
1729 you will get the following response:
1732 tar: folk: Not found in archive
1733 tar: jazz: Not found in archive
1737 This is because these files were not originally @emph{in} the parent
1738 directory @file{..}, where the archive is located; they were in the
1739 @file{practice} directory, and their file names reflect this:
1742 $ @kbd{tar -tvf music.tar}
1748 @FIXME{make sure the above works when going through the examples in
1752 Likewise, if you try to use this command,
1755 $ @kbd{tar -tvf music.tar folk jazz}
1759 you would get a similar response. Members with those names are not in the
1760 archive. You must use the correct member names, or wildcards, in order
1761 to extract the files from the archive.
1763 If you have forgotten the correct names of the files in the archive,
1764 use @w{@kbd{tar --list --verbose}} to list them correctly.
1766 @FIXME{more examples, here? hag thinks it's a good idea.}
1769 @section Going Further Ahead in this Manual
1772 @FIXME{need to write up a node here about the things that are going to
1773 be in the rest of the manual.}
1775 @node tar invocation
1776 @chapter Invoking @GNUTAR{}
1778 This chapter is about how one invokes the @GNUTAR{}
1779 command, from the command synopsis (@pxref{Synopsis}). There are
1780 numerous options, and many styles for writing them. One mandatory
1781 option specifies the operation @command{tar} should perform
1782 (@pxref{Operation Summary}), other options are meant to detail how
1783 this operation should be performed (@pxref{Option Summary}).
1784 Non-option arguments are not always interpreted the same way,
1785 depending on what the operation is.
1787 You will find in this chapter everything about option styles and rules for
1788 writing them (@pxref{Styles}). On the other hand, operations and options
1789 are fully described elsewhere, in other chapters. Here, you will find
1790 only synthetic descriptions for operations and options, together with
1791 pointers to other parts of the @command{tar} manual.
1793 Some options are so special they are fully described right in this
1794 chapter. They have the effect of inhibiting the normal operation of
1795 @command{tar} or else, they globally alter the amount of feedback the user
1796 receives about what is going on. These are the @option{--help} and
1797 @option{--version} (@pxref{help}), @option{--verbose} (@pxref{verbose})
1798 and @option{--interactive} options (@pxref{interactive}).
1802 * using tar options::
1814 @section General Synopsis of @command{tar}
1816 The @GNUTAR{} program is invoked as either one of:
1819 @kbd{tar @var{option}@dots{} [@var{name}]@dots{}}
1820 @kbd{tar @var{letter}@dots{} [@var{argument}]@dots{} [@var{option}]@dots{} [@var{name}]@dots{}}
1823 The second form is for when old options are being used.
1825 You can use @command{tar} to store files in an archive, to extract them from
1826 an archive, and to do other types of archive manipulation. The primary
1827 argument to @command{tar}, which is called the @dfn{operation}, specifies
1828 which action to take. The other arguments to @command{tar} are either
1829 @dfn{options}, which change the way @command{tar} performs an operation,
1830 or file names or archive members, which specify the files or members
1831 @command{tar} is to act on.
1833 You can actually type in arguments in any order, even if in this manual
1834 the options always precede the other arguments, to make examples easier
1835 to understand. Further, the option stating the main operation mode
1836 (the @command{tar} main command) is usually given first.
1838 Each @var{name} in the synopsis above is interpreted as an archive member
1839 name when the main command is one of @option{--compare}
1840 (@option{--diff}, @option{-d}), @option{--delete}, @option{--extract}
1841 (@option{--get}, @option{-x}), @option{--list} (@option{-t}) or
1842 @option{--update} (@option{-u}). When naming archive members, you
1843 must give the exact name of the member in the archive, as it is
1844 printed by @option{--list}. For @option{--append} (@option{-r}) and
1845 @option{--create} (@option{-c}), these @var{name} arguments specify
1846 the names of either files or directory hierarchies to place in the archive.
1847 These files or hierarchies should already exist in the file system,
1848 prior to the execution of the @command{tar} command.
1850 @command{tar} interprets relative file names as being relative to the
1851 working directory. @command{tar} will make all file names relative
1852 (by removing leading slashes when archiving or restoring files),
1853 unless you specify otherwise (using the @option{--absolute-names}
1854 option). @xref{absolute}, for more information about
1855 @option{--absolute-names}.
1857 If you give the name of a directory as either a file name or a member
1858 name, then @command{tar} acts recursively on all the files and directories
1859 beneath that directory. For example, the name @file{/} identifies all
1860 the files in the file system to @command{tar}.
1862 The distinction between file names and archive member names is especially
1863 important when shell globbing is used, and sometimes a source of confusion
1864 for newcomers. @xref{wildcards}, for more information about globbing.
1865 The problem is that shells may only glob using existing files in the
1866 file system. Only @command{tar} itself may glob on archive members, so when
1867 needed, you must ensure that wildcard characters reach @command{tar} without
1868 being interpreted by the shell first. Using a backslash before @samp{*}
1869 or @samp{?}, or putting the whole argument between quotes, is usually
1870 sufficient for this.
1872 Even if @var{name}s are often specified on the command line, they
1873 can also be read from a text file in the file system, using the
1874 @option{--files-from=@var{file-of-names}} (@option{-T @var{file-of-names}}) option.
1876 If you don't use any file name arguments, @option{--append} (@option{-r}),
1877 @option{--delete} and @option{--concatenate} (@option{--catenate},
1878 @option{-A}) will do nothing, while @option{--create} (@option{-c})
1879 will usually yield a diagnostic and inhibit @command{tar} execution.
1880 The other operations of @command{tar} (@option{--list},
1881 @option{--extract}, @option{--compare}, and @option{--update})
1882 will act on the entire contents of the archive.
1885 @cindex return status
1886 Besides successful exits, @GNUTAR{} may fail for
1887 many reasons. Some reasons correspond to bad usage, that is, when the
1888 @command{tar} command line is improperly written. Errors may be
1889 encountered later, while processing the archive or the files. Some
1890 errors are recoverable, in which case the failure is delayed until
1891 @command{tar} has completed all its work. Some errors are such that
1892 it would be not meaningful, or at least risky, to continue processing:
1893 @command{tar} then aborts processing immediately. All abnormal exits,
1894 whether immediate or delayed, should always be clearly diagnosed on
1895 @code{stderr}, after a line stating the nature of the error.
1897 Possible exit codes of @GNUTAR{} are summarized in the following
1902 @samp{Successful termination}.
1905 @samp{Some files differ}. If tar was invoked with @option{--compare}
1906 (@option{--diff}, @option{-d}) command line option, this means that
1907 some files in the archive differ from their disk counterparts
1908 (@pxref{compare}). If tar was given @option{--create},
1909 @option{--append} or @option{--update} option, this exit code means
1910 that some files were changed while being archived and so the resulting
1911 archive does not contain the exact copy of the file set.
1914 @samp{Fatal error}. This means that some fatal, unrecoverable error
1918 If @command{tar} has invoked a subprocess and that subprocess exited with a
1919 nonzero exit code, @command{tar} exits with that code as well.
1920 This can happen, for example, if @command{tar} was given some
1921 compression option (@pxref{gzip}) and the external compressor program
1922 failed. Another example is @command{rmt} failure during backup to the
1923 remote device (@pxref{Remote Tape Server}).
1925 @node using tar options
1926 @section Using @command{tar} Options
1928 @GNUTAR{} has a total of eight operating modes which
1929 allow you to perform a variety of tasks. You are required to choose
1930 one operating mode each time you employ the @command{tar} program by
1931 specifying one, and only one operation as an argument to the
1932 @command{tar} command (the corresponding options may be found
1933 at @ref{frequent operations} and @ref{Operations}). Depending on
1934 circumstances, you may also wish to customize how the chosen operating
1935 mode behaves. For example, you may wish to change the way the output
1936 looks, or the format of the files that you wish to archive may require
1937 you to do something special in order to make the archive look right.
1939 You can customize and control @command{tar}'s performance by running
1940 @command{tar} with one or more options (such as @option{--verbose}
1941 (@option{-v}), which we used in the tutorial). As we said in the
1942 tutorial, @dfn{options} are arguments to @command{tar} which are (as
1943 their name suggests) optional. Depending on the operating mode, you
1944 may specify one or more options. Different options will have different
1945 effects, but in general they all change details of the operation, such
1946 as archive format, archive name, or level of user interaction. Some
1947 options make sense with all operating modes, while others are
1948 meaningful only with particular modes. You will likely use some
1949 options frequently, while you will only use others infrequently, or
1950 not at all. (A full list of options is available in @pxref{All Options}.)
1952 @vrindex TAR_OPTIONS, environment variable
1953 @anchor{TAR_OPTIONS}
1954 The @env{TAR_OPTIONS} environment variable specifies default options to
1955 be placed in front of any explicit options. For example, if
1956 @code{TAR_OPTIONS} is @samp{-v --unlink-first}, @command{tar} behaves as
1957 if the two options @option{-v} and @option{--unlink-first} had been
1958 specified before any explicit options. Option specifications are
1959 separated by whitespace. A backslash escapes the next character, so it
1960 can be used to specify an option containing whitespace or a backslash.
1962 Note that @command{tar} options are case sensitive. For example, the
1963 options @option{-T} and @option{-t} are different; the first requires an
1964 argument for stating the name of a file providing a list of @var{name}s,
1965 while the second does not require an argument and is another way to
1966 write @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
1968 In addition to the eight operations, there are many options to
1969 @command{tar}, and three different styles for writing both: long (mnemonic)
1970 form, short form, and old style. These styles are discussed below.
1971 Both the options and the operations can be written in any of these three
1974 @FIXME{menu at end of this node. need to think of an actual outline
1975 for this chapter; probably do that after stuff from chapter 4 is
1979 @section The Three Option Styles
1981 There are three styles for writing operations and options to the command
1982 line invoking @command{tar}. The different styles were developed at
1983 different times during the history of @command{tar}. These styles will be
1984 presented below, from the most recent to the oldest.
1986 Some options must take an argument@footnote{For example, @option{--file}
1987 (@option{-f}) takes the name of an archive file as an argument. If
1988 you do not supply an archive file name, @command{tar} will use a
1989 default, but this can be confusing; thus, we recommend that you always
1990 supply a specific archive file name.}. Where you @emph{place} the
1991 arguments generally depends on which style of options you choose. We
1992 will detail specific information relevant to each option style in the
1993 sections on the different option styles, below. The differences are
1994 subtle, yet can often be very important; incorrect option placement
1995 can cause you to overwrite a number of important files. We urge you
1996 to note these differences, and only use the option style(s) which
1997 makes the most sense to you until you feel comfortable with the others.
1999 Some options @emph{may} take an argument. Such options may have at
2000 most long and short forms, they do not have old style equivalent. The
2001 rules for specifying an argument for such options are stricter than
2002 those for specifying mandatory arguments. Please, pay special
2006 * Long Options:: Long Option Style
2007 * Short Options:: Short Option Style
2008 * Old Options:: Old Option Style
2009 * Mixing:: Mixing Option Styles
2013 @subsection Long Option Style
2015 @cindex long options
2016 @cindex options, long style
2017 @cindex options, GNU style
2018 @cindex options, mnemonic names
2019 Each option has at least one @dfn{long} (or @dfn{mnemonic}) name starting with two
2020 dashes in a row, e.g., @option{--list}. The long names are more clear than
2021 their corresponding short or old names. It sometimes happens that a
2022 single long option has many different names which are
2023 synonymous, such as @option{--compare} and @option{--diff}. In addition,
2024 long option names can be given unique abbreviations. For example,
2025 @option{--cre} can be used in place of @option{--create} because there is no
2026 other long option which begins with @samp{cre}. (One way to find
2027 this out is by trying it and seeing what happens; if a particular
2028 abbreviation could represent more than one option, @command{tar} will tell
2029 you that that abbreviation is ambiguous and you'll know that that
2030 abbreviation won't work. You may also choose to run @samp{tar --help}
2031 to see a list of options. Be aware that if you run @command{tar} with a
2032 unique abbreviation for the long name of an option you didn't want to
2033 use, you are stuck; @command{tar} will perform the command as ordered.)
2035 Long options are meant to be obvious and easy to remember, and their
2036 meanings are generally easier to discern than those of their
2037 corresponding short options (see below). For example:
2040 $ @kbd{tar --create --verbose --blocking-factor=20 --file=/dev/rmt0}
2044 gives a fairly good set of hints about what the command does, even
2045 for those not fully acquainted with @command{tar}.
2047 @cindex arguments to long options
2048 @cindex long options with mandatory arguments
2049 Long options which require arguments take those arguments
2050 immediately following the option name. There are two ways of
2051 specifying a mandatory argument. It can be separated from the
2052 option name either by an equal sign, or by any amount of
2053 white space characters. For example, the @option{--file} option (which
2054 tells the name of the @command{tar} archive) is given a file such as
2055 @file{archive.tar} as argument by using any of the following notations:
2056 @option{--file=archive.tar} or @option{--file archive.tar}.
2058 @cindex optional arguments to long options
2059 @cindex long options with optional arguments
2060 In contrast, optional arguments must always be introduced using
2061 an equal sign. For example, the @option{--backup} option takes
2062 an optional argument specifying backup type. It must be used
2063 as @option{--backup=@var{backup-type}}.
2066 @subsection Short Option Style
2068 @cindex short options
2069 @cindex options, short style
2070 @cindex options, traditional
2071 Most options also have a @dfn{short option} name. Short options start with
2072 a single dash, and are followed by a single character, e.g., @option{-t}
2073 (which is equivalent to @option{--list}). The forms are absolutely
2074 identical in function; they are interchangeable.
2076 The short option names are faster to type than long option names.
2078 @cindex arguments to short options
2079 @cindex short options with mandatory arguments
2080 Short options which require arguments take their arguments immediately
2081 following the option, usually separated by white space. It is also
2082 possible to stick the argument right after the short option name, using
2083 no intervening space. For example, you might write @w{@option{-f
2084 archive.tar}} or @option{-farchive.tar} instead of using
2085 @option{--file=archive.tar}. Both @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} and
2086 @w{@option{-f @var{archive-name}}} denote the option which indicates a
2087 specific archive, here named @file{archive.tar}.
2089 @cindex optional arguments to short options
2090 @cindex short options with optional arguments
2091 Short options which take optional arguments take their arguments
2092 immediately following the option letter, @emph{without any intervening
2093 white space characters}.
2095 Short options' letters may be clumped together, but you are not
2096 required to do this (as compared to old options; see below). When
2097 short options are clumped as a set, use one (single) dash for them
2098 all, e.g., @w{@samp{@command{tar} -cvf}}. Only the last option in
2099 such a set is allowed to have an argument@footnote{Clustering many
2100 options, the last of which has an argument, is a rather opaque way to
2101 write options. Some wonder if @acronym{GNU} @code{getopt} should not
2102 even be made helpful enough for considering such usages as invalid.}.
2104 When the options are separated, the argument for each option which requires
2105 an argument directly follows that option, as is usual for Unix programs.
2109 $ @kbd{tar -c -v -b 20 -f /dev/rmt0}
2112 If you reorder short options' locations, be sure to move any arguments
2113 that belong to them. If you do not move the arguments properly, you may
2114 end up overwriting files.
2117 @subsection Old Option Style
2118 @cindex options, old style
2119 @cindex old option style
2120 @cindex option syntax, traditional
2122 As far as we know, all @command{tar} programs, @acronym{GNU} and
2123 non-@acronym{GNU}, support @dfn{old options}: that is, if the first
2124 argument does not start with @samp{-}, it is assumed to specify option
2125 letters. @GNUTAR{} supports old options not only for historical
2126 reasons, but also because many people are used to them. If the first
2127 argument does not start with a dash, you are announcing the old option
2128 style instead of the short option style; old options are decoded
2131 Like short options, old options are single letters. However, old options
2132 must be written together as a single clumped set, without spaces separating
2133 them or dashes preceding them. This set
2134 of letters must be the first to appear on the command line, after the
2135 @command{tar} program name and some white space; old options cannot appear
2136 anywhere else. The letter of an old option is exactly the same letter as
2137 the corresponding short option. For example, the old option @samp{t} is
2138 the same as the short option @option{-t}, and consequently, the same as the
2139 long option @option{--list}. So for example, the command @w{@samp{tar
2140 cv}} specifies the option @option{-v} in addition to the operation @option{-c}.
2142 @cindex arguments to old options
2143 @cindex old options with mandatory arguments
2144 When options that need arguments are given together with the command,
2145 all the associated arguments follow, in the same order as the options.
2146 Thus, the example given previously could also be written in the old
2150 $ @kbd{tar cvbf 20 /dev/rmt0}
2154 Here, @samp{20} is the argument of @option{-b} and @samp{/dev/rmt0} is
2155 the argument of @option{-f}.
2157 The old style syntax can make it difficult to match
2158 option letters with their corresponding arguments, and is often
2159 confusing. In the command @w{@samp{tar cvbf 20 /dev/rmt0}}, for example,
2160 @samp{20} is the argument for @option{-b}, @samp{/dev/rmt0} is the
2161 argument for @option{-f}, and @option{-v} does not have a corresponding
2162 argument. Even using short options like in @w{@samp{tar -c -v -b 20 -f
2163 /dev/rmt0}} is clearer, putting all arguments next to the option they
2166 If you want to reorder the letters in the old option argument, be
2167 sure to reorder any corresponding argument appropriately.
2169 This old way of writing @command{tar} options can surprise even experienced
2170 users. For example, the two commands:
2173 @kbd{tar cfz archive.tar.gz file}
2174 @kbd{tar -cfz archive.tar.gz file}
2178 are quite different. The first example uses @file{archive.tar.gz} as
2179 the value for option @samp{f} and recognizes the option @samp{z}. The
2180 second example, however, uses @file{z} as the value for option
2181 @samp{f} --- probably not what was intended.
2183 This second example could be corrected in many ways, among which the
2184 following are equivalent:
2187 @kbd{tar -czf archive.tar.gz file}
2188 @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar.gz -z file}
2189 @kbd{tar cf archive.tar.gz -z file}
2193 @subsection Mixing Option Styles
2195 @cindex options, mixing different styles
2196 All three styles may be intermixed in a single @command{tar} command,
2197 so long as the rules for each style are fully
2198 respected@footnote{Before @GNUTAR{} version 1.11.6,
2199 a bug prevented intermixing old style options with long options in
2200 some cases.}. Old style options and either of the modern styles of
2201 options may be mixed within a single @command{tar} command. However,
2202 old style options must be introduced as the first arguments only,
2203 following the rule for old options (old options must appear directly
2204 after the @command{tar} command and some white space). Modern options
2205 may be given only after all arguments to the old options have been
2206 collected. If this rule is not respected, a modern option might be
2207 falsely interpreted as the value of the argument to one of the old
2210 For example, all the following commands are wholly equivalent, and
2211 illustrate the many combinations and orderings of option styles.
2214 @kbd{tar --create --file=archive.tar}
2215 @kbd{tar --create -f archive.tar}
2216 @kbd{tar --create -farchive.tar}
2217 @kbd{tar --file=archive.tar --create}
2218 @kbd{tar --file=archive.tar -c}
2219 @kbd{tar -c --file=archive.tar}
2220 @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar}
2221 @kbd{tar -c -farchive.tar}
2222 @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar}
2223 @kbd{tar -cfarchive.tar}
2224 @kbd{tar -f archive.tar --create}
2225 @kbd{tar -f archive.tar -c}
2226 @kbd{tar -farchive.tar --create}
2227 @kbd{tar -farchive.tar -c}
2228 @kbd{tar c --file=archive.tar}
2229 @kbd{tar c -f archive.tar}
2230 @kbd{tar c -farchive.tar}
2231 @kbd{tar cf archive.tar}
2232 @kbd{tar f archive.tar --create}
2233 @kbd{tar f archive.tar -c}
2234 @kbd{tar fc archive.tar}
2237 On the other hand, the following commands are @emph{not} equivalent to
2241 @kbd{tar -f -c archive.tar}
2242 @kbd{tar -fc archive.tar}
2243 @kbd{tar -fcarchive.tar}
2244 @kbd{tar -farchive.tarc}
2245 @kbd{tar cfarchive.tar}
2249 These last examples mean something completely different from what the
2250 user intended (judging based on the example in the previous set which
2251 uses long options, whose intent is therefore very clear). The first
2252 four specify that the @command{tar} archive would be a file named
2253 @option{-c}, @samp{c}, @samp{carchive.tar} or @samp{archive.tarc},
2254 respectively. The first two examples also specify a single non-option,
2255 @var{name} argument having the value @samp{archive.tar}. The last
2256 example contains only old style option letters (repeating option
2257 @samp{c} twice), not all of which are meaningful (eg., @samp{.},
2258 @samp{h}, or @samp{i}), with no argument value. @FIXME{not sure i liked
2259 the first sentence of this paragraph..}
2262 @section All @command{tar} Options
2264 The coming manual sections contain an alphabetical listing of all
2265 @command{tar} operations and options, with brief descriptions and
2266 cross-references to more in-depth explanations in the body of the manual.
2267 They also contain an alphabetically arranged table of the short option
2268 forms with their corresponding long option. You can use this table as
2269 a reference for deciphering @command{tar} commands in scripts.
2272 * Operation Summary::
2274 * Short Option Summary::
2277 @node Operation Summary
2278 @subsection Operations
2286 Appends files to the end of the archive. @xref{append}.
2288 @opsummary{catenate}
2292 Same as @option{--concatenate}. @xref{concatenate}.
2298 Compares archive members with their counterparts in the file
2299 system, and reports differences in file size, mode, owner,
2300 modification date and contents. @xref{compare}.
2302 @opsummary{concatenate}
2306 Appends other @command{tar} archives to the end of the archive.
2313 Creates a new @command{tar} archive. @xref{create}.
2318 Deletes members from the archive. Don't try this on an archive on a
2319 tape! @xref{delete}.
2325 Same @option{--compare}. @xref{compare}.
2331 Extracts members from the archive into the file system. @xref{extract}.
2337 Same as @option{--extract}. @xref{extract}.
2343 Lists the members in an archive. @xref{list}.
2349 Adds files to the end of the archive, but only if they are newer than
2350 their counterparts already in the archive, or if they do not already
2351 exist in the archive. @xref{update}.
2355 @node Option Summary
2356 @subsection @command{tar} Options
2360 @opsummary{absolute-names}
2361 @item --absolute-names
2364 Normally when creating an archive, @command{tar} strips an initial
2365 @samp{/} from member names. This option disables that behavior.
2368 @opsummary{after-date}
2371 (See @option{--newer}, @pxref{after})
2373 @opsummary{anchored}
2375 A pattern must match an initial subsequence of the name's components.
2376 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
2378 @opsummary{atime-preserve}
2379 @item --atime-preserve
2380 @itemx --atime-preserve=replace
2381 @itemx --atime-preserve=system
2383 Attempt to preserve the access time of files when reading them. This
2384 option currently is effective only on files that you own, unless you
2385 have superuser privileges.
2387 @option{--atime-preserve=replace} remembers the access time of a file
2388 before reading it, and then restores the access time afterwards. This
2389 may cause problems if other programs are reading the file at the same
2390 time, as the times of their accesses will be lost. On most platforms
2391 restoring the access time also requires @command{tar} to restore the
2392 data modification time too, so this option may also cause problems if
2393 other programs are writing the file at the same time (@command{tar} attempts
2394 to detect this situation, but cannot do so reliably due to race
2395 conditions). Worse, on most platforms restoring the access time also
2396 updates the status change time, which means that this option is
2397 incompatible with incremental backups.
2399 @option{--atime-preserve=system} avoids changing time stamps on files,
2400 without interfering with time stamp updates
2401 caused by other programs, so it works better with incremental backups.
2402 However, it requires a special @code{O_NOATIME} option from the
2403 underlying operating and file system implementation, and it also requires
2404 that searching directories does not update their access times. As of
2405 this writing (November 2005) this works only with Linux, and only with
2406 Linux kernels 2.6.8 and later. Worse, there is currently no reliable
2407 way to know whether this feature actually works. Sometimes
2408 @command{tar} knows that it does not work, and if you use
2409 @option{--atime-preserve=system} then @command{tar} complains and
2410 exits right away. But other times @command{tar} might think that the
2411 option works when it actually does not.
2413 Currently @option{--atime-preserve} with no operand defaults to
2414 @option{--atime-preserve=replace}, but this may change in the future
2415 as support for @option{--atime-preserve=system} improves.
2417 If your operating or file system does not support
2418 @option{--atime-preserve=@-system}, you might be able to preserve access
2419 times reliably by using the @command{mount} command. For example,
2420 you can mount the file system read-only, or access the file system via
2421 a read-only loopback mount, or use the @samp{noatime} mount option
2422 available on some systems. However, mounting typically requires
2423 superuser privileges and can be a pain to manage.
2425 @opsummary{auto-compress}
2426 @item --auto-compress
2429 During a @option{--create} operation, enables automatic compressed
2430 format recognition based on the archive suffix. The effect of this
2431 option is cancelled by @option{--no-auto-compress}. @xref{gzip}.
2434 @item --backup=@var{backup-type}
2436 Rather than deleting files from the file system, @command{tar} will
2437 back them up using simple or numbered backups, depending upon
2438 @var{backup-type}. @xref{backup}.
2440 @opsummary{block-number}
2441 @item --block-number
2444 With this option present, @command{tar} prints error messages for read errors
2445 with the block number in the archive file. @xref{block-number}.
2447 @opsummary{blocking-factor}
2448 @item --blocking-factor=@var{blocking}
2449 @itemx -b @var{blocking}
2451 Sets the blocking factor @command{tar} uses to @var{blocking} x 512 bytes per
2452 record. @xref{Blocking Factor}.
2458 This option tells @command{tar} to read or write archives through
2459 @code{bzip2}. @xref{gzip}.
2461 @opsummary{check-device}
2462 @item --check-device
2463 Check device numbers when creating a list of modified files for
2464 incremental archiving. This is the default. @xref{device numbers},
2465 for a detailed description.
2467 @opsummary{checkpoint}
2468 @item --checkpoint[=@var{number}]
2470 This option directs @command{tar} to print periodic checkpoint
2471 messages as it reads through the archive. It is intended for when you
2472 want a visual indication that @command{tar} is still running, but
2473 don't want to see @option{--verbose} output. You can also instruct
2474 @command{tar} to execute a list of actions on each checkpoint, see
2475 @option{--checkpoint-action} below. For a detailed description, see
2478 @opsummary{checkpoint-action}
2479 @item --checkpoint-action=@var{action}
2480 Instruct @command{tar} to execute an action upon hitting a
2481 breakpoint. Here we give only a brief outline. @xref{checkpoints},
2482 for a complete description.
2484 The @var{action} argument can be one of the following:
2488 Produce an audible bell on the console.
2492 Print a single dot on the standard listing stream.
2495 Display a textual message on the standard error, with the status and
2496 number of the checkpoint. This is the default.
2498 @item echo=@var{string}
2499 Display @var{string} on the standard error. Before output, the string
2500 is subject to meta-character expansion.
2502 @item exec=@var{command}
2503 Execute the given @var{command}.
2505 @item sleep=@var{time}
2506 Wait for @var{time} seconds.
2508 @item ttyout=@var{string}
2509 Output @var{string} on the current console (@file{/dev/tty}).
2512 Several @option{--checkpoint-action} options can be specified. The
2513 supplied actions will be executed in order of their appearance in the
2516 Using @option{--checkpoint-action} without @option{--checkpoint}
2517 assumes default checkpoint frequency of one checkpoint per 10 records.
2519 @opsummary{check-links}
2522 If this option was given, @command{tar} will check the number of links
2523 dumped for each processed file. If this number does not match the
2524 total number of hard links for the file, a warning message will be
2525 output @footnote{Earlier versions of @GNUTAR{} understood @option{-l} as a
2526 synonym for @option{--one-file-system}. The current semantics, which
2527 complies to UNIX98, was introduced with version
2528 1.15.91. @xref{Changes}, for more information.}.
2532 @opsummary{compress}
2533 @opsummary{uncompress}
2538 @command{tar} will use the @command{compress} program when reading or
2539 writing the archive. This allows you to directly act on archives
2540 while saving space. @xref{gzip}.
2542 @opsummary{confirmation}
2543 @item --confirmation
2545 (See @option{--interactive}.) @xref{interactive}.
2547 @opsummary{delay-directory-restore}
2548 @item --delay-directory-restore
2550 Delay setting modification times and permissions of extracted
2551 directories until the end of extraction. @xref{Directory Modification Times and Permissions}.
2553 @opsummary{dereference}
2557 When reading or writing a file to be archived, @command{tar} accesses
2558 the file that a symbolic link points to, rather than the symlink
2559 itself. @xref{dereference}.
2561 @opsummary{directory}
2562 @item --directory=@var{dir}
2565 When this option is specified, @command{tar} will change its current directory
2566 to @var{dir} before performing any operations. When this option is used
2567 during archive creation, it is order sensitive. @xref{directory}.
2570 @item --exclude=@var{pattern}
2572 When performing operations, @command{tar} will skip files that match
2573 @var{pattern}. @xref{exclude}.
2575 @opsummary{exclude-backups}
2576 @item --exclude-backups
2577 Exclude backup and lock files. @xref{exclude,, exclude-backups}.
2579 @opsummary{exclude-from}
2580 @item --exclude-from=@var{file}
2581 @itemx -X @var{file}
2583 Similar to @option{--exclude}, except @command{tar} will use the list of
2584 patterns in the file @var{file}. @xref{exclude}.
2586 @opsummary{exclude-caches}
2587 @item --exclude-caches
2589 Exclude from dump any directory containing a valid cache directory
2590 tag file, but still dump the directory node and the tag file itself.
2592 @xref{exclude,, exclude-caches}.
2594 @opsummary{exclude-caches-under}
2595 @item --exclude-caches-under
2597 Exclude from dump any directory containing a valid cache directory
2598 tag file, but still dump the directory node itself.
2602 @opsummary{exclude-caches-all}
2603 @item --exclude-caches-all
2605 Exclude from dump any directory containing a valid cache directory
2606 tag file. @xref{exclude}.
2608 @opsummary{exclude-tag}
2609 @item --exclude-tag=@var{file}
2611 Exclude from dump any directory containing file named @var{file}, but
2612 dump the directory node and @var{file} itself. @xref{exclude,, exclude-tag}.
2614 @opsummary{exclude-tag-under}
2615 @item --exclude-tag-under=@var{file}
2617 Exclude from dump the contents of any directory containing file
2618 named @var{file}, but dump the directory node itself. @xref{exclude,,
2621 @opsummary{exclude-tag-all}
2622 @item --exclude-tag-all=@var{file}
2624 Exclude from dump any directory containing file named @var{file}.
2625 @xref{exclude,,exclude-tag-all}.
2627 @opsummary{exclude-vcs}
2630 Exclude from dump directories and files, that are internal for some
2631 widely used version control systems.
2633 @xref{exclude,,exclude-vcs}.
2636 @item --file=@var{archive}
2637 @itemx -f @var{archive}
2639 @command{tar} will use the file @var{archive} as the @command{tar} archive it
2640 performs operations on, rather than @command{tar}'s compilation dependent
2641 default. @xref{file tutorial}.
2643 @opsummary{files-from}
2644 @item --files-from=@var{file}
2645 @itemx -T @var{file}
2647 @command{tar} will use the contents of @var{file} as a list of archive members
2648 or files to operate on, in addition to those specified on the
2649 command-line. @xref{files}.
2651 @opsummary{force-local}
2654 Forces @command{tar} to interpret the file name given to @option{--file}
2655 as a local file, even if it looks like a remote tape drive name.
2656 @xref{local and remote archives}.
2659 @item --format=@var{format}
2660 @itemx -H @var{format}
2662 Selects output archive format. @var{Format} may be one of the
2667 Creates an archive that is compatible with Unix V7 @command{tar}.
2670 Creates an archive that is compatible with GNU @command{tar} version
2674 Creates archive in GNU tar 1.13 format. Basically it is the same as
2675 @samp{oldgnu} with the only difference in the way it handles long
2679 Creates a @acronym{POSIX.1-1988} compatible archive.
2682 Creates a @acronym{POSIX.1-2001 archive}.
2686 @xref{Formats}, for a detailed discussion of these formats.
2688 @opsummary{full-time}
2690 This option instructs @command{tar} to print file times to their full
2691 resolution. Usually this means 1-second resolution, but that depends
2692 on the underlying file system. The @option{--full-time} option takes
2693 effect only when detailed output (verbosity level 2 or higher) has
2694 been requested using the @option{--verbose} option, e.g., when listing
2695 or extracting archives:
2698 $ @kbd{tar -t -v --full-time -f archive.tar}
2702 or, when creating an archive:
2705 $ @kbd{tar -c -vv --full-time -f archive.tar .}
2708 Notice, thar when creating the archive you need to specify
2709 @option{--verbose} twice to get a detailed output (@pxref{verbose
2713 @item --group=@var{group}
2715 Files added to the @command{tar} archive will have a group @acronym{ID} of @var{group},
2716 rather than the group from the source file. @var{group} is first decoded
2717 as a group symbolic name, but if this interpretation fails, it has to be
2718 a decimal numeric group @acronym{ID}. @xref{override}.
2720 Also see the comments for the @option{--owner=@var{user}} option.
2730 This option tells @command{tar} to read or write archives through
2731 @command{gzip}, allowing @command{tar} to directly operate on several
2732 kinds of compressed archives transparently. @xref{gzip}.
2734 @opsummary{hard-dereference}
2735 @item --hard-dereference
2736 When creating an archive, dereference hard links and store the files
2737 they refer to, instead of creating usual hard link members.
2745 @command{tar} will print out a short message summarizing the operations and
2746 options to @command{tar} and exit. @xref{help}.
2748 @opsummary{ignore-case}
2750 Ignore case when matching member or file names with
2751 patterns. @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
2753 @opsummary{ignore-command-error}
2754 @item --ignore-command-error
2755 Ignore exit codes of subprocesses. @xref{Writing to an External Program}.
2757 @opsummary{ignore-failed-read}
2758 @item --ignore-failed-read
2760 Do not exit unsuccessfully merely because an unreadable file was encountered.
2763 @opsummary{ignore-zeros}
2764 @item --ignore-zeros
2767 With this option, @command{tar} will ignore zeroed blocks in the
2768 archive, which normally signals EOF. @xref{Reading}.
2770 @opsummary{incremental}
2774 Informs @command{tar} that it is working with an old
2775 @acronym{GNU}-format incremental backup archive. It is intended
2776 primarily for backwards compatibility only. @xref{Incremental Dumps},
2777 for a detailed discussion of incremental archives.
2779 @opsummary{index-file}
2780 @item --index-file=@var{file}
2782 Send verbose output to @var{file} instead of to standard output.
2784 @opsummary{info-script}
2785 @opsummary{new-volume-script}
2786 @item --info-script=@var{script-file}
2787 @itemx --new-volume-script=@var{script-file}
2788 @itemx -F @var{script-file}
2790 When @command{tar} is performing multi-tape backups, @var{script-file} is run
2791 at the end of each tape. If @var{script-file} exits with nonzero status,
2792 @command{tar} fails immediately. @xref{info-script}, for a detailed
2793 discussion of @var{script-file}.
2795 @opsummary{interactive}
2797 @itemx --confirmation
2800 Specifies that @command{tar} should ask the user for confirmation before
2801 performing potentially destructive options, such as overwriting files.
2804 @opsummary{keep-newer-files}
2805 @item --keep-newer-files
2807 Do not replace existing files that are newer than their archive copies
2808 when extracting files from an archive.
2810 @opsummary{keep-old-files}
2811 @item --keep-old-files
2814 Do not overwrite existing files when extracting files from an archive.
2815 @xref{Keep Old Files}.
2818 @item --label=@var{name}
2819 @itemx -V @var{name}
2821 When creating an archive, instructs @command{tar} to write @var{name}
2822 as a name record in the archive. When extracting or listing archives,
2823 @command{tar} will only operate on archives that have a label matching
2824 the pattern specified in @var{name}. @xref{Tape Files}.
2827 @item --level=@var{n}
2828 Force incremental backup of level @var{n}. As of @GNUTAR version
2829 @value{VERSION}, the option @option{--level=0} truncates the snapshot
2830 file, thereby forcing the level 0 dump. Other values of @var{n} are
2831 effectively ignored. @xref{--level=0}, for details and examples.
2833 The use of this option is valid only in conjunction with the
2834 @option{--listed-incremental} option. @xref{Incremental Dumps},
2835 for a detailed description.
2837 @opsummary{listed-incremental}
2838 @item --listed-incremental=@var{snapshot-file}
2839 @itemx -g @var{snapshot-file}
2841 During a @option{--create} operation, specifies that the archive that
2842 @command{tar} creates is a new @acronym{GNU}-format incremental
2843 backup, using @var{snapshot-file} to determine which files to backup.
2844 With other operations, informs @command{tar} that the archive is in
2845 incremental format. @xref{Incremental Dumps}.
2850 This option tells @command{tar} to read or write archives through
2851 @command{lzip}. @xref{gzip}.
2856 This option tells @command{tar} to read or write archives through
2857 @command{lzma}. @xref{gzip}.
2861 This option tells @command{tar} to read or write archives through
2862 @command{lzop}. @xref{gzip}.
2865 @item --mode=@var{permissions}
2867 When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use
2868 @var{permissions} for the archive members, rather than the permissions
2869 from the files. @var{permissions} can be specified either as an octal
2870 number or as symbolic permissions, like with
2871 @command{chmod}. @xref{override}.
2874 @item --mtime=@var{date}
2876 When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use @var{date} as
2877 the modification time of members when creating archives, instead of
2878 their actual modification times. The value of @var{date} can be
2879 either a textual date representation (@pxref{Date input formats}) or a
2880 name of the existing file, starting with @samp{/} or @samp{.}. In the
2881 latter case, the modification time of that file is used. @xref{override}.
2883 @opsummary{multi-volume}
2884 @item --multi-volume
2887 Informs @command{tar} that it should create or otherwise operate on a
2888 multi-volume @command{tar} archive. @xref{Using Multiple Tapes}.
2890 @opsummary{new-volume-script}
2891 @item --new-volume-script
2893 (see @option{--info-script})
2896 @item --newer=@var{date}
2897 @itemx --after-date=@var{date}
2900 When creating an archive, @command{tar} will only add files that have changed
2901 since @var{date}. If @var{date} begins with @samp{/} or @samp{.}, it
2902 is taken to be the name of a file whose data modification time specifies
2903 the date. @xref{after}.
2905 @opsummary{newer-mtime}
2906 @item --newer-mtime=@var{date}
2908 Like @option{--newer}, but add only files whose
2909 contents have changed (as opposed to just @option{--newer}, which will
2910 also back up files for which any status information has
2911 changed). @xref{after}.
2913 @opsummary{no-anchored}
2915 An exclude pattern can match any subsequence of the name's components.
2916 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
2918 @opsummary{no-auto-compress}
2919 @item --no-auto-compress
2921 Disables automatic compressed format recognition based on the archive
2922 suffix. @xref{--auto-compress}. @xref{gzip}.
2924 @opsummary{no-check-device}
2925 @item --no-check-device
2926 Do not check device numbers when creating a list of modified files
2927 for incremental archiving. @xref{device numbers}, for
2928 a detailed description.
2930 @opsummary{no-delay-directory-restore}
2931 @item --no-delay-directory-restore
2933 Modification times and permissions of extracted
2934 directories are set when all files from this directory have been
2935 extracted. This is the default.
2936 @xref{Directory Modification Times and Permissions}.
2938 @opsummary{no-ignore-case}
2939 @item --no-ignore-case
2940 Use case-sensitive matching.
2941 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
2943 @opsummary{no-ignore-command-error}
2944 @item --no-ignore-command-error
2945 Print warnings about subprocesses that terminated with a nonzero exit
2946 code. @xref{Writing to an External Program}.
2951 If the @option{--null} option was given previously, this option
2952 cancels its effect, so that any following @option{--files-from}
2953 options will expect their file lists to be newline-terminated.
2955 @opsummary{no-overwrite-dir}
2956 @item --no-overwrite-dir
2958 Preserve metadata of existing directories when extracting files
2959 from an archive. @xref{Overwrite Old Files}.
2961 @opsummary{no-quote-chars}
2962 @item --no-quote-chars=@var{string}
2963 Remove characters listed in @var{string} from the list of quoted
2964 characters set by the previous @option{--quote-chars} option
2965 (@pxref{quoting styles}).
2967 @opsummary{no-recursion}
2968 @item --no-recursion
2970 With this option, @command{tar} will not recurse into directories.
2973 @opsummary{no-same-owner}
2974 @item --no-same-owner
2977 When extracting an archive, do not attempt to preserve the owner
2978 specified in the @command{tar} archive. This the default behavior
2981 @opsummary{no-same-permissions}
2982 @item --no-same-permissions
2984 When extracting an archive, subtract the user's umask from files from
2985 the permissions specified in the archive. This is the default behavior
2991 The archive media does not support seeks to arbitrary
2992 locations. Usually @command{tar} determines automatically whether
2993 the archive can be seeked or not. Use this option to disable this
2996 @opsummary{no-unquote}
2998 Treat all input file or member names literally, do not interpret
2999 escape sequences. @xref{input name quoting}.
3001 @opsummary{no-wildcards}
3002 @item --no-wildcards
3003 Do not use wildcards.
3004 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
3006 @opsummary{no-wildcards-match-slash}
3007 @item --no-wildcards-match-slash
3008 Wildcards do not match @samp{/}.
3009 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
3014 When @command{tar} is using the @option{--files-from} option, this option
3015 instructs @command{tar} to expect file names terminated with @acronym{NUL}, so
3016 @command{tar} can correctly work with file names that contain newlines.
3019 @opsummary{numeric-owner}
3020 @item --numeric-owner
3022 This option will notify @command{tar} that it should use numeric user
3023 and group IDs when creating a @command{tar} file, rather than names.
3027 The function of this option depends on the action @command{tar} is
3028 performing. When extracting files, @option{-o} is a synonym for
3029 @option{--no-same-owner}, i.e., it prevents @command{tar} from
3030 restoring ownership of files being extracted.
3032 When creating an archive, it is a synonym for
3033 @option{--old-archive}. This behavior is for compatibility
3034 with previous versions of @GNUTAR{}, and will be
3035 removed in future releases.
3037 @xref{Changes}, for more information.
3039 @opsummary{occurrence}
3040 @item --occurrence[=@var{number}]
3042 This option can be used in conjunction with one of the subcommands
3043 @option{--delete}, @option{--diff}, @option{--extract} or
3044 @option{--list} when a list of files is given either on the command
3045 line or via @option{-T} option.
3047 This option instructs @command{tar} to process only the @var{number}th
3048 occurrence of each named file. @var{Number} defaults to 1, so
3051 tar -x -f archive.tar --occurrence filename
3055 will extract the first occurrence of the member @file{filename} from @file{archive.tar}
3056 and will terminate without scanning to the end of the archive.
3058 @opsummary{old-archive}
3060 Synonym for @option{--format=v7}.
3062 @opsummary{one-file-system}
3063 @item --one-file-system
3064 Used when creating an archive. Prevents @command{tar} from recursing into
3065 directories that are on different file systems from the current
3068 @opsummary{overwrite}
3071 Overwrite existing files and directory metadata when extracting files
3072 from an archive. @xref{Overwrite Old Files}.
3074 @opsummary{overwrite-dir}
3075 @item --overwrite-dir
3077 Overwrite the metadata of existing directories when extracting files
3078 from an archive. @xref{Overwrite Old Files}.
3081 @item --owner=@var{user}
3083 Specifies that @command{tar} should use @var{user} as the owner of members
3084 when creating archives, instead of the user associated with the source
3085 file. @var{user} is first decoded as a user symbolic name, but if
3086 this interpretation fails, it has to be a decimal numeric user @acronym{ID}.
3089 This option does not affect extraction from archives.
3091 @opsummary{pax-option}
3092 @item --pax-option=@var{keyword-list}
3093 This option enables creation of the archive in @acronym{POSIX.1-2001}
3094 format (@pxref{posix}) and modifies the way @command{tar} handles the
3095 extended header keywords. @var{Keyword-list} is a comma-separated
3096 list of keyword options. @xref{PAX keywords}, for a detailed
3099 @opsummary{portability}
3101 @itemx --old-archive
3102 Synonym for @option{--format=v7}.
3106 Same as @option{--format=posix}.
3108 @opsummary{preserve}
3111 Synonymous with specifying both @option{--preserve-permissions} and
3112 @option{--same-order}. @xref{Setting Access Permissions}.
3114 @opsummary{preserve-order}
3115 @item --preserve-order
3117 (See @option{--same-order}; @pxref{Reading}.)
3119 @opsummary{preserve-permissions}
3120 @opsummary{same-permissions}
3121 @item --preserve-permissions
3122 @itemx --same-permissions
3125 When @command{tar} is extracting an archive, it normally subtracts the
3126 users' umask from the permissions specified in the archive and uses
3127 that number as the permissions to create the destination file.
3128 Specifying this option instructs @command{tar} that it should use the
3129 permissions directly from the archive. @xref{Setting Access Permissions}.
3131 @opsummary{quote-chars}
3132 @item --quote-chars=@var{string}
3133 Always quote characters from @var{string}, even if the selected
3134 quoting style would not quote them (@pxref{quoting styles}).
3136 @opsummary{quoting-style}
3137 @item --quoting-style=@var{style}
3138 Set quoting style to use when printing member and file names
3139 (@pxref{quoting styles}). Valid @var{style} values are:
3140 @code{literal}, @code{shell}, @code{shell-always}, @code{c},
3141 @code{escape}, @code{locale}, and @code{clocale}. Default quoting
3142 style is @code{escape}, unless overridden while configuring the
3145 @opsummary{read-full-records}
3146 @item --read-full-records
3149 Specifies that @command{tar} should reblock its input, for reading
3150 from pipes on systems with buggy implementations. @xref{Reading}.
3152 @opsummary{record-size}
3153 @item --record-size=@var{size}[@var{suf}]
3155 Instructs @command{tar} to use @var{size} bytes per record when accessing the
3156 archive. The argument can be suffixed with a @dfn{size suffix}, e.g.
3157 @option{--record-size=10K} for 10 Kilobytes. @xref{size-suffixes},
3158 for a list of valid suffixes. @xref{Blocking Factor}, for a detailed
3159 description of this option.
3161 @opsummary{recursion}
3164 With this option, @command{tar} recurses into directories (default).
3167 @opsummary{recursive-unlink}
3168 @item --recursive-unlink
3171 directory hierarchies before extracting directories of the same name
3172 from the archive. @xref{Recursive Unlink}.
3174 @opsummary{remove-files}
3175 @item --remove-files
3177 Directs @command{tar} to remove the source file from the file system after
3178 appending it to an archive. @xref{remove files}.
3180 @opsummary{restrict}
3183 Disable use of some potentially harmful @command{tar} options.
3184 Currently this option disables shell invocation from multi-volume menu
3185 (@pxref{Using Multiple Tapes}).
3187 @opsummary{rmt-command}
3188 @item --rmt-command=@var{cmd}
3190 Notifies @command{tar} that it should use @var{cmd} instead of
3191 the default @file{/usr/libexec/rmt} (@pxref{Remote Tape Server}).
3193 @opsummary{rsh-command}
3194 @item --rsh-command=@var{cmd}
3196 Notifies @command{tar} that is should use @var{cmd} to communicate with remote
3197 devices. @xref{Device}.
3199 @opsummary{same-order}
3201 @itemx --preserve-order
3204 This option is an optimization for @command{tar} when running on machines with
3205 small amounts of memory. It informs @command{tar} that the list of file
3206 arguments has already been sorted to match the order of files in the
3207 archive. @xref{Reading}.
3209 @opsummary{same-owner}
3212 When extracting an archive, @command{tar} will attempt to preserve the owner
3213 specified in the @command{tar} archive with this option present.
3214 This is the default behavior for the superuser; this option has an
3215 effect only for ordinary users. @xref{Attributes}.
3217 @opsummary{same-permissions}
3218 @item --same-permissions
3220 (See @option{--preserve-permissions}; @pxref{Setting Access Permissions}.)
3226 Assume that the archive media supports seeks to arbitrary
3227 locations. Usually @command{tar} determines automatically whether
3228 the archive can be seeked or not. This option is intended for use
3229 in cases when such recognition fails. It takes effect only if the
3230 archive is open for reading (e.g. with @option{--list} or
3231 @option{--extract} options).
3233 @opsummary{show-defaults}
3234 @item --show-defaults
3236 Displays the default options used by @command{tar} and exits
3237 successfully. This option is intended for use in shell scripts.
3238 Here is an example of what you can see using this option:
3241 $ @kbd{tar --show-defaults}
3242 --format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape
3243 --rmt-command=/usr/libexec/rmt --rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh
3247 Notice, that this option outputs only one line. The example output
3248 above has been split to fit page boundaries.
3250 @opsummary{show-omitted-dirs}
3251 @item --show-omitted-dirs
3253 Instructs @command{tar} to mention the directories it is skipping when
3254 operating on a @command{tar} archive. @xref{show-omitted-dirs}.
3256 @opsummary{show-transformed-names}
3257 @opsummary{show-stored-names}
3258 @item --show-transformed-names
3259 @itemx --show-stored-names
3261 Display file or member names after applying any transformations
3262 (@pxref{transform}). In particular, when used in conjunction with one of
3263 the archive creation operations it instructs @command{tar} to list the
3264 member names stored in the archive, as opposed to the actual file
3265 names. @xref{listing member and file names}.
3271 Invokes a @acronym{GNU} extension when adding files to an archive that handles
3272 sparse files efficiently. @xref{sparse}.
3274 @opsummary{sparse-version}
3275 @item --sparse-version=@var{version}
3277 Specifies the @dfn{format version} to use when archiving sparse
3278 files. Implies @option{--sparse}. @xref{sparse}. For the description
3279 of the supported sparse formats, @xref{Sparse Formats}.
3281 @opsummary{starting-file}
3282 @item --starting-file=@var{name}
3283 @itemx -K @var{name}
3285 This option affects extraction only; @command{tar} will skip extracting
3286 files in the archive until it finds one that matches @var{name}.
3289 @opsummary{strip-components}
3290 @item --strip-components=@var{number}
3291 Strip given @var{number} of leading components from file names before
3292 extraction. For example, if archive @file{archive.tar} contained
3293 @file{/some/file/name}, then running
3296 tar --extract --file archive.tar --strip-components=2
3300 would extract this file to file @file{name}.
3303 @item --suffix=@var{suffix}
3305 Alters the suffix @command{tar} uses when backing up files from the default
3306 @samp{~}. @xref{backup}.
3308 @opsummary{tape-length}
3309 @item --tape-length=@var{num}[@var{suf}]
3310 @itemx -L @var{num}[@var{suf}]
3312 Specifies the length of tapes that @command{tar} is writing as being
3313 @w{@var{num} x 1024} bytes long. If optional @var{suf} is given, it
3314 specifies a multiplicative factor to be used instead of 1024. For
3315 example, @samp{-L2M} means 2 megabytes. @xref{size-suffixes}, for a
3316 list of allowed suffixes. @xref{Using Multiple Tapes}, for a detailed
3317 discussion of this option.
3319 @opsummary{test-label}
3322 Reads the volume label. If an argument is specified, test whether it
3323 matches the volume label. @xref{--test-label option}.
3325 @opsummary{to-command}
3326 @item --to-command=@var{command}
3328 During extraction @command{tar} will pipe extracted files to the
3329 standard input of @var{command}. @xref{Writing to an External Program}.
3331 @opsummary{to-stdout}
3335 During extraction, @command{tar} will extract files to stdout rather
3336 than to the file system. @xref{Writing to Standard Output}.
3339 @item --totals[=@var{signo}]
3341 Displays the total number of bytes transferred when processing an
3342 archive. If an argument is given, these data are displayed on
3343 request, when signal @var{signo} is delivered to @command{tar}.
3350 Sets the data modification time of extracted files to the extraction time,
3351 rather than the data modification time stored in the archive.
3352 @xref{Data Modification Times}.
3354 @opsummary{transform}
3356 @item --transform=@var{sed-expr}
3357 @itemx --xform=@var{sed-expr}
3358 Transform file or member names using @command{sed} replacement expression
3359 @var{sed-expr}. For example,
3362 $ @kbd{tar cf archive.tar --transform 's,^\./,usr/,' .}
3366 will add to @file{archive} files from the current working directory,
3367 replacing initial @samp{./} prefix with @samp{usr/}. For the detailed
3368 discussion, @xref{transform}.
3370 To see transformed member names in verbose listings, use
3371 @option{--show-transformed-names} option
3372 (@pxref{show-transformed-names}).
3374 @opsummary{uncompress}
3377 (See @option{--compress}, @pxref{gzip})
3382 (See @option{--gzip}, @pxref{gzip})
3384 @opsummary{unlink-first}
3385 @item --unlink-first
3388 Directs @command{tar} to remove the corresponding file from the file
3389 system before extracting it from the archive. @xref{Unlink First}.
3393 Enable unquoting input file or member names (default). @xref{input
3396 @opsummary{use-compress-program}
3397 @item --use-compress-program=@var{prog}
3398 @itemx -I=@var{prog}
3400 Instructs @command{tar} to access the archive through @var{prog}, which is
3401 presumed to be a compression program of some sort. @xref{gzip}.
3406 Display file modification dates in @acronym{UTC}. This option implies
3413 Specifies that @command{tar} should be more verbose about the
3414 operations it is performing. This option can be specified multiple
3415 times for some operations to increase the amount of information displayed.
3422 Verifies that the archive was correctly written when creating an
3423 archive. @xref{verify}.
3428 Print information about the program's name, version, origin and legal
3429 status, all on standard output, and then exit successfully.
3432 @opsummary{volno-file}
3433 @item --volno-file=@var{file}
3435 Used in conjunction with @option{--multi-volume}. @command{tar} will
3436 keep track of which volume of a multi-volume archive it is working in
3437 @var{file}. @xref{volno-file}.
3440 @item --warning=@var{keyword}
3442 Enable or disable warning messages identified by @var{keyword}. The
3443 messages are suppressed if @var{keyword} is prefixed with @samp{no-}.
3446 @opsummary{wildcards}
3448 Use wildcards when matching member names with patterns.
3449 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
3451 @opsummary{wildcards-match-slash}
3452 @item --wildcards-match-slash
3453 Wildcards match @samp{/}.
3454 @xref{controlling pattern-matching}.
3459 Use @command{xz} for compressing or decompressing the archives. @xref{gzip}.
3463 @node Short Option Summary
3464 @subsection Short Options Cross Reference
3466 Here is an alphabetized list of all of the short option forms, matching
3467 them with the equivalent long option.
3469 @multitable @columnfractions 0.20 0.80
3470 @headitem Short Option @tab Reference
3472 @item -A @tab @ref{--concatenate}.
3474 @item -B @tab @ref{--read-full-records}.
3476 @item -C @tab @ref{--directory}.
3478 @item -F @tab @ref{--info-script}.
3480 @item -G @tab @ref{--incremental}.
3482 @item -J @tab @ref{--xz}.
3484 @item -K @tab @ref{--starting-file}.
3486 @item -L @tab @ref{--tape-length}.
3488 @item -M @tab @ref{--multi-volume}.
3490 @item -N @tab @ref{--newer}.
3492 @item -O @tab @ref{--to-stdout}.
3494 @item -P @tab @ref{--absolute-names}.
3496 @item -R @tab @ref{--block-number}.
3498 @item -S @tab @ref{--sparse}.
3500 @item -T @tab @ref{--files-from}.
3502 @item -U @tab @ref{--unlink-first}.
3504 @item -V @tab @ref{--label}.
3506 @item -W @tab @ref{--verify}.
3508 @item -X @tab @ref{--exclude-from}.
3510 @item -Z @tab @ref{--compress}.
3512 @item -b @tab @ref{--blocking-factor}.
3514 @item -c @tab @ref{--create}.
3516 @item -d @tab @ref{--compare}.
3518 @item -f @tab @ref{--file}.
3520 @item -g @tab @ref{--listed-incremental}.
3522 @item -h @tab @ref{--dereference}.
3524 @item -i @tab @ref{--ignore-zeros}.
3526 @item -j @tab @ref{--bzip2}.
3528 @item -k @tab @ref{--keep-old-files}.
3530 @item -l @tab @ref{--check-links}.
3532 @item -m @tab @ref{--touch}.
3534 @item -o @tab When creating, @ref{--no-same-owner}, when extracting ---
3535 @ref{--portability}.
3537 The latter usage is deprecated. It is retained for compatibility with
3538 the earlier versions of @GNUTAR{}. In future releases
3539 @option{-o} will be equivalent to @option{--no-same-owner} only.
3541 @item -p @tab @ref{--preserve-permissions}.
3543 @item -r @tab @ref{--append}.
3545 @item -s @tab @ref{--same-order}.
3547 @item -t @tab @ref{--list}.
3549 @item -u @tab @ref{--update}.
3551 @item -v @tab @ref{--verbose}.
3553 @item -w @tab @ref{--interactive}.
3555 @item -x @tab @ref{--extract}.
3557 @item -z @tab @ref{--gzip}.
3562 @section @GNUTAR{} documentation
3564 @cindex Getting program version number
3566 @cindex Version of the @command{tar} program
3567 Being careful, the first thing is really checking that you are using
3568 @GNUTAR{}, indeed. The @option{--version} option
3569 causes @command{tar} to print information about its name, version,
3570 origin and legal status, all on standard output, and then exit
3571 successfully. For example, @w{@samp{tar --version}} might print:
3574 tar (GNU tar) @value{VERSION}
3575 Copyright (C) 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3576 Copyright (C) 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3577 License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
3578 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
3579 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
3581 Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason.
3585 The first occurrence of @samp{tar} in the result above is the program
3586 name in the package (for example, @command{rmt} is another program),
3587 while the second occurrence of @samp{tar} is the name of the package
3588 itself, containing possibly many programs. The package is currently
3589 named @samp{tar}, after the name of the main program it
3590 contains@footnote{There are plans to merge the @command{cpio} and
3591 @command{tar} packages into a single one which would be called
3592 @code{paxutils}. So, who knows if, one of this days, the
3593 @option{--version} would not output @w{@samp{tar (@acronym{GNU}
3596 @cindex Obtaining help
3597 @cindex Listing all @command{tar} options
3598 @xopindex{help, introduction}
3599 Another thing you might want to do is checking the spelling or meaning
3600 of some particular @command{tar} option, without resorting to this
3601 manual, for once you have carefully read it. @GNUTAR{}
3602 has a short help feature, triggerable through the
3603 @option{--help} option. By using this option, @command{tar} will
3604 print a usage message listing all available options on standard
3605 output, then exit successfully, without doing anything else and
3606 ignoring all other options. Even if this is only a brief summary, it
3607 may be several screens long. So, if you are not using some kind of
3608 scrollable window, you might prefer to use something like:
3611 $ @kbd{tar --help | less}
3615 presuming, here, that you like using @command{less} for a pager. Other
3616 popular pagers are @command{more} and @command{pg}. If you know about some
3617 @var{keyword} which interests you and do not want to read all the
3618 @option{--help} output, another common idiom is doing:
3621 tar --help | grep @var{keyword}
3625 for getting only the pertinent lines. Notice, however, that some
3626 @command{tar} options have long description lines and the above
3627 command will list only the first of them.
3629 The exact look of the option summary displayed by @kbd{tar --help} is
3630 configurable. @xref{Configuring Help Summary}, for a detailed description.
3633 If you only wish to check the spelling of an option, running @kbd{tar
3634 --usage} may be a better choice. This will display a terse list of
3635 @command{tar} options without accompanying explanations.
3637 The short help output is quite succinct, and you might have to get
3638 back to the full documentation for precise points. If you are reading
3639 this paragraph, you already have the @command{tar} manual in some
3640 form. This manual is available in a variety of forms from
3641 @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual}. It may be printed out of the @GNUTAR{}
3642 distribution, provided you have @TeX{} already installed somewhere,
3643 and a laser printer around. Just configure the distribution, execute
3644 the command @w{@samp{make dvi}}, then print @file{doc/tar.dvi} the
3645 usual way (contact your local guru to know how). If @GNUTAR{}
3646 has been conveniently installed at your place, this
3647 manual is also available in interactive, hypertextual form as an Info
3648 file. Just call @w{@samp{info tar}} or, if you do not have the
3649 @command{info} program handy, use the Info reader provided within
3650 @acronym{GNU} Emacs, calling @samp{tar} from the main Info menu.
3652 There is currently no @code{man} page for @GNUTAR{}.
3653 If you observe such a @code{man} page on the system you are running,
3654 either it does not belong to @GNUTAR{}, or it has not
3655 been produced by @acronym{GNU}. Some package maintainers convert
3656 @kbd{tar --help} output to a man page, using @command{help2man}. In
3657 any case, please bear in mind that the authoritative source of
3658 information about @GNUTAR{} is this Texinfo documentation.
3661 @section Obtaining @GNUTAR{} default values
3663 @opindex show-defaults
3664 @GNUTAR{} has some predefined defaults that are used when you do not
3665 explicitly specify another values. To obtain a list of such
3666 defaults, use @option{--show-defaults} option. This will output the
3667 values in the form of @command{tar} command line options:
3671 $ @kbd{tar --show-defaults}
3672 --format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape
3673 --rmt-command=/etc/rmt --rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh
3678 Notice, that this option outputs only one line. The example output above
3679 has been split to fit page boundaries.
3682 The above output shows that this version of @GNUTAR{} defaults to
3683 using @samp{gnu} archive format (@pxref{Formats}), it uses standard
3684 output as the archive, if no @option{--file} option has been given
3685 (@pxref{file tutorial}), the default blocking factor is 20
3686 (@pxref{Blocking Factor}). It also shows the default locations where
3687 @command{tar} will look for @command{rmt} and @command{rsh} binaries.
3690 @section Checking @command{tar} progress
3692 Typically, @command{tar} performs most operations without reporting any
3693 information to the user except error messages. When using @command{tar}
3694 with many options, particularly ones with complicated or
3695 difficult-to-predict behavior, it is possible to make serious mistakes.
3696 @command{tar} provides several options that make observing @command{tar}
3697 easier. These options cause @command{tar} to print information as it
3698 progresses in its job, and you might want to use them just for being
3699 more careful about what is going on, or merely for entertaining
3700 yourself. If you have encountered a problem when operating on an
3701 archive, however, you may need more information than just an error
3702 message in order to solve the problem. The following options can be
3703 helpful diagnostic tools.
3705 @cindex Verbose operation
3707 Normally, the @option{--list} (@option{-t}) command to list an archive
3708 prints just the file names (one per line) and the other commands are
3709 silent. When used with most operations, the @option{--verbose}
3710 (@option{-v}) option causes @command{tar} to print the name of each
3711 file or archive member as it is processed. This and the other options
3712 which make @command{tar} print status information can be useful in
3713 monitoring @command{tar}.
3715 With @option{--create} or @option{--extract}, @option{--verbose} used
3716 once just prints the names of the files or members as they are processed.
3717 Using it twice causes @command{tar} to print a longer listing
3718 (@xref{verbose member listing}, for the description) for each member.
3719 Since @option{--list} already prints the names of the members,
3720 @option{--verbose} used once with @option{--list} causes @command{tar}
3721 to print an @samp{ls -l} type listing of the files in the archive.
3722 The following examples both extract members with long list output:
3725 $ @kbd{tar --extract --file=archive.tar --verbose --verbose}
3726 $ @kbd{tar xvvf archive.tar}
3729 Verbose output appears on the standard output except when an archive is
3730 being written to the standard output, as with @samp{tar --create
3731 --file=- --verbose} (@samp{tar cvf -}, or even @samp{tar cv}---if the
3732 installer let standard output be the default archive). In that case
3733 @command{tar} writes verbose output to the standard error stream.
3735 If @option{--index-file=@var{file}} is specified, @command{tar} sends
3736 verbose output to @var{file} rather than to standard output or standard
3740 @cindex Obtaining total status information
3742 The @option{--totals} option causes @command{tar} to print on the
3743 standard error the total amount of bytes transferred when processing
3744 an archive. When creating or appending to an archive, this option
3745 prints the number of bytes written to the archive and the average
3746 speed at which they have been written, e.g.:
3750 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --totals /home}
3751 Total bytes written: 7924664320 (7.4GiB, 85MiB/s)
3755 When reading an archive, this option displays the number of bytes
3760 $ @kbd{tar -x -f archive.tar --totals}
3761 Total bytes read: 7924664320 (7.4GiB, 95MiB/s)
3765 Finally, when deleting from an archive, the @option{--totals} option
3766 displays both numbers plus number of bytes removed from the archive:
3770 $ @kbd{tar --delete -f foo.tar --totals --wildcards '*~'}
3771 Total bytes read: 9543680 (9.2MiB, 201MiB/s)
3772 Total bytes written: 3829760 (3.7MiB, 81MiB/s)
3773 Total bytes deleted: 1474048
3777 You can also obtain this information on request. When
3778 @option{--totals} is used with an argument, this argument is
3779 interpreted as a symbolic name of a signal, upon delivery of which the
3780 statistics is to be printed:
3783 @item --totals=@var{signo}
3784 Print statistics upon delivery of signal @var{signo}. Valid arguments
3785 are: @code{SIGHUP}, @code{SIGQUIT}, @code{SIGINT}, @code{SIGUSR1} and
3786 @code{SIGUSR2}. Shortened names without @samp{SIG} prefix are also
3790 Both forms of @option{--totals} option can be used simultaneously.
3791 Thus, @kbd{tar -x --totals --totals=USR1} instructs @command{tar} to
3792 extract all members from its default archive and print statistics
3793 after finishing the extraction, as well as when receiving signal
3796 @anchor{Progress information}
3797 @cindex Progress information
3798 The @option{--checkpoint} option prints an occasional message
3799 as @command{tar} reads or writes the archive. It is designed for
3800 those who don't need the more detailed (and voluminous) output of
3801 @option{--block-number} (@option{-R}), but do want visual confirmation
3802 that @command{tar} is actually making forward progress. By default it
3803 prints a message each 10 records read or written. This can be changed
3804 by giving it a numeric argument after an equal sign:
3807 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000} /var
3808 tar: Write checkpoint 1000
3809 tar: Write checkpoint 2000
3810 tar: Write checkpoint 3000
3813 This example shows the default checkpoint message used by
3814 @command{tar}. If you place a dot immediately after the equal
3815 sign, it will print a @samp{.} at each checkpoint@footnote{This is
3816 actually a shortcut for @option{--checkpoint=@var{n}
3817 --checkpoint-action=dot}. @xref{checkpoints, dot}.}. For example:
3820 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=.1000} /var
3824 The @option{--checkpoint} option provides a flexible mechanism for
3825 executing arbitrary actions upon hitting checkpoints, see the next
3826 section (@pxref{checkpoints}), for more information on it.
3828 @opindex show-omitted-dirs
3829 @anchor{show-omitted-dirs}
3830 The @option{--show-omitted-dirs} option, when reading an archive---with
3831 @option{--list} or @option{--extract}, for example---causes a message
3832 to be printed for each directory in the archive which is skipped.
3833 This happens regardless of the reason for skipping: the directory might
3834 not have been named on the command line (implicitly or explicitly),
3835 it might be excluded by the use of the
3836 @option{--exclude=@var{pattern}} option, or some other reason.
3838 @opindex block-number
3839 @cindex Block number where error occurred
3840 @anchor{block-number}
3841 If @option{--block-number} (@option{-R}) is used, @command{tar} prints, along with
3842 every message it would normally produce, the block number within the
3843 archive where the message was triggered. Also, supplementary messages
3844 are triggered when reading blocks full of NULs, or when hitting end of
3845 file on the archive. As of now, if the archive is properly terminated
3846 with a NUL block, the reading of the file may stop before end of file
3847 is met, so the position of end of file will not usually show when
3848 @option{--block-number} (@option{-R}) is used. Note that @GNUTAR{}
3849 drains the archive before exiting when reading the
3850 archive from a pipe.
3852 @cindex Error message, block number of
3853 This option is especially useful when reading damaged archives, since
3854 it helps pinpoint the damaged sections. It can also be used with
3855 @option{--list} (@option{-t}) when listing a file-system backup tape, allowing you to
3856 choose among several backup tapes when retrieving a file later, in
3857 favor of the tape where the file appears earliest (closest to the
3858 front of the tape). @xref{backup}.
3861 @section Checkpoints
3862 @cindex checkpoints, defined
3864 @opindex checkpoint-action
3866 A @dfn{checkpoint} is a moment of time before writing @var{n}th record to
3867 the archive (a @dfn{write checkpoint}), or before reading @var{n}th record
3868 from the archive (a @dfn{read checkpoint}). Checkpoints allow to
3869 periodically execute arbitrary actions.
3871 The checkpoint facility is enabled using the following option:
3874 @xopindex{checkpoint, defined}
3875 @item --checkpoint[=@var{n}]
3876 Schedule checkpoints before writing or reading each @var{n}th record.
3877 The default value for @var{n} is 10.
3880 A list of arbitrary @dfn{actions} can be executed at each checkpoint.
3881 These actions include: pausing, displaying textual messages, and
3882 executing arbitrary external programs. Actions are defined using
3883 the @option{--checkpoint-action} option.
3886 @xopindex{checkpoint-action, defined}
3887 @item --checkpoint-action=@var{action}
3888 Execute an @var{action} at each checkpoint.
3891 @cindex @code{echo}, checkpoint action
3892 The simplest value of @var{action} is @samp{echo}. It instructs
3893 @command{tar} to display the default message on the standard error
3894 stream upon arriving at each checkpoint. The default message is (in
3895 @acronym{POSIX} locale) @samp{Write checkpoint @var{n}}, for write
3896 checkpoints, and @samp{Read checkpoint @var{n}}, for read checkpoints.
3897 Here, @var{n} represents ordinal number of the checkpoint.
3899 In another locales, translated versions of this message are used.
3901 This is the default action, so running:
3904 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000 --checkpoint-action=echo} /var
3911 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000} /var
3914 The @samp{echo} action also allows to supply a customized message.
3915 You do so by placing an equals sign and the message right after it,
3919 --checkpoint-action="echo=Hit %s checkpoint #%u"
3922 The @samp{%s} and @samp{%u} in the above example are
3923 @dfn{meta-characters}. The @samp{%s} meta-character is replaced with
3924 the @dfn{type} of the checkpoint: @samp{write} or
3925 @samp{read} (or a corresponding translated version in locales other
3926 than @acronym{POSIX}). The @samp{%u} meta-character is replaced with
3927 the ordinal number of the checkpoint. Thus, the above example could
3928 produce the following output when used with the @option{--create}
3932 tar: Hit write checkpoint #10
3933 tar: Hit write checkpoint #20
3934 tar: Hit write checkpoint #30
3937 Aside from meta-character expansion, the message string is subject to
3938 @dfn{unquoting}, during which the backslash @dfn{escape sequences} are
3939 replaced with their corresponding @acronym{ASCII} characters
3940 (@pxref{escape sequences}). E.g. the following action will produce an
3941 audible bell and the message described above at each checkpoint:
3944 --checkpoint-action='echo=\aHit %s checkpoint #%u'
3947 @cindex @code{bell}, checkpoint action
3948 There is also a special action which produces an audible signal:
3949 @samp{bell}. It is not equivalent to @samp{echo='\a'}, because
3950 @samp{bell} sends the bell directly to the console (@file{/dev/tty}),
3951 whereas @samp{echo='\a'} sends it to the standard error.
3953 @cindex @code{ttyout}, checkpoint action
3954 The @samp{ttyout=@var{string}} action outputs @var{string} to
3955 @file{/dev/tty}, so it can be used even if the standard output is
3956 redirected elsewhere. The @var{string} is subject to the same
3957 modifications as with @samp{echo} action. In contrast to the latter,
3958 @samp{ttyout} does not prepend @command{tar} executable name to the
3959 string, nor does it output a newline after it. For example, the
3960 following action will print the checkpoint message at the same screen
3961 line, overwriting any previous message:
3964 --checkpoint-action="ttyout=\rHit %s checkpoint #%u"
3967 @cindex @code{dot}, checkpoint action
3968 Another available checkpoint action is @samp{dot} (or @samp{.}). It
3969 instructs @command{tar} to print a single dot on the standard listing
3973 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000 --checkpoint-action=dot} /var
3977 For compatibility with previous @GNUTAR{} versions, this action can
3978 be abbreviated by placing a dot in front of the checkpoint frequency,
3979 as shown in the previous section.
3981 @cindex @code{sleep}, checkpoint action
3982 Yet another action, @samp{sleep}, pauses @command{tar} for a specified
3983 amount of seconds. The following example will stop for 30 seconds at each
3987 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000 --checkpoint-action=sleep=30}
3990 @cindex @code{exec}, checkpoint action
3991 Finally, the @code{exec} action executes a given external program.
3995 $ @kbd{tar -c --checkpoint=1000 --checkpoint-action=exec=/sbin/cpoint}
3998 This program is executed using @command{/bin/sh -c}, with no
3999 additional arguments. Its exit code is ignored. It gets a copy of
4000 @command{tar}'s environment plus the following variables:
4003 @vrindex TAR_VERSION, checkpoint script environment
4005 @GNUTAR{} version number.
4007 @vrindex TAR_ARCHIVE, checkpoint script environment
4009 The name of the archive @command{tar} is processing.
4011 @vrindex TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR, checkpoint script environment
4012 @item TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR
4013 Current blocking factor (@pxref{Blocking}).
4015 @vrindex TAR_CHECKPOINT, checkpoint script environment
4016 @item TAR_CHECKPOINT
4017 Number of the checkpoint.
4019 @vrindex TAR_SUBCOMMAND, checkpoint script environment
4020 @item TAR_SUBCOMMAND
4021 A short option describing the operation @command{tar} is executing.
4022 @xref{Operations}, for a complete list of subcommand options.
4024 @vrindex TAR_FORMAT, checkpoint script environment
4026 Format of the archive being processed. @xref{Formats}, for a complete
4027 list of archive format names.
4030 Any number of actions can be defined, by supplying several
4031 @option{--checkpoint-action} options in the command line. For
4032 example, the command below displays two messages, pauses
4033 execution for 30 seconds and executes the @file{/sbin/cpoint} script:
4037 $ @kbd{tar -c -f arc.tar \
4038 --checkpoint-action='\aecho=Hit %s checkpoint #%u' \
4039 --checkpoint-action='echo=Sleeping for 30 seconds' \
4040 --checkpoint-action='sleep=30' \
4041 --checkpoint-action='exec=/sbin/cpoint'}
4045 This example also illustrates the fact that
4046 @option{--checkpoint-action} can be used without
4047 @option{--checkpoint}. In this case, the default checkpoint frequency
4048 (at each 10th record) is assumed.
4051 @section Controlling Warning Messages
4053 Sometimes, while performing the requested task, @GNUTAR{} notices
4054 some conditions that are not exactly errors, but which the user
4055 should be aware of. When this happens, @command{tar} issues a
4056 @dfn{warning message} describing the condition. Warning messages
4057 are output to the standard error and they do not affect the exit
4058 code of @command{tar} command.
4060 @xopindex{warning, explained}
4061 @GNUTAR{} allows the user to suppress some or all of its warning
4065 @item --warning=@var{keyword}
4066 Control display of the warning messages identified by @var{keyword}.
4067 If @var{keyword} starts with the prefix @samp{no-}, such messages are
4068 suppressed. Otherwise, they are enabled.
4070 Multiple @option{--warning} messages accumulate.
4072 The tables below list allowed values for @var{keyword} along with the
4073 warning messages they control.
4076 @subheading Keywords controlling @command{tar} operation
4080 Enable all warning messages. This is the default.
4083 Disable all warning messages.
4084 @kwindex filename-with-nuls
4085 @cindex @samp{file name read contains nul character}, warning message
4086 @item filename-with-nuls
4087 @samp{%s: file name read contains nul character}
4088 @kwindex alone-zero-block
4089 @cindex @samp{A lone zero block at}, warning message
4090 @item alone-zero-block
4091 @samp{A lone zero block at %s}
4094 @subheading Keywords applicable for @command{tar --create}
4097 @cindex @samp{contains a cache directory tag}, warning message
4099 @samp{%s: contains a cache directory tag %s; %s}
4100 @kwindex file-shrank
4101 @cindex @samp{File shrank by %s bytes}, warning message
4103 @samp{%s: File shrank by %s bytes; padding with zeros}
4105 @cindex @samp{file is on a different filesystem}, warning message
4107 @samp{%s: file is on a different filesystem; not dumped}
4108 @kwindex file-ignored
4109 @cindex @samp{Unknown file type; file ignored}, warning message
4110 @cindex @samp{socket ignored}, warning message
4111 @cindex @samp{door ignored}, warning message
4113 @samp{%s: Unknown file type; file ignored}
4114 @*@samp{%s: socket ignored}
4115 @*@samp{%s: door ignored}
4116 @kwindex file-unchanged
4117 @cindex @samp{file is unchanged; not dumped}, warning message
4118 @item file-unchanged
4119 @samp{%s: file is unchanged; not dumped}
4120 @kwindex ignore-archive
4121 @cindex @samp{file is the archive; not dumped}, warning message
4122 @kwindex ignore-archive
4123 @cindex @samp{file is the archive; not dumped}, warning message
4124 @item ignore-archive
4125 @samp{%s: file is the archive; not dumped}
4126 @kwindex file-removed
4127 @cindex @samp{File removed before we read it}, warning message
4129 @samp{%s: File removed before we read it}
4130 @kwindex file-changed
4131 @cindex @samp{file changed as we read it}, warning message
4133 @samp{%s: file changed as we read it}
4136 @subheading Keywords applicable for @command{tar --extract}
4139 @cindex @samp{implausibly old time stamp %s}, warning message
4140 @cindex @samp{time stamp %s is %s s in the future}, warning message
4142 @samp{%s: implausibly old time stamp %s}
4143 @*@samp{%s: time stamp %s is %s s in the future}
4144 @kwindex contiguous-cast
4145 @cindex @samp{Extracting contiguous files as regular files}, warning message
4146 @item contiguous-cast
4147 @samp{Extracting contiguous files as regular files}
4148 @kwindex symlink-cast
4149 @cindex @samp{Attempting extraction of symbolic links as hard links}, warning message
4151 @samp{Attempting extraction of symbolic links as hard links}
4152 @kwindex unknown-cast
4153 @cindex @samp{Unknown file type `%c', extracted as normal file}, warning message
4155 @samp{%s: Unknown file type `%c', extracted as normal file}
4156 @kwindex ignore-newer
4157 @cindex @samp{Current %s is newer or same age}, warning message
4159 @samp{Current %s is newer or same age}
4160 @kwindex unknown-keyword
4161 @cindex @samp{Ignoring unknown extended header keyword `%s'}, warning message
4162 @item unknown-keyword
4163 @samp{Ignoring unknown extended header keyword `%s'}
4164 @kwindex decompress-program
4165 @item decompress-program
4166 Controls verbose description of failures occurring when trying to run
4167 alternative decompressor programs (@pxref{alternative decompression
4168 programs}). This warning is disabled by default (unless
4169 @option{--verbose} is used). A common example of what you can get
4170 when using this warning is:
4173 $ @kbd{tar --warning=decompress-program -x -f archive.Z}
4174 tar (child): cannot run compress: No such file or directory
4175 tar (child): trying gzip
4178 This means that @command{tar} first tried to decompress
4179 @file{archive.Z} using @command{compress}, and, when that
4180 failed, switched to @command{gzip}.
4183 @subheading Keywords controlling incremental extraction:
4185 @kwindex rename-directory
4186 @cindex @samp{%s: Directory has been renamed from %s}, warning message
4187 @cindex @samp{%s: Directory has been renamed}, warning message
4188 @item rename-directory
4189 @samp{%s: Directory has been renamed from %s}
4190 @*@samp{%s: Directory has been renamed}
4191 @kwindex new-directory
4192 @cindex @samp{%s: Directory is new}, warning message
4194 @samp{%s: Directory is new}
4196 @cindex @samp{%s: directory is on a different device: not purging}, warning message
4198 @samp{%s: directory is on a different device: not purging}
4199 @kwindex bad-dumpdir
4200 @cindex @samp{Malformed dumpdir: 'X' never used}, warning message
4202 @samp{Malformed dumpdir: 'X' never used}
4206 @section Asking for Confirmation During Operations
4207 @cindex Interactive operation
4209 Typically, @command{tar} carries out a command without stopping for
4210 further instructions. In some situations however, you may want to
4211 exclude some files and archive members from the operation (for instance
4212 if disk or storage space is tight). You can do this by excluding
4213 certain files automatically (@pxref{Choosing}), or by performing
4214 an operation interactively, using the @option{--interactive} (@option{-w}) option.
4215 @command{tar} also accepts @option{--confirmation} for this option.
4217 @opindex interactive
4218 When the @option{--interactive} (@option{-w}) option is specified, before
4219 reading, writing, or deleting files, @command{tar} first prints a message
4220 for each such file, telling what operation it intends to take, then asks
4221 for confirmation on the terminal. The actions which require
4222 confirmation include adding a file to the archive, extracting a file
4223 from the archive, deleting a file from the archive, and deleting a file
4224 from disk. To confirm the action, you must type a line of input
4225 beginning with @samp{y}. If your input line begins with anything other
4226 than @samp{y}, @command{tar} skips that file.
4228 If @command{tar} is reading the archive from the standard input,
4229 @command{tar} opens the file @file{/dev/tty} to support the interactive
4232 Verbose output is normally sent to standard output, separate from
4233 other error messages. However, if the archive is produced directly
4234 on standard output, then verbose output is mixed with errors on
4235 @code{stderr}. Producing the archive on standard output may be used
4236 as a way to avoid using disk space, when the archive is soon to be
4237 consumed by another process reading it, say. Some people felt the need
4238 of producing an archive on stdout, still willing to segregate between
4239 verbose output and error output. A possible approach would be using a
4240 named pipe to receive the archive, and having the consumer process to
4241 read from that named pipe. This has the advantage of letting standard
4242 output free to receive verbose output, all separate from errors.
4245 @chapter @GNUTAR{} Operations
4258 @section Basic @GNUTAR{} Operations
4260 The basic @command{tar} operations, @option{--create} (@option{-c}),
4261 @option{--list} (@option{-t}) and @option{--extract} (@option{--get},
4262 @option{-x}), are currently presented and described in the tutorial
4263 chapter of this manual. This section provides some complementary notes
4264 for these operations.
4267 @xopindex{create, complementary notes}
4271 Creating an empty archive would have some kind of elegance. One can
4272 initialize an empty archive and later use @option{--append}
4273 (@option{-r}) for adding all members. Some applications would not
4274 welcome making an exception in the way of adding the first archive
4275 member. On the other hand, many people reported that it is
4276 dangerously too easy for @command{tar} to destroy a magnetic tape with
4277 an empty archive@footnote{This is well described in @cite{Unix-haters
4278 Handbook}, by Simson Garfinkel, Daniel Weise & Steven Strassmann, IDG
4279 Books, ISBN 1-56884-203-1.}. The two most common errors are:
4283 Mistakingly using @code{create} instead of @code{extract}, when the
4284 intent was to extract the full contents of an archive. This error
4285 is likely: keys @kbd{c} and @kbd{x} are right next to each other on
4286 the QWERTY keyboard. Instead of being unpacked, the archive then
4287 gets wholly destroyed. When users speak about @dfn{exploding} an
4288 archive, they usually mean something else :-).
4291 Forgetting the argument to @code{file}, when the intent was to create
4292 an archive with a single file in it. This error is likely because a
4293 tired user can easily add the @kbd{f} key to the cluster of option
4294 letters, by the mere force of habit, without realizing the full
4295 consequence of doing so. The usual consequence is that the single
4296 file, which was meant to be saved, is rather destroyed.
4299 So, recognizing the likelihood and the catastrophic nature of these
4300 errors, @GNUTAR{} now takes some distance from elegance, and
4301 cowardly refuses to create an archive when @option{--create} option is
4302 given, there are no arguments besides options, and
4303 @option{--files-from} (@option{-T}) option is @emph{not} used. To get
4304 around the cautiousness of @GNUTAR{} and nevertheless create an
4305 archive with nothing in it, one may still use, as the value for the
4306 @option{--files-from} option, a file with no names in it, as shown in
4307 the following commands:
4310 @kbd{tar --create --file=empty-archive.tar --files-from=/dev/null}
4311 @kbd{tar -cf empty-archive.tar -T /dev/null}
4314 @xopindex{extract, complementary notes}
4319 A socket is stored, within a @GNUTAR{} archive, as a pipe.
4321 @item @option{--list} (@option{-t})
4323 @GNUTAR{} now shows dates as @samp{1996-08-30},
4324 while it used to show them as @samp{Aug 30 1996}. Preferably,
4325 people should get used to ISO 8601 dates. Local American dates should
4326 be made available again with full date localization support, once
4327 ready. In the meantime, programs not being localizable for dates
4328 should prefer international dates, that's really the way to go.
4330 Look up @url{http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/@/~mgk25/@/iso-time.html} if you
4331 are curious, it contains a detailed explanation of the ISO 8601 standard.
4336 @section Advanced @GNUTAR{} Operations
4338 Now that you have learned the basics of using @GNUTAR{}, you may want
4339 to learn about further ways in which @command{tar} can help you.
4341 This chapter presents five, more advanced operations which you probably
4342 won't use on a daily basis, but which serve more specialized functions.
4343 We also explain the different styles of options and why you might want
4344 to use one or another, or a combination of them in your @command{tar}
4345 commands. Additionally, this chapter includes options which allow you to
4346 define the output from @command{tar} more carefully, and provide help and
4347 error correction in special circumstances.
4349 @FIXME{check this after the chapter is actually revised to make sure
4350 it still introduces the info in the chapter correctly : ).}
4362 @subsection The Five Advanced @command{tar} Operations
4364 @cindex basic operations
4365 In the last chapter, you learned about the first three operations to
4366 @command{tar}. This chapter presents the remaining five operations to
4367 @command{tar}: @option{--append}, @option{--update}, @option{--concatenate},
4368 @option{--delete}, and @option{--compare}.
4370 You are not likely to use these operations as frequently as those
4371 covered in the last chapter; however, since they perform specialized
4372 functions, they are quite useful when you do need to use them. We
4373 will give examples using the same directory and files that you created
4374 in the last chapter. As you may recall, the directory is called
4375 @file{practice}, the files are @samp{jazz}, @samp{blues}, @samp{folk},
4376 and the two archive files you created are
4377 @samp{collection.tar} and @samp{music.tar}.
4379 We will also use the archive files @samp{afiles.tar} and
4380 @samp{bfiles.tar}. The archive @samp{afiles.tar} contains the members @samp{apple},
4381 @samp{angst}, and @samp{aspic}; @samp{bfiles.tar} contains the members
4382 @samp{./birds}, @samp{baboon}, and @samp{./box}.
4384 Unless we state otherwise, all practicing you do and examples you follow
4385 in this chapter will take place in the @file{practice} directory that
4386 you created in the previous chapter; see @ref{prepare for examples}.
4387 (Below in this section, we will remind you of the state of the examples
4388 where the last chapter left them.)
4390 The five operations that we will cover in this chapter are:
4395 Add new entries to an archive that already exists.
4398 Add more recent copies of archive members to the end of an archive, if
4403 Add one or more pre-existing archives to the end of another archive.
4405 Delete items from an archive (does not work on tapes).
4409 Compare archive members to their counterparts in the file system.
4413 @subsection How to Add Files to Existing Archives: @option{--append}
4415 @cindex appending files to existing archive
4417 If you want to add files to an existing archive, you don't need to
4418 create a new archive; you can use @option{--append} (@option{-r}).
4419 The archive must already exist in order to use @option{--append}. (A
4420 related operation is the @option{--update} operation; you can use this
4421 to add newer versions of archive members to an existing archive. To learn how to
4422 do this with @option{--update}, @pxref{update}.)
4424 If you use @option{--append} to add a file that has the same name as an
4425 archive member to an archive containing that archive member, then the
4426 old member is not deleted. What does happen, however, is somewhat
4427 complex. @command{tar} @emph{allows} you to have infinite number of files
4428 with the same name. Some operations treat these same-named members no
4429 differently than any other set of archive members: for example, if you
4430 view an archive with @option{--list} (@option{-t}), you will see all
4431 of those members listed, with their data modification times, owners, etc.
4433 Other operations don't deal with these members as perfectly as you might
4434 prefer; if you were to use @option{--extract} to extract the archive,
4435 only the most recently added copy of a member with the same name as
4436 other members would end up in the working directory. This is because
4437 @option{--extract} extracts an archive in the order the members appeared
4438 in the archive; the most recently archived members will be extracted
4439 last. Additionally, an extracted member will @emph{replace} a file of
4440 the same name which existed in the directory already, and @command{tar}
4441 will not prompt you about this@footnote{Unless you give it
4442 @option{--keep-old-files} option, or the disk copy is newer than
4443 the one in the archive and you invoke @command{tar} with
4444 @option{--keep-newer-files} option.}. Thus, only the most recently archived
4445 member will end up being extracted, as it will replace the one
4446 extracted before it, and so on.
4448 @cindex extracting @var{n}th copy of the file
4449 @xopindex{occurrence, described}
4450 There exists a special option that allows you to get around this
4451 behavior and extract (or list) only a particular copy of the file.
4452 This is @option{--occurrence} option. If you run @command{tar} with
4453 this option, it will extract only the first copy of the file. You
4454 may also give this option an argument specifying the number of
4455 copy to be extracted. Thus, for example if the archive
4456 @file{archive.tar} contained three copies of file @file{myfile}, then
4460 tar --extract --file archive.tar --occurrence=2 myfile
4464 would extract only the second copy. @xref{Option
4465 Summary,---occurrence}, for the description of @option{--occurrence}
4468 @FIXME{ hag -- you might want to incorporate some of the above into the
4469 MMwtSN node; not sure. i didn't know how to make it simpler...
4471 There are a few ways to get around this. Xref to Multiple Members
4472 with the Same Name, maybe.}
4474 @cindex Members, replacing with other members
4475 @cindex Replacing members with other members
4476 @xopindex{delete, using before --append}
4477 If you want to replace an archive member, use @option{--delete} to
4478 delete the member you want to remove from the archive, and then use
4479 @option{--append} to add the member you want to be in the archive. Note
4480 that you can not change the order of the archive; the most recently
4481 added member will still appear last. In this sense, you cannot truly
4482 ``replace'' one member with another. (Replacing one member with another
4483 will not work on certain types of media, such as tapes; see @ref{delete}
4484 and @ref{Media}, for more information.)
4487 * appending files:: Appending Files to an Archive
4491 @node appending files
4492 @subsubsection Appending Files to an Archive
4493 @cindex Adding files to an Archive
4494 @cindex Appending files to an Archive
4495 @cindex Archives, Appending files to
4498 The simplest way to add a file to an already existing archive is the
4499 @option{--append} (@option{-r}) operation, which writes specified
4500 files into the archive whether or not they are already among the
4503 When you use @option{--append}, you @emph{must} specify file name
4504 arguments, as there is no default. If you specify a file that already
4505 exists in the archive, another copy of the file will be added to the
4506 end of the archive. As with other operations, the member names of the
4507 newly added files will be exactly the same as their names given on the
4508 command line. The @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option will print
4509 out the names of the files as they are written into the archive.
4511 @option{--append} cannot be performed on some tape drives, unfortunately,
4512 due to deficiencies in the formats those tape drives use. The archive
4513 must be a valid @command{tar} archive, or else the results of using this
4514 operation will be unpredictable. @xref{Media}.
4516 To demonstrate using @option{--append} to add a file to an archive,
4517 create a file called @file{rock} in the @file{practice} directory.
4518 Make sure you are in the @file{practice} directory. Then, run the
4519 following @command{tar} command to add @file{rock} to
4520 @file{collection.tar}:
4523 $ @kbd{tar --append --file=collection.tar rock}
4527 If you now use the @option{--list} (@option{-t}) operation, you will see that
4528 @file{rock} has been added to the archive:
4531 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=collection.tar}
4532 -rw-r--r-- me/user 28 1996-10-18 16:31 jazz
4533 -rw-r--r-- me/user 21 1996-09-23 16:44 blues
4534 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 folk
4535 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 rock
4539 @subsubsection Multiple Members with the Same Name
4540 @cindex members, multiple
4541 @cindex multiple members
4543 You can use @option{--append} (@option{-r}) to add copies of files
4544 which have been updated since the archive was created. (However, we
4545 do not recommend doing this since there is another @command{tar}
4546 option called @option{--update}; @xref{update}, for more information.
4547 We describe this use of @option{--append} here for the sake of
4548 completeness.) When you extract the archive, the older version will
4549 be effectively lost. This works because files are extracted from an
4550 archive in the order in which they were archived. Thus, when the
4551 archive is extracted, a file archived later in time will replace a
4552 file of the same name which was archived earlier, even though the
4553 older version of the file will remain in the archive unless you delete
4554 all versions of the file.
4556 Supposing you change the file @file{blues} and then append the changed
4557 version to @file{collection.tar}. As you saw above, the original
4558 @file{blues} is in the archive @file{collection.tar}. If you change the
4559 file and append the new version of the file to the archive, there will
4560 be two copies in the archive. When you extract the archive, the older
4561 version of the file will be extracted first, and then replaced by the
4562 newer version when it is extracted.
4564 You can append the new, changed copy of the file @file{blues} to the
4565 archive in this way:
4568 $ @kbd{tar --append --verbose --file=collection.tar blues}
4573 Because you specified the @option{--verbose} option, @command{tar} has
4574 printed the name of the file being appended as it was acted on. Now
4575 list the contents of the archive:
4578 $ @kbd{tar --list --verbose --file=collection.tar}
4579 -rw-r--r-- me/user 28 1996-10-18 16:31 jazz
4580 -rw-r--r-- me/user 21 1996-09-23 16:44 blues
4581 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 folk
4582 -rw-r--r-- me/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 rock
4583 -rw-r--r-- me/user 58 1996-10-24 18:30 blues
4587 The newest version of @file{blues} is now at the end of the archive
4588 (note the different creation dates and file sizes). If you extract
4589 the archive, the older version of the file @file{blues} will be
4590 replaced by the newer version. You can confirm this by extracting
4591 the archive and running @samp{ls} on the directory.
4593 If you wish to extract the first occurrence of the file @file{blues}
4594 from the archive, use @option{--occurrence} option, as shown in
4595 the following example:
4598 $ @kbd{tar --extract -vv --occurrence --file=collection.tar blues}
4599 -rw-r--r-- me/user 21 1996-09-23 16:44 blues
4602 @xref{Writing}, for more information on @option{--extract} and
4603 see @ref{Option Summary, --occurrence}, for a description of
4604 @option{--occurrence} option.
4607 @subsection Updating an Archive
4608 @cindex Updating an archive
4611 In the previous section, you learned how to use @option{--append} to
4612 add a file to an existing archive. A related operation is
4613 @option{--update} (@option{-u}). The @option{--update} operation
4614 updates a @command{tar} archive by comparing the date of the specified
4615 archive members against the date of the file with the same name. If
4616 the file has been modified more recently than the archive member, then
4617 the newer version of the file is added to the archive (as with
4620 Unfortunately, you cannot use @option{--update} with magnetic tape drives.
4621 The operation will fail.
4623 @FIXME{other examples of media on which --update will fail? need to ask
4624 charles and/or mib/thomas/dave shevett..}
4626 Both @option{--update} and @option{--append} work by adding to the end
4627 of the archive. When you extract a file from the archive, only the
4628 version stored last will wind up in the file system, unless you use
4629 the @option{--backup} option. @xref{multiple}, for a detailed discussion.
4636 @subsubsection How to Update an Archive Using @option{--update}
4639 You must use file name arguments with the @option{--update}
4640 (@option{-u}) operation. If you don't specify any files,
4641 @command{tar} won't act on any files and won't tell you that it didn't
4642 do anything (which may end up confusing you).
4644 @c note: the above parenthetical added because in fact, this
4645 @c behavior just confused the author. :-)
4647 To see the @option{--update} option at work, create a new file,
4648 @file{classical}, in your practice directory, and some extra text to the
4649 file @file{blues}, using any text editor. Then invoke @command{tar} with
4650 the @samp{update} operation and the @option{--verbose} (@option{-v})
4651 option specified, using the names of all the files in the @file{practice}
4652 directory as file name arguments:
4655 $ @kbd{tar --update -v -f collection.tar blues folk rock classical}
4662 Because we have specified verbose mode, @command{tar} prints out the names
4663 of the files it is working on, which in this case are the names of the
4664 files that needed to be updated. If you run @samp{tar --list} and look
4665 at the archive, you will see @file{blues} and @file{classical} at its
4666 end. There will be a total of two versions of the member @samp{blues};
4667 the one at the end will be newer and larger, since you added text before
4670 The reason @command{tar} does not overwrite the older file when updating
4671 it is because writing to the middle of a section of tape is a difficult
4672 process. Tapes are not designed to go backward. @xref{Media}, for more
4673 information about tapes.
4675 @option{--update} (@option{-u}) is not suitable for performing backups for two
4676 reasons: it does not change directory content entries, and it
4677 lengthens the archive every time it is used. The @GNUTAR{}
4678 options intended specifically for backups are more
4679 efficient. If you need to run backups, please consult @ref{Backups}.
4682 @subsection Combining Archives with @option{--concatenate}
4684 @cindex Adding archives to an archive
4685 @cindex Concatenating Archives
4686 @opindex concatenate
4688 @c @cindex @option{-A} described
4689 Sometimes it may be convenient to add a second archive onto the end of
4690 an archive rather than adding individual files to the archive. To add
4691 one or more archives to the end of another archive, you should use the
4692 @option{--concatenate} (@option{--catenate}, @option{-A}) operation.
4694 To use @option{--concatenate}, give the first archive with
4695 @option{--file} option and name the rest of archives to be
4696 concatenated on the command line. The members, and their member
4697 names, will be copied verbatim from those archives to the first
4698 one@footnote{This can cause multiple members to have the same name. For
4699 information on how this affects reading the archive, see @ref{multiple}.}.
4700 The new, concatenated archive will be called by the same name as the
4701 one given with the @option{--file} option. As usual, if you omit
4702 @option{--file}, @command{tar} will use the value of the environment
4703 variable @env{TAPE}, or, if this has not been set, the default archive name.
4705 @FIXME{There is no way to specify a new name...}
4707 To demonstrate how @option{--concatenate} works, create two small archives
4708 called @file{bluesrock.tar} and @file{folkjazz.tar}, using the relevant
4709 files from @file{practice}:
4712 $ @kbd{tar -cvf bluesrock.tar blues rock}
4715 $ @kbd{tar -cvf folkjazz.tar folk jazz}
4721 If you like, You can run @samp{tar --list} to make sure the archives
4722 contain what they are supposed to:
4725 $ @kbd{tar -tvf bluesrock.tar}
4726 -rw-r--r-- melissa/user 105 1997-01-21 19:42 blues
4727 -rw-r--r-- melissa/user 33 1997-01-20 15:34 rock
4728 $ @kbd{tar -tvf jazzfolk.tar}
4729 -rw-r--r-- melissa/user 20 1996-09-23 16:44 folk
4730 -rw-r--r-- melissa/user 65 1997-01-30 14:15 jazz
4733 We can concatenate these two archives with @command{tar}:
4737 $ @kbd{tar --concatenate --file=bluesrock.tar jazzfolk.tar}
4740 If you now list the contents of the @file{bluesrock.tar}, you will see
4741 that now it also contains the archive members of @file{jazzfolk.tar}:
4744 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=bluesrock.tar}
4751 When you use @option{--concatenate}, the source and target archives must
4752 already exist and must have been created using compatible format
4753 parameters. Notice, that @command{tar} does not check whether the
4754 archives it concatenates have compatible formats, it does not
4755 even check if the files are really tar archives.
4757 Like @option{--append} (@option{-r}), this operation cannot be performed on some
4758 tape drives, due to deficiencies in the formats those tape drives use.
4760 @cindex @code{concatenate} vs @command{cat}
4761 @cindex @command{cat} vs @code{concatenate}
4762 It may seem more intuitive to you to want or try to use @command{cat} to
4763 concatenate two archives instead of using the @option{--concatenate}
4764 operation; after all, @command{cat} is the utility for combining files.
4766 However, @command{tar} archives incorporate an end-of-file marker which
4767 must be removed if the concatenated archives are to be read properly as
4768 one archive. @option{--concatenate} removes the end-of-archive marker
4769 from the target archive before each new archive is appended. If you use
4770 @command{cat} to combine the archives, the result will not be a valid
4771 @command{tar} format archive. If you need to retrieve files from an
4772 archive that was added to using the @command{cat} utility, use the
4773 @option{--ignore-zeros} (@option{-i}) option. @xref{Ignore Zeros}, for further
4774 information on dealing with archives improperly combined using the
4775 @command{cat} shell utility.
4778 @subsection Removing Archive Members Using @option{--delete}
4779 @cindex Deleting files from an archive
4780 @cindex Removing files from an archive
4783 You can remove members from an archive by using the @option{--delete}
4784 option. Specify the name of the archive with @option{--file}
4785 (@option{-f}) and then specify the names of the members to be deleted;
4786 if you list no member names, nothing will be deleted. The
4787 @option{--verbose} option will cause @command{tar} to print the names
4788 of the members as they are deleted. As with @option{--extract}, you
4789 must give the exact member names when using @samp{tar --delete}.
4790 @option{--delete} will remove all versions of the named file from the
4791 archive. The @option{--delete} operation can run very slowly.
4793 Unlike other operations, @option{--delete} has no short form.
4795 @cindex Tapes, using @option{--delete} and
4796 @cindex Deleting from tape archives
4797 This operation will rewrite the archive. You can only use
4798 @option{--delete} on an archive if the archive device allows you to
4799 write to any point on the media, such as a disk; because of this, it
4800 does not work on magnetic tapes. Do not try to delete an archive member
4801 from a magnetic tape; the action will not succeed, and you will be
4802 likely to scramble the archive and damage your tape. There is no safe
4803 way (except by completely re-writing the archive) to delete files from
4804 most kinds of magnetic tape. @xref{Media}.
4806 To delete all versions of the file @file{blues} from the archive
4807 @file{collection.tar} in the @file{practice} directory, make sure you
4808 are in that directory, and then,
4811 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=collection.tar}
4816 $ @kbd{tar --delete --file=collection.tar blues}
4817 $ @kbd{tar --list --file=collection.tar}
4823 @FIXME{Check if the above listing is actually produced after running
4824 all the examples on collection.tar.}
4826 The @option{--delete} option has been reported to work properly when
4827 @command{tar} acts as a filter from @code{stdin} to @code{stdout}.
4830 @subsection Comparing Archive Members with the File System
4831 @cindex Verifying the currency of an archive
4834 The @option{--compare} (@option{-d}), or @option{--diff} operation compares
4835 specified archive members against files with the same names, and then
4836 reports differences in file size, mode, owner, modification date and
4837 contents. You should @emph{only} specify archive member names, not file
4838 names. If you do not name any members, then @command{tar} will compare the
4839 entire archive. If a file is represented in the archive but does not
4840 exist in the file system, @command{tar} reports a difference.
4842 You have to specify the record size of the archive when modifying an
4843 archive with a non-default record size.
4845 @command{tar} ignores files in the file system that do not have
4846 corresponding members in the archive.
4848 The following example compares the archive members @file{rock},
4849 @file{blues} and @file{funk} in the archive @file{bluesrock.tar} with
4850 files of the same name in the file system. (Note that there is no file,
4851 @file{funk}; @command{tar} will report an error message.)
4854 $ @kbd{tar --compare --file=bluesrock.tar rock blues funk}
4857 tar: funk not found in archive
4860 The spirit behind the @option{--compare} (@option{--diff},
4861 @option{-d}) option is to check whether the archive represents the
4862 current state of files on disk, more than validating the integrity of
4863 the archive media. For this latter goal, see @ref{verify}.
4865 @node create options
4866 @section Options Used by @option{--create}
4868 @xopindex{create, additional options}
4869 The previous chapter described the basics of how to use
4870 @option{--create} (@option{-c}) to create an archive from a set of files.
4871 @xref{create}. This section described advanced options to be used with
4875 * override:: Overriding File Metadata.
4876 * Ignore Failed Read::
4880 @subsection Overriding File Metadata
4882 As described above, a @command{tar} archive keeps, for each member it contains,
4883 its @dfn{metadata}, such as modification time, mode and ownership of
4884 the file. @GNUTAR{} allows to replace these data with other values
4885 when adding files to the archive. The options described in this
4886 section affect creation of archives of any type. For POSIX archives,
4887 see also @ref{PAX keywords}, for additional ways of controlling
4888 metadata, stored in the archive.
4892 @item --mode=@var{permissions}
4894 When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use
4895 @var{permissions} for the archive members, rather than the permissions
4896 from the files. @var{permissions} can be specified either as an octal
4897 number or as symbolic permissions, like with
4898 @command{chmod} (@xref{File permissions, Permissions, File
4899 permissions, fileutils, @acronym{GNU} file utilities}. This reference
4900 also has useful information for those not being overly familiar with
4901 the UNIX permission system). Using latter syntax allows for
4902 more flexibility. For example, the value @samp{a+rw} adds read and write
4903 permissions for everybody, while retaining executable bits on directories
4904 or on any other file already marked as executable:
4907 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --mode='a+rw' .}
4910 @item --mtime=@var{date}
4913 When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use @var{date} as
4914 the modification time of members when creating archives, instead of
4915 their actual modification times. The argument @var{date} can be
4916 either a textual date representation in almost arbitrary format
4917 (@pxref{Date input formats}) or a name of an existing file, starting
4918 with @samp{/} or @samp{.}. In the latter case, the modification time
4919 of that file will be used.
4921 The following example will set the modification date to 00:00:00,
4925 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --mtime='1970-01-01' .}
4929 When used with @option{--verbose} (@pxref{verbose tutorial}) @GNUTAR{}
4930 will try to convert the specified date back to its textual
4931 representation and compare it with the one given with
4932 @option{--mtime} options. If the two dates differ, @command{tar} will
4933 print a warning saying what date it will use. This is to help user
4934 ensure he is using the right date.
4939 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar -v --mtime=yesterday .}
4940 tar: Option --mtime: Treating date `yesterday' as 2006-06-20
4945 @item --owner=@var{user}
4948 Specifies that @command{tar} should use @var{user} as the owner of members
4949 when creating archives, instead of the user associated with the source
4950 file. The argument @var{user} can be either an existing user symbolic
4951 name, or a decimal numeric user @acronym{ID}.
4953 There is no value indicating a missing number, and @samp{0} usually means
4954 @code{root}. Some people like to force @samp{0} as the value to offer in
4955 their distributions for the owner of files, because the @code{root} user is
4956 anonymous anyway, so that might as well be the owner of anonymous
4957 archives. For example:
4960 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --owner=0 .}
4967 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --owner=root .}
4970 @item --group=@var{group}
4973 Files added to the @command{tar} archive will have a group @acronym{ID} of @var{group},
4974 rather than the group from the source file. The argument @var{group}
4975 can be either an existing group symbolic name, or a decimal numeric group @acronym{ID}.
4978 @node Ignore Failed Read
4979 @subsection Ignore Fail Read
4982 @item --ignore-failed-read
4983 @opindex ignore-failed-read
4984 Do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files or directories.
4987 @node extract options
4988 @section Options Used by @option{--extract}
4989 @cindex options for use with @option{--extract}
4991 @xopindex{extract, additional options}
4992 The previous chapter showed how to use @option{--extract} to extract
4993 an archive into the file system. Various options cause @command{tar} to
4994 extract more information than just file contents, such as the owner,
4995 the permissions, the modification date, and so forth. This section
4996 presents options to be used with @option{--extract} when certain special
4997 considerations arise. You may review the information presented in
4998 @ref{extract} for more basic information about the
4999 @option{--extract} operation.
5002 * Reading:: Options to Help Read Archives
5003 * Writing:: Changing How @command{tar} Writes Files
5004 * Scarce:: Coping with Scarce Resources
5008 @subsection Options to Help Read Archives
5009 @cindex Options when reading archives
5011 @cindex Reading incomplete records
5012 @cindex Records, incomplete
5013 @opindex read-full-records
5014 Normally, @command{tar} will request data in full record increments from
5015 an archive storage device. If the device cannot return a full record,
5016 @command{tar} will report an error. However, some devices do not always
5017 return full records, or do not require the last record of an archive to
5018 be padded out to the next record boundary. To keep reading until you
5019 obtain a full record, or to accept an incomplete record if it contains
5020 an end-of-archive marker, specify the @option{--read-full-records} (@option{-B}) option
5021 in conjunction with the @option{--extract} or @option{--list} operations.
5024 The @option{--read-full-records} (@option{-B}) option is turned on by default when
5025 @command{tar} reads an archive from standard input, or from a remote
5026 machine. This is because on @acronym{BSD} Unix systems, attempting to read a
5027 pipe returns however much happens to be in the pipe, even if it is
5028 less than was requested. If this option were not enabled, @command{tar}
5029 would fail as soon as it read an incomplete record from the pipe.
5031 If you're not sure of the blocking factor of an archive, you can
5032 read the archive by specifying @option{--read-full-records} (@option{-B}) and
5033 @option{--blocking-factor=@var{512-size}} (@option{-b
5034 @var{512-size}}), using a blocking factor larger than what the archive
5035 uses. This lets you avoid having to determine the blocking factor
5036 of an archive. @xref{Blocking Factor}.
5039 * read full records::
5043 @node read full records
5044 @unnumberedsubsubsec Reading Full Records
5046 @FIXME{need sentence or so of intro here}
5049 @opindex read-full-records
5050 @item --read-full-records
5052 Use in conjunction with @option{--extract} (@option{--get},
5053 @option{-x}) to read an archive which contains incomplete records, or
5054 one which has a blocking factor less than the one specified.
5058 @unnumberedsubsubsec Ignoring Blocks of Zeros
5060 @cindex End-of-archive blocks, ignoring
5061 @cindex Ignoring end-of-archive blocks
5062 @opindex ignore-zeros
5063 Normally, @command{tar} stops reading when it encounters a block of zeros
5064 between file entries (which usually indicates the end of the archive).
5065 @option{--ignore-zeros} (@option{-i}) allows @command{tar} to
5066 completely read an archive which contains a block of zeros before the
5067 end (i.e., a damaged archive, or one that was created by concatenating
5068 several archives together).
5070 The @option{--ignore-zeros} (@option{-i}) option is turned off by default because many
5071 versions of @command{tar} write garbage after the end-of-archive entry,
5072 since that part of the media is never supposed to be read. @GNUTAR{}
5073 does not write after the end of an archive, but seeks to
5074 maintain compatibility among archiving utilities.
5077 @item --ignore-zeros
5079 To ignore blocks of zeros (i.e., end-of-archive entries) which may be
5080 encountered while reading an archive. Use in conjunction with
5081 @option{--extract} or @option{--list}.
5085 @subsection Changing How @command{tar} Writes Files
5088 @FIXME{Introductory paragraph}
5091 * Dealing with Old Files::
5092 * Overwrite Old Files::
5094 * Keep Newer Files::
5096 * Recursive Unlink::
5097 * Data Modification Times::
5098 * Setting Access Permissions::
5099 * Directory Modification Times and Permissions::
5100 * Writing to Standard Output::
5101 * Writing to an External Program::
5105 @node Dealing with Old Files
5106 @unnumberedsubsubsec Options Controlling the Overwriting of Existing Files
5108 @xopindex{overwrite-dir, introduced}
5109 When extracting files, if @command{tar} discovers that the extracted
5110 file already exists, it normally replaces the file by removing it before
5111 extracting it, to prevent confusion in the presence of hard or symbolic
5112 links. (If the existing file is a symbolic link, it is removed, not
5113 followed.) However, if a directory cannot be removed because it is
5114 nonempty, @command{tar} normally overwrites its metadata (ownership,
5115 permission, etc.). The @option{--overwrite-dir} option enables this
5116 default behavior. To be more cautious and preserve the metadata of
5117 such a directory, use the @option{--no-overwrite-dir} option.
5119 @cindex Overwriting old files, prevention
5120 @xopindex{keep-old-files, introduced}
5121 To be even more cautious and prevent existing files from being replaced, use
5122 the @option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option. It causes @command{tar} to refuse
5123 to replace or update a file that already exists, i.e., a file with the
5124 same name as an archive member prevents extraction of that archive
5125 member. Instead, it reports an error.
5127 @xopindex{overwrite, introduced}
5128 To be more aggressive about altering existing files, use the
5129 @option{--overwrite} option. It causes @command{tar} to overwrite
5130 existing files and to follow existing symbolic links when extracting.
5132 @cindex Protecting old files
5133 Some people argue that @GNUTAR{} should not hesitate
5134 to overwrite files with other files when extracting. When extracting
5135 a @command{tar} archive, they expect to see a faithful copy of the
5136 state of the file system when the archive was created. It is debatable
5137 that this would always be a proper behavior. For example, suppose one
5138 has an archive in which @file{usr/local} is a link to
5139 @file{usr/local2}. Since then, maybe the site removed the link and
5140 renamed the whole hierarchy from @file{/usr/local2} to
5141 @file{/usr/local}. Such things happen all the time. I guess it would
5142 not be welcome at all that @GNUTAR{} removes the
5143 whole hierarchy just to make room for the link to be reinstated
5144 (unless it @emph{also} simultaneously restores the full
5145 @file{/usr/local2}, of course!) @GNUTAR{} is indeed
5146 able to remove a whole hierarchy to reestablish a symbolic link, for
5147 example, but @emph{only if} @option{--recursive-unlink} is specified
5148 to allow this behavior. In any case, single files are silently
5151 @xopindex{unlink-first, introduced}
5152 Finally, the @option{--unlink-first} (@option{-U}) option can improve performance in
5153 some cases by causing @command{tar} to remove files unconditionally
5154 before extracting them.
5156 @node Overwrite Old Files
5157 @unnumberedsubsubsec Overwrite Old Files
5162 Overwrite existing files and directory metadata when extracting files
5165 This causes @command{tar} to write extracted files into the file system without
5166 regard to the files already on the system; i.e., files with the same
5167 names as archive members are overwritten when the archive is extracted.
5168 It also causes @command{tar} to extract the ownership, permissions,
5169 and time stamps onto any preexisting files or directories.
5170 If the name of a corresponding file name is a symbolic link, the file
5171 pointed to by the symbolic link will be overwritten instead of the
5172 symbolic link itself (if this is possible). Moreover, special devices,
5173 empty directories and even symbolic links are automatically removed if
5174 they are in the way of extraction.
5176 Be careful when using the @option{--overwrite} option, particularly when
5177 combined with the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option, as this combination
5178 can change the contents, ownership or permissions of any file on your
5179 system. Also, many systems do not take kindly to overwriting files that
5180 are currently being executed.
5182 @opindex overwrite-dir
5183 @item --overwrite-dir
5184 Overwrite the metadata of directories when extracting files from an
5185 archive, but remove other files before extracting.
5188 @node Keep Old Files
5189 @unnumberedsubsubsec Keep Old Files
5192 @opindex keep-old-files
5193 @item --keep-old-files
5195 Do not replace existing files from archive. The
5196 @option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option prevents @command{tar}
5197 from replacing existing files with files with the same name from the
5198 archive. The @option{--keep-old-files} option is meaningless with
5199 @option{--list} (@option{-t}). Prevents @command{tar} from replacing
5200 files in the file system during extraction.
5203 @node Keep Newer Files
5204 @unnumberedsubsubsec Keep Newer Files
5207 @opindex keep-newer-files
5208 @item --keep-newer-files
5209 Do not replace existing files that are newer than their archive
5210 copies. This option is meaningless with @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
5214 @unnumberedsubsubsec Unlink First
5217 @opindex unlink-first
5218 @item --unlink-first
5220 Remove files before extracting over them.
5221 This can make @command{tar} run a bit faster if you know in advance
5222 that the extracted files all need to be removed. Normally this option
5223 slows @command{tar} down slightly, so it is disabled by default.
5226 @node Recursive Unlink
5227 @unnumberedsubsubsec Recursive Unlink
5230 @opindex recursive-unlink
5231 @item --recursive-unlink
5232 When this option is specified, try removing files and directory hierarchies
5233 before extracting over them. @emph{This is a dangerous option!}
5236 If you specify the @option{--recursive-unlink} option,
5237 @command{tar} removes @emph{anything} that keeps you from extracting a file
5238 as far as current permissions will allow it. This could include removal
5239 of the contents of a full directory hierarchy.
5241 @node Data Modification Times
5242 @unnumberedsubsubsec Setting Data Modification Times
5244 @cindex Data modification times of extracted files
5245 @cindex Modification times of extracted files
5246 Normally, @command{tar} sets the data modification times of extracted
5247 files to the corresponding times recorded for the files in the archive, but
5248 limits the permissions of extracted files by the current @code{umask}
5251 To set the data modification times of extracted files to the time when
5252 the files were extracted, use the @option{--touch} (@option{-m}) option in
5253 conjunction with @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}).
5259 Sets the data modification time of extracted archive members to the time
5260 they were extracted, not the time recorded for them in the archive.
5261 Use in conjunction with @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}).
5264 @node Setting Access Permissions
5265 @unnumberedsubsubsec Setting Access Permissions
5267 @cindex Permissions of extracted files
5268 @cindex Modes of extracted files
5269 To set the modes (access permissions) of extracted files to those
5270 recorded for those files in the archive, use @option{--same-permissions}
5271 in conjunction with the @option{--extract} (@option{--get},
5272 @option{-x}) operation.
5275 @opindex preserve-permissions
5276 @opindex same-permissions
5277 @item --preserve-permissions
5278 @itemx --same-permissions
5279 @c @itemx --ignore-umask
5281 Set modes of extracted archive members to those recorded in the
5282 archive, instead of current umask settings. Use in conjunction with
5283 @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}).
5286 @node Directory Modification Times and Permissions
5287 @unnumberedsubsubsec Directory Modification Times and Permissions
5289 After successfully extracting a file member, @GNUTAR{} normally
5290 restores its permissions and modification times, as described in the
5291 previous sections. This cannot be done for directories, because
5292 after extracting a directory @command{tar} will almost certainly
5293 extract files into that directory and this will cause the directory
5294 modification time to be updated. Moreover, restoring that directory
5295 permissions may not permit file creation within it. Thus, restoring
5296 directory permissions and modification times must be delayed at least
5297 until all files have been extracted into that directory. @GNUTAR{}
5298 restores directories using the following approach.
5300 The extracted directories are created with the mode specified in the
5301 archive, as modified by the umask of the user, which gives sufficient
5302 permissions to allow file creation. The meta-information about the
5303 directory is recorded in the temporary list of directories. When
5304 preparing to extract next archive member, @GNUTAR{} checks if the
5305 directory prefix of this file contains the remembered directory. If
5306 it does not, the program assumes that all files have been extracted
5307 into that directory, restores its modification time and permissions
5308 and removes its entry from the internal list. This approach allows
5309 to correctly restore directory meta-information in the majority of
5310 cases, while keeping memory requirements sufficiently small. It is
5311 based on the fact, that most @command{tar} archives use the predefined
5312 order of members: first the directory, then all the files and
5313 subdirectories in that directory.
5315 However, this is not always true. The most important exception are
5316 incremental archives (@pxref{Incremental Dumps}). The member order in
5317 an incremental archive is reversed: first all directory members are
5318 stored, followed by other (non-directory) members. So, when extracting
5319 from incremental archives, @GNUTAR{} alters the above procedure. It
5320 remembers all restored directories, and restores their meta-data
5321 only after the entire archive has been processed. Notice, that you do
5322 not need to specify any special options for that, as @GNUTAR{}
5323 automatically detects archives in incremental format.
5325 There may be cases, when such processing is required for normal archives
5326 too. Consider the following example:
5330 $ @kbd{tar --no-recursion -cvf archive \
5331 foo foo/file1 bar bar/file foo/file2}
5340 During the normal operation, after encountering @file{bar}
5341 @GNUTAR{} will assume that all files from the directory @file{foo}
5342 were already extracted and will therefore restore its timestamp and
5343 permission bits. However, after extracting @file{foo/file2} the
5344 directory timestamp will be offset again.
5346 To correctly restore directory meta-information in such cases, use
5347 the @option{--delay-directory-restore} command line option:
5350 @opindex delay-directory-restore
5351 @item --delay-directory-restore
5352 Delays restoring of the modification times and permissions of extracted
5353 directories until the end of extraction. This way, correct
5354 meta-information is restored even if the archive has unusual member
5357 @opindex no-delay-directory-restore
5358 @item --no-delay-directory-restore
5359 Cancel the effect of the previous @option{--delay-directory-restore}.
5360 Use this option if you have used @option{--delay-directory-restore} in
5361 @env{TAR_OPTIONS} variable (@pxref{TAR_OPTIONS}) and wish to
5362 temporarily disable it.
5365 @node Writing to Standard Output
5366 @unnumberedsubsubsec Writing to Standard Output
5368 @cindex Writing extracted files to standard output
5369 @cindex Standard output, writing extracted files to
5370 To write the extracted files to the standard output, instead of
5371 creating the files on the file system, use @option{--to-stdout} (@option{-O}) in
5372 conjunction with @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}). This option is useful if you are
5373 extracting files to send them through a pipe, and do not need to
5374 preserve them in the file system. If you extract multiple members,
5375 they appear on standard output concatenated, in the order they are
5376 found in the archive.
5382 Writes files to the standard output. Use only in conjunction with
5383 @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}). When this option is
5384 used, instead of creating the files specified, @command{tar} writes
5385 the contents of the files extracted to its standard output. This may
5386 be useful if you are only extracting the files in order to send them
5387 through a pipe. This option is meaningless with @option{--list}
5391 This can be useful, for example, if you have a tar archive containing
5392 a big file and don't want to store the file on disk before processing
5393 it. You can use a command like this:
5396 tar -xOzf foo.tgz bigfile | process
5399 or even like this if you want to process the concatenation of the files:
5402 tar -xOzf foo.tgz bigfile1 bigfile2 | process
5405 However, @option{--to-command} may be more convenient for use with
5406 multiple files. See the next section.
5408 @node Writing to an External Program
5409 @unnumberedsubsubsec Writing to an External Program
5411 You can instruct @command{tar} to send the contents of each extracted
5412 file to the standard input of an external program:
5416 @item --to-command=@var{command}
5417 Extract files and pipe their contents to the standard input of
5418 @var{command}. When this option is used, instead of creating the
5419 files specified, @command{tar} invokes @var{command} and pipes the
5420 contents of the files to its standard output. The @var{command} may
5421 contain command line arguments. The program is executed via
5422 @code{sh -c}. Notice, that @var{command} is executed once for each regular file
5423 extracted. Non-regular files (directories, etc.) are ignored when this
5427 The command can obtain the information about the file it processes
5428 from the following environment variables:
5431 @vrindex TAR_FILETYPE, to-command environment
5433 Type of the file. It is a single letter with the following meaning:
5435 @multitable @columnfractions 0.10 0.90
5436 @item f @tab Regular file
5437 @item d @tab Directory
5438 @item l @tab Symbolic link
5439 @item h @tab Hard link
5440 @item b @tab Block device
5441 @item c @tab Character device
5444 Currently only regular files are supported.
5446 @vrindex TAR_MODE, to-command environment
5448 File mode, an octal number.
5450 @vrindex TAR_FILENAME, to-command environment
5452 The name of the file.
5454 @vrindex TAR_REALNAME, to-command environment
5456 Name of the file as stored in the archive.
5458 @vrindex TAR_UNAME, to-command environment
5460 Name of the file owner.
5462 @vrindex TAR_GNAME, to-command environment
5464 Name of the file owner group.
5466 @vrindex TAR_ATIME, to-command environment
5468 Time of last access. It is a decimal number, representing seconds
5469 since the Epoch. If the archive provides times with nanosecond
5470 precision, the nanoseconds are appended to the timestamp after a
5473 @vrindex TAR_MTIME, to-command environment
5475 Time of last modification.
5477 @vrindex TAR_CTIME, to-command environment
5479 Time of last status change.
5481 @vrindex TAR_SIZE, to-command environment
5485 @vrindex TAR_UID, to-command environment
5487 UID of the file owner.
5489 @vrindex TAR_GID, to-command environment
5491 GID of the file owner.
5494 Additionally, the following variables contain information about
5495 tar mode and the archive being processed:
5498 @vrindex TAR_VERSION, to-command environment
5500 @GNUTAR{} version number.
5502 @vrindex TAR_ARCHIVE, to-command environment
5504 The name of the archive @command{tar} is processing.
5506 @vrindex TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR, to-command environment
5507 @item TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR
5508 Current blocking factor (@pxref{Blocking}).
5510 @vrindex TAR_VOLUME, to-command environment
5512 Ordinal number of the volume @command{tar} is processing.
5514 @vrindex TAR_FORMAT, to-command environment
5516 Format of the archive being processed. @xref{Formats}, for a complete
5517 list of archive format names.
5520 If @var{command} exits with a non-0 status, @command{tar} will print
5521 an error message similar to the following:
5524 tar: 2345: Child returned status 1
5527 Here, @samp{2345} is the PID of the finished process.
5529 If this behavior is not wanted, use @option{--ignore-command-error}:
5532 @opindex ignore-command-error
5533 @item --ignore-command-error
5534 Ignore exit codes of subprocesses. Notice that if the program
5535 exits on signal or otherwise terminates abnormally, the error message
5536 will be printed even if this option is used.
5538 @opindex no-ignore-command-error
5539 @item --no-ignore-command-error
5540 Cancel the effect of any previous @option{--ignore-command-error}
5541 option. This option is useful if you have set
5542 @option{--ignore-command-error} in @env{TAR_OPTIONS}
5543 (@pxref{TAR_OPTIONS}) and wish to temporarily cancel it.
5547 @unnumberedsubsubsec Removing Files
5549 @FIXME{The section is too terse. Something more to add? An example,
5553 @opindex remove-files
5554 @item --remove-files
5555 Remove files after adding them to the archive.
5559 @subsection Coping with Scarce Resources
5562 @cindex Small memory
5563 @cindex Running out of space
5571 @unnumberedsubsubsec Starting File
5574 @opindex starting-file
5575 @item --starting-file=@var{name}
5576 @itemx -K @var{name}
5577 Starts an operation in the middle of an archive. Use in conjunction
5578 with @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}) or @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
5581 @cindex Middle of the archive, starting in the
5582 If a previous attempt to extract files failed due to lack of disk
5583 space, you can use @option{--starting-file=@var{name}} (@option{-K
5584 @var{name}}) to start extracting only after member @var{name} of the
5585 archive. This assumes, of course, that there is now free space, or
5586 that you are now extracting into a different file system. (You could
5587 also choose to suspend @command{tar}, remove unnecessary files from
5588 the file system, and then resume the same @command{tar} operation.
5589 In this case, @option{--starting-file} is not necessary.) See also
5590 @ref{interactive}, and @ref{exclude}.
5593 @unnumberedsubsubsec Same Order
5596 @cindex Large lists of file names on small machines
5598 @opindex preserve-order
5600 @itemx --preserve-order
5602 To process large lists of file names on machines with small amounts of
5603 memory. Use in conjunction with @option{--compare} (@option{--diff},
5604 @option{-d}), @option{--list} (@option{-t}) or @option{--extract}
5605 (@option{--get}, @option{-x}).
5608 The @option{--same-order} (@option{--preserve-order}, @option{-s}) option tells @command{tar} that the list of file
5609 names to be listed or extracted is sorted in the same order as the
5610 files in the archive. This allows a large list of names to be used,
5611 even on a small machine that would not otherwise be able to hold all
5612 the names in memory at the same time. Such a sorted list can easily be
5613 created by running @samp{tar -t} on the archive and editing its output.
5615 This option is probably never needed on modern computer systems.
5618 @section Backup options
5620 @cindex backup options
5622 @GNUTAR{} offers options for making backups of files
5623 before writing new versions. These options control the details of
5624 these backups. They may apply to the archive itself before it is
5625 created or rewritten, as well as individual extracted members. Other
5626 @acronym{GNU} programs (@command{cp}, @command{install}, @command{ln},
5627 and @command{mv}, for example) offer similar options.
5629 Backup options may prove unexpectedly useful when extracting archives
5630 containing many members having identical name, or when extracting archives
5631 on systems having file name limitations, making different members appear
5632 as having similar names through the side-effect of name truncation.
5633 @FIXME{This is true only if we have a good scheme for truncated backup names,
5634 which I'm not sure at all: I suspect work is needed in this area.}
5635 When any existing file is backed up before being overwritten by extraction,
5636 then clashing files are automatically be renamed to be unique, and the
5637 true name is kept for only the last file of a series of clashing files.
5638 By using verbose mode, users may track exactly what happens.
5640 At the detail level, some decisions are still experimental, and may
5641 change in the future, we are waiting comments from our users. So, please
5642 do not learn to depend blindly on the details of the backup features.
5643 For example, currently, directories themselves are never renamed through
5644 using these options, so, extracting a file over a directory still has
5645 good chances to fail. Also, backup options apply to created archives,
5646 not only to extracted members. For created archives, backups will not
5647 be attempted when the archive is a block or character device, or when it
5648 refers to a remote file.
5650 For the sake of simplicity and efficiency, backups are made by renaming old
5651 files prior to creation or extraction, and not by copying. The original
5652 name is restored if the file creation fails. If a failure occurs after a
5653 partial extraction of a file, both the backup and the partially extracted
5657 @item --backup[=@var{method}]
5659 @vindex VERSION_CONTROL
5661 Back up files that are about to be overwritten or removed.
5662 Without this option, the original versions are destroyed.
5664 Use @var{method} to determine the type of backups made.
5665 If @var{method} is not specified, use the value of the @env{VERSION_CONTROL}
5666 environment variable. And if @env{VERSION_CONTROL} is not set,
5667 use the @samp{existing} method.
5669 @vindex version-control @r{Emacs variable}
5670 This option corresponds to the Emacs variable @samp{version-control};
5671 the same values for @var{method} are accepted as in Emacs. This option
5672 also allows more descriptive names. The valid @var{method}s are:
5677 @cindex numbered @r{backup method}
5678 Always make numbered backups.
5682 @cindex existing @r{backup method}
5683 Make numbered backups of files that already have them, simple backups
5688 @cindex simple @r{backup method}
5689 Always make simple backups.
5693 @item --suffix=@var{suffix}
5695 @cindex backup suffix
5696 @vindex SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX
5697 Append @var{suffix} to each backup file made with @option{--backup}. If this
5698 option is not specified, the value of the @env{SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX}
5699 environment variable is used. And if @env{SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX} is not
5700 set, the default is @samp{~}, just as in Emacs.
5705 @section Notable @command{tar} Usages
5708 @FIXME{Using Unix file linking capability to recreate directory
5709 structures---linking files into one subdirectory and then
5710 @command{tar}ring that directory.}
5712 @FIXME{Nice hairy example using absolute-names, newer, etc.}
5715 You can easily use archive files to transport a group of files from
5716 one system to another: put all relevant files into an archive on one
5717 computer system, transfer the archive to another system, and extract
5718 the contents there. The basic transfer medium might be magnetic tape,
5719 Internet FTP, or even electronic mail (though you must encode the
5720 archive with @command{uuencode} in order to transport it properly by
5721 mail). Both machines do not have to use the same operating system, as
5722 long as they both support the @command{tar} program.
5724 For example, here is how you might copy a directory's contents from
5725 one disk to another, while preserving the dates, modes, owners and
5726 link-structure of all the files therein. In this case, the transfer
5727 medium is a @dfn{pipe}:
5730 $ @kbd{(cd sourcedir; tar -cf - .) | (cd targetdir; tar -xf -)}
5734 You can avoid subshells by using @option{-C} option:
5737 $ @kbd{tar -C sourcedir -cf - . | tar -C targetdir -xf -}
5741 The command also works using long option forms:
5745 $ @kbd{(cd sourcedir; tar --create --file=- . ) \
5746 | (cd targetdir; tar --extract --file=-)}
5755 $ @kbd{tar --directory sourcedir --create --file=- . \
5756 | tar --directory targetdir --extract --file=-}
5761 This is one of the easiest methods to transfer a @command{tar} archive.
5764 @section Looking Ahead: The Rest of this Manual
5766 You have now seen how to use all eight of the operations available to
5767 @command{tar}, and a number of the possible options. The next chapter
5768 explains how to choose and change file and archive names, how to use
5769 files to store names of other files which you can then call as
5770 arguments to @command{tar} (this can help you save time if you expect to
5771 archive the same list of files a number of times), and so forth.
5772 @FIXME{in case it's not obvious, i'm making this up in some sense
5773 based on my limited memory of what the next chapter *really* does. i
5774 just wanted to flesh out this final section a little bit so i'd
5775 remember to stick it in here. :-)}
5777 If there are too many files to conveniently list on the command line,
5778 you can list the names in a file, and @command{tar} will read that file.
5781 There are various ways of causing @command{tar} to skip over some files,
5782 and not archive them. @xref{Choosing}.
5785 @chapter Performing Backups and Restoring Files
5788 @GNUTAR{} is distributed along with the scripts for performing backups
5789 and restores. Even if there is a good chance those scripts may be
5790 satisfying to you, they are not the only scripts or methods available for doing
5791 backups and restore. You may well create your own, or use more
5792 sophisticated packages dedicated to that purpose.
5794 Some users are enthusiastic about @code{Amanda} (The Advanced Maryland
5795 Automatic Network Disk Archiver), a backup system developed by James
5796 da Silva @file{jds@@cs.umd.edu} and available on many Unix systems.
5797 This is free software, and it is available from @uref{http://www.amanda.org}.
5801 Here is a possible plan for a future documentation about the backuping
5802 scripts which are provided within the @GNUTAR{}
5808 @item what are dumps
5809 @item different levels of dumps
5811 @item full dump = dump everything
5812 @item level 1, level 2 dumps etc
5813 A level @var{n} dump dumps everything changed since the last level
5816 @item how to use scripts for dumps (ie, the concept)
5818 @item scripts to run after editing backup specs (details)
5820 @item Backup Specs, what is it.
5822 @item how to customize
5823 @item actual text of script [/sp/dump/backup-specs]
5827 @item rsh doesn't work
5828 @item rtape isn't installed
5831 @item the @option{--incremental} option of tar
5834 @item write protection
5835 @item types of media, different sizes and types, useful for different things
5836 @item files and tape marks
5837 one tape mark between files, two at end.
5838 @item positioning the tape
5839 MT writes two at end of write,
5840 backspaces over one when writing again.
5846 This chapter documents both the provided shell scripts and @command{tar}
5847 options which are more specific to usage as a backup tool.
5849 To @dfn{back up} a file system means to create archives that contain
5850 all the files in that file system. Those archives can then be used to
5851 restore any or all of those files (for instance if a disk crashes or a
5852 file is accidentally deleted). File system @dfn{backups} are also
5856 * Full Dumps:: Using @command{tar} to Perform Full Dumps
5857 * Incremental Dumps:: Using @command{tar} to Perform Incremental Dumps
5858 * Backup Levels:: Levels of Backups
5859 * Backup Parameters:: Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
5860 * Scripted Backups:: Using the Backup Scripts
5861 * Scripted Restoration:: Using the Restore Script
5865 @section Using @command{tar} to Perform Full Dumps
5871 @cindex corrupted archives
5872 Full dumps should only be made when no other people or programs
5873 are modifying files in the file system. If files are modified while
5874 @command{tar} is making the backup, they may not be stored properly in
5875 the archive, in which case you won't be able to restore them if you
5876 have to. (Files not being modified are written with no trouble, and do
5877 not corrupt the entire archive.)
5879 You will want to use the @option{--label=@var{archive-label}}
5880 (@option{-V @var{archive-label}}) option to give the archive a
5881 volume label, so you can tell what this archive is even if the label
5882 falls off the tape, or anything like that.
5884 Unless the file system you are dumping is guaranteed to fit on
5885 one volume, you will need to use the @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}) option.
5886 Make sure you have enough tapes on hand to complete the backup.
5888 If you want to dump each file system separately you will need to use
5889 the @option{--one-file-system} option to prevent
5890 @command{tar} from crossing file system boundaries when storing
5893 The @option{--incremental} (@option{-G}) (@pxref{Incremental Dumps})
5894 option is not needed, since this is a complete copy of everything in
5895 the file system, and a full restore from this backup would only be
5896 done onto a completely
5899 Unless you are in a hurry, and trust the @command{tar} program (and your
5900 tapes), it is a good idea to use the @option{--verify} (@option{-W})
5901 option, to make sure your files really made it onto the dump properly.
5902 This will also detect cases where the file was modified while (or just
5903 after) it was being archived. Not all media (notably cartridge tapes)
5904 are capable of being verified, unfortunately.
5906 @node Incremental Dumps
5907 @section Using @command{tar} to Perform Incremental Dumps
5909 @dfn{Incremental backup} is a special form of @GNUTAR{} archive that
5910 stores additional metadata so that exact state of the file system
5911 can be restored when extracting the archive.
5913 @GNUTAR{} currently offers two options for handling incremental
5914 backups: @option{--listed-incremental=@var{snapshot-file}} (@option{-g
5915 @var{snapshot-file}}) and @option{--incremental} (@option{-G}).
5917 @xopindex{listed-incremental, described}
5918 The option @option{--listed-incremental} instructs tar to operate on
5919 an incremental archive with additional metadata stored in a standalone
5920 file, called a @dfn{snapshot file}. The purpose of this file is to help
5921 determine which files have been changed, added or deleted since the
5922 last backup, so that the next incremental backup will contain only
5923 modified files. The name of the snapshot file is given as an argument
5927 @item --listed-incremental=@var{file}
5928 @itemx -g @var{file}
5929 Handle incremental backups with snapshot data in @var{file}.
5932 To create an incremental backup, you would use
5933 @option{--listed-incremental} together with @option{--create}
5934 (@pxref{create}). For example:
5937 $ @kbd{tar --create \
5938 --file=archive.1.tar \
5939 --listed-incremental=/var/log/usr.snar \
5943 This will create in @file{archive.1.tar} an incremental backup of
5944 the @file{/usr} file system, storing additional metadata in the file
5945 @file{/var/log/usr.snar}. If this file does not exist, it will be
5946 created. The created archive will then be a @dfn{level 0 backup};
5947 please see the next section for more on backup levels.
5949 Otherwise, if the file @file{/var/log/usr.snar} exists, it
5950 determines which files are modified. In this case only these files will be
5951 stored in the archive. Suppose, for example, that after running the
5952 above command, you delete file @file{/usr/doc/old} and create
5953 directory @file{/usr/local/db} with the following contents:
5956 $ @kbd{ls /usr/local/db}
5961 Some time later you create another incremental backup. You will
5965 $ @kbd{tar --create \
5966 --file=archive.2.tar \
5967 --listed-incremental=/var/log/usr.snar \
5969 tar: usr/local/db: Directory is new
5976 The created archive @file{archive.2.tar} will contain only these
5977 three members. This archive is called a @dfn{level 1 backup}. Notice
5978 that @file{/var/log/usr.snar} will be updated with the new data, so if
5979 you plan to create more @samp{level 1} backups, it is necessary to
5980 create a working copy of the snapshot file before running
5981 @command{tar}. The above example will then be modified as follows:
5984 $ @kbd{cp /var/log/usr.snar /var/log/usr.snar-1}
5985 $ @kbd{tar --create \
5986 --file=archive.2.tar \
5987 --listed-incremental=/var/log/usr.snar-1 \
5992 @xopindex{level, described}
5993 You can force @samp{level 0} backups either by removing the snapshot
5994 file before running @command{tar}, or by supplying the
5995 @option{--level=0} option, e.g.:
5998 $ @kbd{tar --create \
5999 --file=archive.2.tar \
6000 --listed-incremental=/var/log/usr.snar-0 \
6005 Incremental dumps depend crucially on time stamps, so the results are
6006 unreliable if you modify a file's time stamps during dumping (e.g.,
6007 with the @option{--atime-preserve=replace} option), or if you set the clock
6010 @anchor{device numbers}
6011 @cindex Device numbers, using in incremental backups
6012 Metadata stored in snapshot files include device numbers, which,
6013 obviously are supposed to be non-volatile values. However, it turns
6014 out that @acronym{NFS} devices have undependable values when an automounter
6015 gets in the picture. This can lead to a great deal of spurious
6016 redumping in incremental dumps, so it is somewhat useless to compare
6017 two @acronym{NFS} devices numbers over time. The solution implemented
6018 currently is to consider all @acronym{NFS} devices as being equal
6019 when it comes to comparing directories; this is fairly gross, but
6020 there does not seem to be a better way to go.
6022 Apart from using @acronym{NFS}, there are a number of cases where
6023 relying on device numbers can cause spurious redumping of unmodified
6024 files. For example, this occurs when archiving @acronym{LVM} snapshot
6025 volumes. To avoid this, use @option{--no-check-device} option:
6028 @xopindex{no-check-device, described}
6029 @item --no-check-device
6030 Do not rely on device numbers when preparing a list of changed files
6031 for an incremental dump.
6033 @xopindex{check-device, described}
6034 @item --check-device
6035 Use device numbers when preparing a list of changed files
6036 for an incremental dump. This is the default behavior. The purpose
6037 of this option is to undo the effect of the @option{--no-check-device}
6038 if it was given in @env{TAR_OPTIONS} environment variable
6039 (@pxref{TAR_OPTIONS}).
6042 There is also another way to cope with changing device numbers. It is
6043 described in detail in @ref{Fixing Snapshot Files}.
6045 Note that incremental archives use @command{tar} extensions and may
6046 not be readable by non-@acronym{GNU} versions of the @command{tar} program.
6048 @xopindex{listed-incremental, using with @option{--extract}}
6049 @xopindex{extract, using with @option{--listed-incremental}}
6050 To extract from the incremental dumps, use
6051 @option{--listed-incremental} together with @option{--extract}
6052 option (@pxref{extracting files}). In this case, @command{tar} does
6053 not need to access snapshot file, since all the data necessary for
6054 extraction are stored in the archive itself. So, when extracting, you
6055 can give whatever argument to @option{--listed-incremental}, the usual
6056 practice is to use @option{--listed-incremental=/dev/null}.
6057 Alternatively, you can use @option{--incremental}, which needs no
6058 arguments. In general, @option{--incremental} (@option{-G}) can be
6059 used as a shortcut for @option{--listed-incremental} when listing or
6060 extracting incremental backups (for more information regarding this
6061 option, @pxref{incremental-op}).
6063 When extracting from the incremental backup @GNUTAR{} attempts to
6064 restore the exact state the file system had when the archive was
6065 created. In particular, it will @emph{delete} those files in the file
6066 system that did not exist in their directories when the archive was
6067 created. If you have created several levels of incremental files,
6068 then in order to restore the exact contents the file system had when
6069 the last level was created, you will need to restore from all backups
6070 in turn. Continuing our example, to restore the state of @file{/usr}
6071 file system, one would do@footnote{Notice, that since both archives
6072 were created without @option{-P} option (@pxref{absolute}), these
6073 commands should be run from the root file system.}:
6076 $ @kbd{tar --extract \
6077 --listed-incremental=/dev/null \
6078 --file archive.1.tar}
6079 $ @kbd{tar --extract \
6080 --listed-incremental=/dev/null \
6081 --file archive.2.tar}
6084 To list the contents of an incremental archive, use @option{--list}
6085 (@pxref{list}), as usual. To obtain more information about the
6086 archive, use @option{--listed-incremental} or @option{--incremental}
6087 combined with two @option{--verbose} options@footnote{Two
6088 @option{--verbose} options were selected to avoid breaking usual
6089 verbose listing output (@option{--list --verbose}) when using in
6092 @xopindex{incremental, using with @option{--list}}
6093 @xopindex{listed-incremental, using with @option{--list}}
6094 @xopindex{list, using with @option{--incremental}}
6095 @xopindex{list, using with @option{--listed-incremental}}
6096 Versions of @GNUTAR{} up to 1.15.1 used to dump verbatim binary
6097 contents of the DUMPDIR header (with terminating nulls) when
6098 @option{--incremental} or @option{--listed-incremental} option was
6099 given, no matter what the verbosity level. This behavior, and,
6100 especially, the binary output it produced were considered inconvenient
6101 and were changed in version 1.16.}:
6104 @kbd{tar --list --incremental --verbose --verbose archive.tar}
6107 This command will print, for each directory in the archive, the list
6108 of files in that directory at the time the archive was created. This
6109 information is put out in a format which is both human-readable and
6110 unambiguous for a program: each file name is printed as
6117 where @var{x} is a letter describing the status of the file: @samp{Y}
6118 if the file is present in the archive, @samp{N} if the file is not
6119 included in the archive, or a @samp{D} if the file is a directory (and
6120 is included in the archive). @xref{Dumpdir}, for the detailed
6121 description of dumpdirs and status codes. Each such
6122 line is terminated by a newline character. The last line is followed
6123 by an additional newline to indicate the end of the data.
6125 @anchor{incremental-op}The option @option{--incremental} (@option{-G})
6126 gives the same behavior as @option{--listed-incremental} when used
6127 with @option{--list} and @option{--extract} options. When used with
6128 @option{--create} option, it creates an incremental archive without
6129 creating snapshot file. Thus, it is impossible to create several
6130 levels of incremental backups with @option{--incremental} option.
6133 @section Levels of Backups
6135 An archive containing all the files in the file system is called a
6136 @dfn{full backup} or @dfn{full dump}. You could insure your data by
6137 creating a full dump every day. This strategy, however, would waste a
6138 substantial amount of archive media and user time, as unchanged files
6139 are daily re-archived.
6141 It is more efficient to do a full dump only occasionally. To back up
6142 files between full dumps, you can use @dfn{incremental dumps}. A @dfn{level
6143 one} dump archives all the files that have changed since the last full
6146 A typical dump strategy would be to perform a full dump once a week,
6147 and a level one dump once a day. This means some versions of files
6148 will in fact be archived more than once, but this dump strategy makes
6149 it possible to restore a file system to within one day of accuracy by
6150 only extracting two archives---the last weekly (full) dump and the
6151 last daily (level one) dump. The only information lost would be in
6152 files changed or created since the last daily backup. (Doing dumps
6153 more than once a day is usually not worth the trouble.)
6155 @GNUTAR{} comes with scripts you can use to do full
6156 and level-one (actually, even level-two and so on) dumps. Using
6157 scripts (shell programs) to perform backups and restoration is a
6158 convenient and reliable alternative to typing out file name lists
6159 and @command{tar} commands by hand.
6161 Before you use these scripts, you need to edit the file
6162 @file{backup-specs}, which specifies parameters used by the backup
6163 scripts and by the restore script. This file is usually located
6164 in @file{/etc/backup} directory. @xref{Backup Parameters}, for its
6165 detailed description. Once the backup parameters are set, you can
6166 perform backups or restoration by running the appropriate script.
6168 The name of the backup script is @code{backup}. The name of the
6169 restore script is @code{restore}. The following sections describe
6170 their use in detail.
6172 @emph{Please Note:} The backup and restoration scripts are
6173 designed to be used together. While it is possible to restore files by
6174 hand from an archive which was created using a backup script, and to create
6175 an archive by hand which could then be extracted using the restore script,
6176 it is easier to use the scripts. @xref{Incremental Dumps}, before
6177 making such an attempt.
6179 @node Backup Parameters
6180 @section Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
6182 The file @file{backup-specs} specifies backup parameters for the
6183 backup and restoration scripts provided with @command{tar}. You must
6184 edit @file{backup-specs} to fit your system configuration and schedule
6185 before using these scripts.
6187 Syntactically, @file{backup-specs} is a shell script, containing
6188 mainly variable assignments. However, any valid shell construct
6189 is allowed in this file. Particularly, you may wish to define
6190 functions within that script (e.g., see @code{RESTORE_BEGIN} below).
6191 For more information about shell script syntax, please refer to
6192 @url{http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/utilities/xcu_chap02.html#ta
6193 g_02, the definition of the Shell Command Language}. See also
6194 @ref{Top,,Bash Features,bashref,Bash Reference Manual}.
6196 The shell variables controlling behavior of @code{backup} and
6197 @code{restore} are described in the following subsections.
6200 * General-Purpose Variables::
6201 * Magnetic Tape Control::
6203 * backup-specs example:: An Example Text of @file{Backup-specs}
6206 @node General-Purpose Variables
6207 @subsection General-Purpose Variables
6209 @defvr {Backup variable} ADMINISTRATOR
6210 The user name of the backup administrator. @code{Backup} scripts
6211 sends a backup report to this address.
6214 @defvr {Backup variable} BACKUP_HOUR
6215 The hour at which the backups are done. This can be a number from 0
6216 to 23, or the time specification in form @var{hours}:@var{minutes},
6217 or the string @samp{now}.
6219 This variable is used by @code{backup}. Its value may be overridden
6220 using @option{--time} option (@pxref{Scripted Backups}).
6223 @defvr {Backup variable} TAPE_FILE
6225 The device @command{tar} writes the archive to. If @var{TAPE_FILE}
6226 is a remote archive (@pxref{remote-dev}), backup script will suppose
6227 that your @command{mt} is able to access remote devices. If @var{RSH}
6228 (@pxref{RSH}) is set, @option{--rsh-command} option will be added to
6229 invocations of @command{mt}.
6232 @defvr {Backup variable} BLOCKING
6234 The blocking factor @command{tar} will use when writing the dump archive.
6235 @xref{Blocking Factor}.
6238 @defvr {Backup variable} BACKUP_DIRS
6240 A list of file systems to be dumped (for @code{backup}), or restored
6241 (for @code{restore}). You can include any directory
6242 name in the list --- subdirectories on that file system will be
6243 included, regardless of how they may look to other networked machines.
6244 Subdirectories on other file systems will be ignored.
6246 The host name specifies which host to run @command{tar} on, and should
6247 normally be the host that actually contains the file system. However,
6248 the host machine must have @GNUTAR{} installed, and
6249 must be able to access the directory containing the backup scripts and
6250 their support files using the same file name that is used on the
6251 machine where the scripts are run (i.e., what @command{pwd} will print
6252 when in that directory on that machine). If the host that contains
6253 the file system does not have this capability, you can specify another
6254 host as long as it can access the file system through @acronym{NFS}.
6256 If the list of file systems is very long you may wish to put it
6257 in a separate file. This file is usually named
6258 @file{/etc/backup/dirs}, but this name may be overridden in
6259 @file{backup-specs} using @code{DIRLIST} variable.
6262 @defvr {Backup variable} DIRLIST
6264 The name of the file that contains a list of file systems to backup
6265 or restore. By default it is @file{/etc/backup/dirs}.
6268 @defvr {Backup variable} BACKUP_FILES
6270 A list of individual files to be dumped (for @code{backup}), or restored
6271 (for @code{restore}). These should be accessible from the machine on
6272 which the backup script is run.
6274 If the list of individual files is very long you may wish to store it
6275 in a separate file. This file is usually named
6276 @file{/etc/backup/files}, but this name may be overridden in
6277 @file{backup-specs} using @code{FILELIST} variable.
6280 @defvr {Backup variable} FILELIST
6282 The name of the file that contains a list of individual files to backup
6283 or restore. By default it is @file{/etc/backup/files}.
6286 @defvr {Backup variable} MT
6288 Full file name of @command{mt} binary.
6291 @defvr {Backup variable} RSH
6293 Full file name of @command{rsh} binary or its equivalent. You may wish to
6294 set it to @code{ssh}, to improve security. In this case you will have
6295 to use public key authentication.
6298 @defvr {Backup variable} RSH_COMMAND
6300 Full file name of @command{rsh} binary on remote machines. This will
6301 be passed via @option{--rsh-command} option to the remote invocation
6305 @defvr {Backup variable} VOLNO_FILE
6307 Name of temporary file to hold volume numbers. This needs to be accessible
6308 by all the machines which have file systems to be dumped.
6311 @defvr {Backup variable} XLIST
6313 Name of @dfn{exclude file list}. An @dfn{exclude file list} is a file
6314 located on the remote machine and containing the list of files to
6315 be excluded from the backup. Exclude file lists are searched in
6316 /etc/tar-backup directory. A common use for exclude file lists
6317 is to exclude files containing security-sensitive information
6318 (e.g., @file{/etc/shadow} from backups).
6320 This variable affects only @code{backup}.
6323 @defvr {Backup variable} SLEEP_TIME
6325 Time to sleep between dumps of any two successive file systems
6327 This variable affects only @code{backup}.
6330 @defvr {Backup variable} DUMP_REMIND_SCRIPT
6332 Script to be run when it's time to insert a new tape in for the next
6333 volume. Administrators may want to tailor this script for their site.
6334 If this variable isn't set, @GNUTAR{} will display its built-in
6335 prompt, and will expect confirmation from the console. For the
6336 description of the default prompt, see @ref{change volume prompt}.
6340 @defvr {Backup variable} SLEEP_MESSAGE
6342 Message to display on the terminal while waiting for dump time. Usually
6343 this will just be some literal text.
6346 @defvr {Backup variable} TAR
6348 Full file name of the @GNUTAR{} executable. If this is not set, backup
6349 scripts will search @command{tar} in the current shell path.
6352 @node Magnetic Tape Control
6353 @subsection Magnetic Tape Control
6355 Backup scripts access tape device using special @dfn{hook functions}.
6356 These functions take a single argument --- the name of the tape
6357 device. Their names are kept in the following variables:
6359 @defvr {Backup variable} MT_BEGIN
6360 The name of @dfn{begin} function. This function is called before
6361 accessing the drive. By default it retensions the tape:
6367 mt -f "$1" retension
6372 @defvr {Backup variable} MT_REWIND
6373 The name of @dfn{rewind} function. The default definition is as
6386 @defvr {Backup variable} MT_OFFLINE
6387 The name of the function switching the tape off line. By default
6388 it is defined as follows:
6391 MT_OFFLINE=mt_offline
6399 @defvr {Backup variable} MT_STATUS
6400 The name of the function used to obtain the status of the archive device,
6401 including error count. Default definition:
6413 @subsection User Hooks
6415 @dfn{User hooks} are shell functions executed before and after
6416 each @command{tar} invocation. Thus, there are @dfn{backup
6417 hooks}, which are executed before and after dumping each file
6418 system, and @dfn{restore hooks}, executed before and
6419 after restoring a file system. Each user hook is a shell function
6420 taking four arguments:
6422 @deffn {User Hook Function} hook @var{level} @var{host} @var{fs} @var{fsname}
6427 Current backup or restore level.
6430 Name or IP address of the host machine being dumped or restored.
6433 Full file name of the file system being dumped or restored.
6436 File system name with directory separators replaced with colons. This
6437 is useful, e.g., for creating unique files.
6441 Following variables keep the names of user hook functions:
6443 @defvr {Backup variable} DUMP_BEGIN
6444 Dump begin function. It is executed before dumping the file system.
6447 @defvr {Backup variable} DUMP_END
6448 Executed after dumping the file system.
6451 @defvr {Backup variable} RESTORE_BEGIN
6452 Executed before restoring the file system.
6455 @defvr {Backup variable} RESTORE_END
6456 Executed after restoring the file system.
6459 @node backup-specs example
6460 @subsection An Example Text of @file{Backup-specs}
6462 The following is an example of @file{backup-specs}:
6465 # site-specific parameters for file system backup.
6467 ADMINISTRATOR=friedman
6469 TAPE_FILE=/dev/nrsmt0
6471 # Use @code{ssh} instead of the less secure @code{rsh}
6473 RSH_COMMAND=/usr/bin/ssh
6475 # Override MT_STATUS function:
6481 # Disable MT_OFFLINE function
6498 apple-gunkies:/com/mailer/gnu
6499 apple-gunkies:/com/archive/gnu"
6501 BACKUP_FILES="/com/mailer/aliases /com/mailer/league*[a-z]"
6505 @node Scripted Backups
6506 @section Using the Backup Scripts
6508 The syntax for running a backup script is:
6511 backup --level=@var{level} --time=@var{time}
6514 The @option{--level} option requests the dump level. Thus, to produce
6515 a full dump, specify @code{--level=0} (this is the default, so
6516 @option{--level} may be omitted if its value is
6517 @code{0})@footnote{For backward compatibility, the @code{backup} will also
6518 try to deduce the requested dump level from the name of the
6519 script itself. If the name consists of a string @samp{level-}
6520 followed by a single decimal digit, that digit is taken as
6521 the dump level number. Thus, you may create a link from @code{backup}
6522 to @code{level-1} and then run @code{level-1} whenever you need to
6523 create a level one dump.}.
6525 The @option{--time} option determines when should the backup be
6526 run. @var{Time} may take three forms:
6529 @item @var{hh}:@var{mm}
6531 The dump must be run at @var{hh} hours @var{mm} minutes.
6535 The dump must be run at @var{hh} hours.
6539 The dump must be run immediately.
6542 You should start a script with a tape or disk mounted. Once you
6543 start a script, it prompts you for new tapes or disks as it
6544 needs them. Media volumes don't have to correspond to archive
6545 files --- a multi-volume archive can be started in the middle of a
6546 tape that already contains the end of another multi-volume archive.
6547 The @code{restore} script prompts for media by its archive volume,
6548 so to avoid an error message you should keep track of which tape
6549 (or disk) contains which volume of the archive (@pxref{Scripted
6552 The backup scripts write two files on the file system. The first is a
6553 record file in @file{/etc/tar-backup/}, which is used by the scripts
6554 to store and retrieve information about which files were dumped. This
6555 file is not meant to be read by humans, and should not be deleted by
6556 them. @xref{Snapshot Files}, for a more detailed explanation of this
6559 The second file is a log file containing the names of the file systems
6560 and files dumped, what time the backup was made, and any error
6561 messages that were generated, as well as how much space was left in
6562 the media volume after the last volume of the archive was written.
6563 You should check this log file after every backup. The file name is
6564 @file{log-@var{mm-dd-yyyy}-level-@var{n}}, where @var{mm-dd-yyyy}
6565 represents current date, and @var{n} represents current dump level number.
6567 The script also prints the name of each system being dumped to the
6570 Following is the full list of options accepted by @code{backup}
6574 @item -l @var{level}
6575 @itemx --level=@var{level}
6576 Do backup level @var{level} (default 0).
6580 Force backup even if today's log file already exists.
6582 @item -v[@var{level}]
6583 @itemx --verbose[=@var{level}]
6584 Set verbosity level. The higher the level is, the more debugging
6585 information will be output during execution. Default @var{level}
6586 is 100, which means the highest debugging level.
6588 @item -t @var{start-time}
6589 @itemx --time=@var{start-time}
6590 Wait till @var{time}, then do backup.
6594 Display short help message and exit.
6598 Display information about the program's name, version, origin and legal
6599 status, all on standard output, and then exit successfully.
6603 @node Scripted Restoration
6604 @section Using the Restore Script
6606 To restore files that were archived using a scripted backup, use the
6607 @code{restore} script. Its usage is quite straightforward. In the
6608 simplest form, invoke @code{restore --all}, it will
6609 then restore all the file systems and files specified in
6610 @file{backup-specs} (@pxref{General-Purpose Variables,BACKUP_DIRS}).
6612 You may select the file systems (and/or files) to restore by
6613 giving @code{restore} a list of @dfn{patterns} in its command
6614 line. For example, running
6621 will restore all file systems on the machine @samp{albert}. A more
6622 complicated example:
6625 restore 'albert:*' '*:/var'
6629 This command will restore all file systems on the machine @samp{albert}
6630 as well as @file{/var} file system on all machines.
6632 By default @code{restore} will start restoring files from the lowest
6633 available dump level (usually zero) and will continue through
6634 all available dump levels. There may be situations where such a
6635 thorough restore is not necessary. For example, you may wish to
6636 restore only files from the recent level one backup. To do so,
6637 use @option{--level} option, as shown in the example below:
6643 The full list of options accepted by @code{restore} follows:
6648 Restore all file systems and files specified in @file{backup-specs}.
6650 @item -l @var{level}
6651 @itemx --level=@var{level}
6652 Start restoring from the given backup level, instead of the default 0.
6654 @item -v[@var{level}]
6655 @itemx --verbose[=@var{level}]
6656 Set verbosity level. The higher the level is, the more debugging
6657 information will be output during execution. Default @var{level}
6658 is 100, which means the highest debugging level.
6662 Display short help message and exit.
6666 Display information about the program's name, version, origin and legal
6667 status, all on standard output, and then exit successfully.
6670 You should start the restore script with the media containing the
6671 first volume of the archive mounted. The script will prompt for other
6672 volumes as they are needed. If the archive is on tape, you don't need
6673 to rewind the tape to to its beginning---if the tape head is
6674 positioned past the beginning of the archive, the script will rewind
6675 the tape as needed. @xref{Tape Positioning}, for a discussion of tape
6679 @strong{Warning:} The script will delete files from the active file
6680 system if they were not in the file system when the archive was made.
6683 @xref{Incremental Dumps}, for an explanation of how the script makes
6687 @chapter Choosing Files and Names for @command{tar}
6689 Certain options to @command{tar} enable you to specify a name for your
6690 archive. Other options let you decide which files to include or exclude
6691 from the archive, based on when or whether files were modified, whether
6692 the file names do or don't match specified patterns, or whether files
6693 are in specified directories.
6695 This chapter discusses these options in detail.
6698 * file:: Choosing the Archive's Name
6699 * Selecting Archive Members::
6700 * files:: Reading Names from a File
6701 * exclude:: Excluding Some Files
6702 * wildcards:: Wildcards Patterns and Matching
6703 * quoting styles:: Ways of Quoting Special Characters in Names
6704 * transform:: Modifying File and Member Names
6705 * after:: Operating Only on New Files
6706 * recurse:: Descending into Directories
6707 * one:: Crossing File System Boundaries
6711 @section Choosing and Naming Archive Files
6713 @cindex Naming an archive
6714 @cindex Archive Name
6715 @cindex Choosing an archive file
6716 @cindex Where is the archive?
6718 By default, @command{tar} uses an archive file name that was compiled when
6719 it was built on the system; usually this name refers to some physical
6720 tape drive on the machine. However, the person who installed @command{tar}
6721 on the system may not have set the default to a meaningful value as far as
6722 most users are concerned. As a result, you will usually want to tell
6723 @command{tar} where to find (or create) the archive. The
6724 @option{--file=@var{archive-name}} (@option{-f @var{archive-name}})
6725 option allows you to either specify or name a file to use as the archive
6726 instead of the default archive file location.
6729 @xopindex{file, short description}
6730 @item --file=@var{archive-name}
6731 @itemx -f @var{archive-name}
6732 Name the archive to create or operate on. Use in conjunction with
6736 For example, in this @command{tar} command,
6739 $ @kbd{tar -cvf collection.tar blues folk jazz}
6743 @file{collection.tar} is the name of the archive. It must directly
6744 follow the @option{-f} option, since whatever directly follows @option{-f}
6745 @emph{will} end up naming the archive. If you neglect to specify an
6746 archive name, you may end up overwriting a file in the working directory
6747 with the archive you create since @command{tar} will use this file's name
6748 for the archive name.
6750 An archive can be saved as a file in the file system, sent through a
6751 pipe or over a network, or written to an I/O device such as a tape,
6752 floppy disk, or CD write drive.
6754 @cindex Writing new archives
6755 @cindex Archive creation
6756 If you do not name the archive, @command{tar} uses the value of the
6757 environment variable @env{TAPE} as the file name for the archive. If
6758 that is not available, @command{tar} uses a default, compiled-in archive
6759 name, usually that for tape unit zero (i.e., @file{/dev/tu00}).
6761 @cindex Standard input and output
6762 @cindex tar to standard input and output
6763 If you use @file{-} as an @var{archive-name}, @command{tar} reads the
6764 archive from standard input (when listing or extracting files), or
6765 writes it to standard output (when creating an archive). If you use
6766 @file{-} as an @var{archive-name} when modifying an archive,
6767 @command{tar} reads the original archive from its standard input and
6768 writes the entire new archive to its standard output.
6770 The following example is a convenient way of copying directory
6771 hierarchy from @file{sourcedir} to @file{targetdir}.
6774 $ @kbd{(cd sourcedir; tar -cf - .) | (cd targetdir; tar -xpf -)}
6777 The @option{-C} option allows to avoid using subshells:
6780 $ @kbd{tar -C sourcedir -cf - . | tar -C targetdir -xpf -}
6783 In both examples above, the leftmost @command{tar} invocation archives
6784 the contents of @file{sourcedir} to the standard output, while the
6785 rightmost one reads this archive from its standard input and
6786 extracts it. The @option{-p} option tells it to restore permissions
6787 of the extracted files.
6789 @cindex Remote devices
6790 @cindex tar to a remote device
6792 To specify an archive file on a device attached to a remote machine,
6796 @kbd{--file=@var{hostname}:/@var{dev}/@var{file-name}}
6800 @command{tar} will set up the remote connection, if possible, and
6801 prompt you for a username and password. If you use
6802 @option{--file=@@@var{hostname}:/@var{dev}/@var{file-name}}, @command{tar}
6803 will attempt to set up the remote connection using your username
6804 as the username on the remote machine.
6806 @cindex Local and remote archives
6807 @anchor{local and remote archives}
6808 If the archive file name includes a colon (@samp{:}), then it is assumed
6809 to be a file on another machine. If the archive file is
6810 @samp{@var{user}@@@var{host}:@var{file}}, then @var{file} is used on the
6811 host @var{host}. The remote host is accessed using the @command{rsh}
6812 program, with a username of @var{user}. If the username is omitted
6813 (along with the @samp{@@} sign), then your user name will be used.
6814 (This is the normal @command{rsh} behavior.) It is necessary for the
6815 remote machine, in addition to permitting your @command{rsh} access, to
6816 have the @file{rmt} program installed (this command is included in
6817 the @GNUTAR{} distribution and by default is installed under
6818 @file{@var{prefix}/libexec/rmt}, where @var{prefix} means your
6819 installation prefix). If you need to use a file whose name includes a
6820 colon, then the remote tape drive behavior
6821 can be inhibited by using the @option{--force-local} option.
6823 When the archive is being created to @file{/dev/null}, @GNUTAR{}
6824 tries to minimize input and output operations. The Amanda backup
6825 system, when used with @GNUTAR{}, has an initial sizing pass which
6828 @node Selecting Archive Members
6829 @section Selecting Archive Members
6830 @cindex Specifying files to act on
6831 @cindex Specifying archive members
6833 @dfn{File Name arguments} specify which files in the file system
6834 @command{tar} operates on, when creating or adding to an archive, or which
6835 archive members @command{tar} operates on, when reading or deleting from
6836 an archive. @xref{Operations}.
6838 To specify file names, you can include them as the last arguments on
6839 the command line, as follows:
6841 @kbd{tar} @var{operation} [@var{option1} @var{option2} @dots{}] [@var{file name-1} @var{file name-2} @dots{}]
6844 If a file name begins with dash (@samp{-}), precede it with
6845 @option{--add-file} option to prevent it from being treated as an
6848 @anchor{input name quoting}
6849 By default @GNUTAR{} attempts to @dfn{unquote} each file or member
6850 name, replacing @dfn{escape sequences} according to the following
6853 @multitable @columnfractions 0.20 0.60
6854 @headitem Escape @tab Replaced with
6855 @item \a @tab Audible bell (@acronym{ASCII} 7)
6856 @item \b @tab Backspace (@acronym{ASCII} 8)
6857 @item \f @tab Form feed (@acronym{ASCII} 12)
6858 @item \n @tab New line (@acronym{ASCII} 10)
6859 @item \r @tab Carriage return (@acronym{ASCII} 13)
6860 @item \t @tab Horizontal tabulation (@acronym{ASCII} 9)
6861 @item \v @tab Vertical tabulation (@acronym{ASCII} 11)
6862 @item \? @tab @acronym{ASCII} 127
6863 @item \@var{n} @tab @acronym{ASCII} @var{n} (@var{n} should be an octal number
6867 A backslash followed by any other symbol is retained.
6869 This default behavior is controlled by the following command line
6875 Enable unquoting input file or member names (default).
6879 Disable unquoting input file or member names.
6882 If you specify a directory name as a file name argument, all the files
6883 in that directory are operated on by @command{tar}.
6885 If you do not specify files, @command{tar} behavior differs depending
6886 on the operation mode as described below:
6888 When @command{tar} is invoked with @option{--create} (@option{-c}),
6889 @command{tar} will stop immediately, reporting the following:
6893 $ @kbd{tar cf a.tar}
6894 tar: Cowardly refusing to create an empty archive
6895 Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.
6899 If you specify either @option{--list} (@option{-t}) or
6900 @option{--extract} (@option{--get}, @option{-x}), @command{tar}
6901 operates on all the archive members in the archive.
6903 If run with @option{--diff} option, tar will compare the archive with
6904 the contents of the current working directory.
6906 If you specify any other operation, @command{tar} does nothing.
6908 By default, @command{tar} takes file names from the command line. However,
6909 there are other ways to specify file or member names, or to modify the
6910 manner in which @command{tar} selects the files or members upon which to
6911 operate. In general, these methods work both for specifying the names
6912 of files and archive members.
6915 @section Reading Names from a File
6917 @cindex Reading file names from a file
6918 @cindex Lists of file names
6919 @cindex File Name arguments, alternatives
6920 @cindex @command{find}, using with @command{tar}
6921 Instead of giving the names of files or archive members on the command
6922 line, you can put the names into a file, and then use the
6923 @option{--files-from=@var{file-of-names}} (@option{-T
6924 @var{file-of-names}}) option to @command{tar}. Give the name of the
6925 file which contains the list of files to include as the argument to
6926 @option{--files-from}. In the list, the file names should be separated by
6927 newlines. You will frequently use this option when you have generated
6928 the list of files to archive with the @command{find} utility.
6932 @item --files-from=@var{file-name}
6933 @itemx -T @var{file-name}
6934 Get names to extract or create from file @var{file-name}.
6937 If you give a single dash as a file name for @option{--files-from}, (i.e.,
6938 you specify either @code{--files-from=-} or @code{-T -}), then the file
6939 names are read from standard input.
6941 Unless you are running @command{tar} with @option{--create}, you can not use
6942 both @code{--files-from=-} and @code{--file=-} (@code{-f -}) in the same
6945 Any number of @option{-T} options can be given in the command line.
6947 The following example shows how to use @command{find} to generate a list of
6948 files smaller than 400K in length and put that list into a file
6949 called @file{small-files}. You can then use the @option{-T} option to
6950 @command{tar} to specify the files from that file, @file{small-files}, to
6951 create the archive @file{little.tgz}. (The @option{-z} option to
6952 @command{tar} compresses the archive with @command{gzip}; @pxref{gzip} for
6956 $ @kbd{find . -size -400 -print > small-files}
6957 $ @kbd{tar -c -v -z -T small-files -f little.tgz}
6961 In the file list given by @option{-T} option, any file name beginning
6962 with @samp{-} character is considered a @command{tar} option and is
6963 processed accordingly@footnote{Versions of @GNUTAR{} up to 1.15.1
6964 recognized only @option{-C} option in file lists, and only if the
6965 option and its argument occupied two consecutive lines.}. For example,
6966 the common use of this feature is to change to another directory by
6967 specifying @option{-C} option:
6977 $ @kbd{tar -c -f foo.tar --files-from list}
6982 In this example, @command{tar} will first switch to @file{/etc}
6983 directory and add files @file{passwd} and @file{hosts} to the
6984 archive. Then it will change to @file{/lib} directory and will archive
6985 the file @file{libc.a}. Thus, the resulting archive @file{foo.tar} will
6990 $ @kbd{tar tf foo.tar}
6998 @xopindex{directory, using in @option{--files-from} argument}
6999 Notice that the option parsing algorithm used with @option{-T} is
7000 stricter than the one used by shell. Namely, when specifying option
7001 arguments, you should observe the following rules:
7005 When using short (single-letter) option form, its argument must
7006 immediately follow the option letter, without any intervening
7007 whitespace. For example: @code{-Cdir}.
7010 When using long option form, the option argument must be separated
7011 from the option by a single equal sign. No whitespace is allowed on
7012 any side of the equal sign. For example: @code{--directory=dir}.
7015 For both short and long option forms, the option argument can be given
7016 on the next line after the option name, e.g.:
7037 If you happen to have a file whose name starts with @samp{-},
7038 precede it with @option{--add-file} option to prevent it from
7039 being recognized as an option. For example: @code{--add-file=--my-file}.
7046 @subsection @code{NUL}-Terminated File Names
7048 @cindex File names, terminated by @code{NUL}
7049 @cindex @code{NUL}-terminated file names
7050 The @option{--null} option causes
7051 @option{--files-from=@var{file-of-names}} (@option{-T @var{file-of-names}})
7052 to read file names terminated by a @code{NUL} instead of a newline, so
7053 files whose names contain newlines can be archived using
7054 @option{--files-from}.
7057 @xopindex{null, described}
7059 Only consider @code{NUL}-terminated file names, instead of files that
7060 terminate in a newline.
7062 @xopindex{no-null, described}
7064 Undo the effect of any previous @option{--null} option.
7067 The @option{--null} option is just like the one in @acronym{GNU}
7068 @command{xargs} and @command{cpio}, and is useful with the
7069 @option{-print0} predicate of @acronym{GNU} @command{find}. In
7070 @command{tar}, @option{--null} also disables special handling for
7071 file names that begin with dash.
7073 This example shows how to use @command{find} to generate a list of files
7074 larger than 800K in length and put that list into a file called
7075 @file{long-files}. The @option{-print0} option to @command{find} is just
7076 like @option{-print}, except that it separates files with a @code{NUL}
7077 rather than with a newline. You can then run @command{tar} with both the
7078 @option{--null} and @option{-T} options to specify that @command{tar} gets the
7079 files from that file, @file{long-files}, to create the archive
7080 @file{big.tgz}. The @option{--null} option to @command{tar} will cause
7081 @command{tar} to recognize the @code{NUL} separator between files.
7084 $ @kbd{find . -size +800 -print0 > long-files}
7085 $ @kbd{tar -c -v --null --files-from=long-files --file=big.tar}
7088 The @option{--no-null} option can be used if you need to read both
7089 @code{NUL}-terminated and newline-terminated files on the same command line.
7090 For example, if @file{flist} is a newline-terminated file, then the
7091 following command can be used to combine it with the above command:
7095 $ @kbd{find . -size +800 -print0 |
7096 tar -c -f big.tar --null -T - --no-null -T flist}
7100 This example uses short options for typographic reasons, to avoid
7103 @GNUTAR is able to automatically detect @code{NUL}-terminated file lists, so
7104 it is safe to use them even without the @option{--null} option. In
7105 this case @command{tar} will print a warning and continue reading such
7106 a file as if @option{--null} were actually given:
7110 $ @kbd{find . -size +800 -print0 | tar -c -f big.tar -T -}
7111 tar: -: file name read contains nul character
7115 The null terminator, however, remains in effect only for this
7116 particular file, any following @option{-T} options will assume
7117 newline termination. Of course, the null autodetection applies
7118 to these eventual surplus @option{-T} options as well.
7121 @section Excluding Some Files
7123 @cindex File names, excluding files by
7124 @cindex Excluding files by name and pattern
7125 @cindex Excluding files by file system
7127 @opindex exclude-from
7128 To avoid operating on files whose names match a particular pattern,
7129 use the @option{--exclude} or @option{--exclude-from} options.
7133 @item --exclude=@var{pattern}
7134 Causes @command{tar} to ignore files that match the @var{pattern}.
7138 The @option{--exclude=@var{pattern}} option prevents any file or
7139 member whose name matches the shell wildcard (@var{pattern}) from
7141 For example, to create an archive with all the contents of the directory
7142 @file{src} except for files whose names end in @file{.o}, use the
7143 command @samp{tar -cf src.tar --exclude='*.o' src}.
7145 You may give multiple @option{--exclude} options.
7148 @opindex exclude-from
7149 @item --exclude-from=@var{file}
7150 @itemx -X @var{file}
7151 Causes @command{tar} to ignore files that match the patterns listed in
7155 @findex exclude-from
7156 Use the @option{--exclude-from} option to read a
7157 list of patterns, one per line, from @var{file}; @command{tar} will
7158 ignore files matching those patterns. Thus if @command{tar} is
7159 called as @w{@samp{tar -c -X foo .}} and the file @file{foo} contains a
7160 single line @file{*.o}, no files whose names end in @file{.o} will be
7161 added to the archive.
7163 Notice, that lines from @var{file} are read verbatim. One of the
7164 frequent errors is leaving some extra whitespace after a file name,
7165 which is difficult to catch using text editors.
7167 However, empty lines are OK.
7170 @cindex version control system, excluding files
7171 @cindex VCS, excluding files
7172 @cindex SCCS, excluding files
7173 @cindex RCS, excluding files
7174 @cindex CVS, excluding files
7175 @cindex SVN, excluding files
7176 @cindex git, excluding files
7177 @cindex Bazaar, excluding files
7178 @cindex Arch, excluding files
7179 @cindex Mercurial, excluding files
7180 @cindex Darcs, excluding files
7181 @opindex exclude-vcs
7183 Exclude files and directories used by following version control
7184 systems: @samp{CVS}, @samp{RCS}, @samp{SCCS}, @samp{SVN}, @samp{Arch},
7185 @samp{Bazaar}, @samp{Mercurial}, and @samp{Darcs}.
7187 As of version @value{VERSION}, the following files are excluded:
7190 @item @file{CVS/}, and everything under it
7191 @item @file{RCS/}, and everything under it
7192 @item @file{SCCS/}, and everything under it
7193 @item @file{.git/}, and everything under it
7194 @item @file{.gitignore}
7195 @item @file{.cvsignore}
7196 @item @file{.svn/}, and everything under it
7197 @item @file{.arch-ids/}, and everything under it
7198 @item @file{@{arch@}/}, and everything under it
7199 @item @file{=RELEASE-ID}
7200 @item @file{=meta-update}
7201 @item @file{=update}
7203 @item @file{.bzrignore}
7204 @item @file{.bzrtags}
7206 @item @file{.hgignore}
7207 @item @file{.hgrags}
7211 @opindex exclude-backups
7212 @item --exclude-backups
7213 Exclude backup and lock files. This option causes exclusion of files
7214 that match the following shell globbing patterns:
7224 @findex exclude-caches
7225 When creating an archive, the @option{--exclude-caches} option family
7226 causes @command{tar} to exclude all directories that contain a @dfn{cache
7227 directory tag}. A cache directory tag is a short file with the
7228 well-known name @file{CACHEDIR.TAG} and having a standard header
7229 specified in @url{http://www.brynosaurus.com/cachedir/spec.html}.
7230 Various applications write cache directory tags into directories they
7231 use to hold regenerable, non-precious data, so that such data can be
7232 more easily excluded from backups.
7234 There are three @samp{exclude-caches} options, each providing a different
7235 exclusion semantics:
7238 @opindex exclude-caches
7239 @item --exclude-caches
7240 Do not archive the contents of the directory, but archive the
7241 directory itself and the @file{CACHEDIR.TAG} file.
7243 @opindex exclude-caches-under
7244 @item --exclude-caches-under
7245 Do not archive the contents of the directory, nor the
7246 @file{CACHEDIR.TAG} file, archive only the directory itself.
7248 @opindex exclude-caches-all
7249 @item --exclude-caches-all
7250 Omit directories containing @file{CACHEDIR.TAG} file entirely.
7254 Another option family, @option{--exclude-tag}, provides a generalization of
7255 this concept. It takes a single argument, a file name to look for.
7256 Any directory that contains this file will be excluded from the dump.
7257 Similarly to @samp{exclude-caches}, there are three options in this
7261 @opindex exclude-tag
7262 @item --exclude-tag=@var{file}
7263 Do not dump the contents of the directory, but dump the
7264 directory itself and the @var{file}.
7266 @opindex exclude-tag-under
7267 @item --exclude-tag-under=@var{file}
7268 Do not dump the contents of the directory, nor the
7269 @var{file}, archive only the directory itself.
7271 @opindex exclude-tag-all
7272 @item --exclude-tag-all=@var{file}
7273 Omit directories containing @var{file} file entirely.
7276 Multiple @option{--exclude-tag*} options can be given.
7278 For example, given this directory:
7293 The @option{--exclude-tag} will produce the following:
7296 $ @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar --exclude-tag=tagfile -v dir}
7301 tar: dir/folk/: contains a cache directory tag tagfile;
7306 Both the @file{dir/folk} directory and its tagfile are preserved in
7307 the archive, however the rest of files in this directory are not.
7309 Now, using the @option{--exclude-tag-under} option will exclude
7310 @file{tagfile} from the dump, while still preserving the directory
7311 itself, as shown in this example:
7314 $ @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar --exclude-tag-under=tagfile -v dir}
7319 ./tar: dir/folk/: contains a cache directory tag tagfile;
7323 Finally, using @option{--exclude-tag-all} omits the @file{dir/folk}
7327 $ @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar --exclude-tag-all=tagfile -v dir}
7331 ./tar: dir/folk/: contains a cache directory tag tagfile;
7332 directory not dumped
7336 * problems with exclude::
7339 @node problems with exclude
7340 @unnumberedsubsec Problems with Using the @code{exclude} Options
7342 @xopindex{exclude, potential problems with}
7343 Some users find @samp{exclude} options confusing. Here are some common
7348 The main operating mode of @command{tar} does not act on a file name
7349 explicitly listed on the command line, if one of its file name
7350 components is excluded. In the example above, if
7351 you create an archive and exclude files that end with @samp{*.o}, but
7352 explicitly name the file @samp{dir.o/foo} after all the options have been
7353 listed, @samp{dir.o/foo} will be excluded from the archive.
7356 You can sometimes confuse the meanings of @option{--exclude} and
7357 @option{--exclude-from}. Be careful: use @option{--exclude} when files
7358 to be excluded are given as a pattern on the command line. Use
7359 @option{--exclude-from} to introduce the name of a file which contains
7360 a list of patterns, one per line; each of these patterns can exclude
7361 zero, one, or many files.
7364 When you use @option{--exclude=@var{pattern}}, be sure to quote the
7365 @var{pattern} parameter, so @GNUTAR{} sees wildcard characters
7366 like @samp{*}. If you do not do this, the shell might expand the
7367 @samp{*} itself using files at hand, so @command{tar} might receive a
7368 list of files instead of one pattern, or none at all, making the
7369 command somewhat illegal. This might not correspond to what you want.
7374 $ @kbd{tar -c -f @var{archive.tar} --exclude '*.o' @var{directory}}
7382 $ @kbd{tar -c -f @var{archive.tar} --exclude *.o @var{directory}}
7386 You must use use shell syntax, or globbing, rather than @code{regexp}
7387 syntax, when using exclude options in @command{tar}. If you try to use
7388 @code{regexp} syntax to describe files to be excluded, your command
7392 @FIXME{The change in semantics must have occurred before 1.11,
7393 so I doubt if it is worth mentioning at all. Anyway, should at
7394 least specify in which version the semantics changed.}
7395 In earlier versions of @command{tar}, what is now the
7396 @option{--exclude-from} option was called @option{--exclude} instead.
7397 Now, @option{--exclude} applies to patterns listed on the command
7398 line and @option{--exclude-from} applies to patterns listed in a
7404 @section Wildcards Patterns and Matching
7406 @dfn{Globbing} is the operation by which @dfn{wildcard} characters,
7407 @samp{*} or @samp{?} for example, are replaced and expanded into all
7408 existing files matching the given pattern. @GNUTAR{} can use wildcard
7409 patterns for matching (or globbing) archive members when extracting
7410 from or listing an archive. Wildcard patterns are also used for
7411 verifying volume labels of @command{tar} archives. This section has the
7412 purpose of explaining wildcard syntax for @command{tar}.
7414 @FIXME{the next few paragraphs need work.}
7416 A @var{pattern} should be written according to shell syntax, using wildcard
7417 characters to effect globbing. Most characters in the pattern stand
7418 for themselves in the matched string, and case is significant: @samp{a}
7419 will match only @samp{a}, and not @samp{A}. The character @samp{?} in the
7420 pattern matches any single character in the matched string. The character
7421 @samp{*} in the pattern matches zero, one, or more single characters in
7422 the matched string. The character @samp{\} says to take the following
7423 character of the pattern @emph{literally}; it is useful when one needs to
7424 match the @samp{?}, @samp{*}, @samp{[} or @samp{\} characters, themselves.
7426 The character @samp{[}, up to the matching @samp{]}, introduces a character
7427 class. A @dfn{character class} is a list of acceptable characters
7428 for the next single character of the matched string. For example,
7429 @samp{[abcde]} would match any of the first five letters of the alphabet.
7430 Note that within a character class, all of the ``special characters''
7431 listed above other than @samp{\} lose their special meaning; for example,
7432 @samp{[-\\[*?]]} would match any of the characters, @samp{-}, @samp{\},
7433 @samp{[}, @samp{*}, @samp{?}, or @samp{]}. (Due to parsing constraints,
7434 the characters @samp{-} and @samp{]} must either come @emph{first} or
7435 @emph{last} in a character class.)
7437 @cindex Excluding characters from a character class
7438 @cindex Character class, excluding characters from
7439 If the first character of the class after the opening @samp{[}
7440 is @samp{!} or @samp{^}, then the meaning of the class is reversed.
7441 Rather than listing character to match, it lists those characters which
7442 are @emph{forbidden} as the next single character of the matched string.
7444 Other characters of the class stand for themselves. The special
7445 construction @samp{[@var{a}-@var{e}]}, using an hyphen between two
7446 letters, is meant to represent all characters between @var{a} and
7449 @FIXME{need to add a sentence or so here to make this clear for those
7450 who don't have dan around.}
7452 Periods (@samp{.}) or forward slashes (@samp{/}) are not considered
7453 special for wildcard matches. However, if a pattern completely matches
7454 a directory prefix of a matched string, then it matches the full matched
7455 string: thus, excluding a directory also excludes all the files beneath it.
7458 * controlling pattern-matching::
7461 @node controlling pattern-matching
7462 @unnumberedsubsec Controlling Pattern-Matching
7464 For the purposes of this section, we call @dfn{exclusion members} all
7465 member names obtained while processing @option{--exclude} and
7466 @option{--exclude-from} options, and @dfn{inclusion members} those
7467 member names that were given in the command line or read from the file
7468 specified with @option{--files-from} option.
7470 These two pairs of member lists are used in the following operations:
7471 @option{--diff}, @option{--extract}, @option{--list},
7474 There are no inclusion members in create mode (@option{--create} and
7475 @option{--append}), since in this mode the names obtained from the
7476 command line refer to @emph{files}, not archive members.
7478 By default, inclusion members are compared with archive members
7479 literally @footnote{Notice that earlier @GNUTAR{} versions used
7480 globbing for inclusion members, which contradicted to UNIX98
7481 specification and was not documented. @xref{Changes}, for more
7482 information on this and other changes.} and exclusion members are
7483 treated as globbing patterns. For example:
7487 $ @kbd{tar tf foo.tar}
7492 # @i{Member names are used verbatim:}
7493 $ @kbd{tar -xf foo.tar -v '[remarks]'}
7495 # @i{Exclude member names are globbed:}
7496 $ @kbd{tar -xf foo.tar -v --exclude '*.c'}
7502 This behavior can be altered by using the following options:
7507 Treat all member names as wildcards.
7509 @opindex no-wildcards
7510 @item --no-wildcards
7511 Treat all member names as literal strings.
7514 Thus, to extract files whose names end in @samp{.c}, you can use:
7517 $ @kbd{tar -xf foo.tar -v --wildcards '*.c'}
7523 Notice quoting of the pattern to prevent the shell from interpreting
7526 The effect of @option{--wildcards} option is canceled by
7527 @option{--no-wildcards}. This can be used to pass part of
7528 the command line arguments verbatim and other part as globbing
7529 patterns. For example, the following invocation:
7532 $ @kbd{tar -xf foo.tar --wildcards '*.txt' --no-wildcards '[remarks]'}
7536 instructs @command{tar} to extract from @file{foo.tar} all files whose
7537 names end in @samp{.txt} and the file named @file{[remarks]}.
7539 Normally, a pattern matches a name if an initial subsequence of the
7540 name's components matches the pattern, where @samp{*}, @samp{?}, and
7541 @samp{[...]} are the usual shell wildcards, @samp{\} escapes wildcards,
7542 and wildcards can match @samp{/}.
7544 Other than optionally stripping leading @samp{/} from names
7545 (@pxref{absolute}), patterns and names are used as-is. For
7546 example, trailing @samp{/} is not trimmed from a user-specified name
7547 before deciding whether to exclude it.
7549 However, this matching procedure can be altered by the options listed
7550 below. These options accumulate. For example:
7553 --ignore-case --exclude='makefile' --no-ignore-case ---exclude='readme'
7557 ignores case when excluding @samp{makefile}, but not when excluding
7562 @opindex no-anchored
7564 @itemx --no-anchored
7565 If anchored, a pattern must match an initial subsequence
7566 of the name's components. Otherwise, the pattern can match any
7567 subsequence. Default is @option{--no-anchored} for exclusion members
7568 and @option{--anchored} inclusion members.
7570 @opindex ignore-case
7571 @opindex no-ignore-case
7573 @itemx --no-ignore-case
7574 When ignoring case, upper-case patterns match lower-case names and vice versa.
7575 When not ignoring case (the default), matching is case-sensitive.
7577 @opindex wildcards-match-slash
7578 @opindex no-wildcards-match-slash
7579 @item --wildcards-match-slash
7580 @itemx --no-wildcards-match-slash
7581 When wildcards match slash (the default for exclusion members), a
7582 wildcard like @samp{*} in the pattern can match a @samp{/} in the
7583 name. Otherwise, @samp{/} is matched only by @samp{/}.
7587 The @option{--recursion} and @option{--no-recursion} options
7588 (@pxref{recurse}) also affect how member patterns are interpreted. If
7589 recursion is in effect, a pattern matches a name if it matches any of
7590 the name's parent directories.
7592 The following table summarizes pattern-matching default values:
7594 @multitable @columnfractions .3 .7
7595 @headitem Members @tab Default settings
7596 @item Inclusion @tab @option{--no-wildcards --anchored --no-wildcards-match-slash}
7597 @item Exclusion @tab @option{--wildcards --no-anchored --wildcards-match-slash}
7600 @node quoting styles
7601 @section Quoting Member Names
7603 When displaying member names, @command{tar} takes care to avoid
7604 ambiguities caused by certain characters. This is called @dfn{name
7605 quoting}. The characters in question are:
7608 @item Non-printable control characters:
7609 @anchor{escape sequences}
7610 @multitable @columnfractions 0.20 0.10 0.60
7611 @headitem Character @tab @acronym{ASCII} @tab Character name
7612 @item \a @tab 7 @tab Audible bell
7613 @item \b @tab 8 @tab Backspace
7614 @item \f @tab 12 @tab Form feed
7615 @item \n @tab 10 @tab New line
7616 @item \r @tab 13 @tab Carriage return
7617 @item \t @tab 9 @tab Horizontal tabulation
7618 @item \v @tab 11 @tab Vertical tabulation
7621 @item Space (@acronym{ASCII} 32)
7623 @item Single and double quotes (@samp{'} and @samp{"})
7625 @item Backslash (@samp{\})
7628 The exact way @command{tar} uses to quote these characters depends on
7629 the @dfn{quoting style}. The default quoting style, called
7630 @dfn{escape} (see below), uses backslash notation to represent control
7631 characters, space and backslash. Using this quoting style, control
7632 characters are represented as listed in column @samp{Character} in the
7633 above table, a space is printed as @samp{\ } and a backslash as @samp{\\}.
7635 @GNUTAR{} offers seven distinct quoting styles, which can be selected
7636 using @option{--quoting-style} option:
7639 @item --quoting-style=@var{style}
7640 @opindex quoting-style
7642 Sets quoting style. Valid values for @var{style} argument are:
7643 literal, shell, shell-always, c, escape, locale, clocale.
7646 These styles are described in detail below. To illustrate their
7647 effect, we will use an imaginary tar archive @file{arch.tar}
7648 containing the following members:
7652 # 1. Contains horizontal tabulation character.
7654 # 2. Contains newline character
7657 # 3. Contains a space
7659 # 4. Contains double quotes
7661 # 5. Contains single quotes
7663 # 6. Contains a backslash character:
7668 Here is how usual @command{ls} command would have listed them, if they
7669 had existed in the current working directory:
7687 No quoting, display each character as is:
7691 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=literal}
7704 Display characters the same way Bourne shell does:
7705 control characters, except @samp{\t} and @samp{\n}, are printed using
7706 backslash escapes, @samp{\t} and @samp{\n} are printed as is, and a
7707 single quote is printed as @samp{\'}. If a name contains any quoted
7708 characters, it is enclosed in single quotes. In particular, if a name
7709 contains single quotes, it is printed as several single-quoted strings:
7713 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=shell}
7716 './a'\''single'\''quote'
7726 Same as @samp{shell}, but the names are always enclosed in single
7731 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=shell-always}
7734 './a'\''single'\''quote'
7744 Use the notation of the C programming language. All names are
7745 enclosed in double quotes. Control characters are quoted using
7746 backslash notations, double quotes are represented as @samp{\"},
7747 backslash characters are represented as @samp{\\}. Single quotes and
7748 spaces are not quoted:
7752 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=c}
7756 "./a\"double\"quote"
7764 Control characters are printed using backslash notation, a space is
7765 printed as @samp{\ } and a backslash as @samp{\\}. This is the
7766 default quoting style, unless it was changed when configured the
7771 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=escape}
7783 Control characters, single quote and backslash are printed using
7784 backslash notation. All names are quoted using left and right
7785 quotation marks, appropriate to the current locale. If it does not
7786 define quotation marks, use @samp{`} as left and @samp{'} as right
7787 quotation marks. Any occurrences of the right quotation mark in a
7788 name are escaped with @samp{\}, for example:
7794 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=locale}
7797 `./a\'single\'quote'
7806 Same as @samp{locale}, but @samp{"} is used for both left and right
7807 quotation marks, if not provided by the currently selected locale:
7811 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=clocale}
7815 "./a\"double\"quote"
7823 You can specify which characters should be quoted in addition to those
7824 implied by the current quoting style:
7827 @item --quote-chars=@var{string}
7828 Always quote characters from @var{string}, even if the selected
7829 quoting style would not quote them.
7832 For example, using @samp{escape} quoting (compare with the usual
7833 escape listing above):
7837 $ @kbd{tar tf arch.tar --quoting-style=escape --quote-chars=' "'}
7848 To disable quoting of such additional characters, use the following
7852 @item --no-quote-chars=@var{string}
7853 Remove characters listed in @var{string} from the list of quoted
7854 characters set by the previous @option{--quote-chars} option.
7857 This option is particularly useful if you have added
7858 @option{--quote-chars} to your @env{TAR_OPTIONS} (@pxref{TAR_OPTIONS})
7859 and wish to disable it for the current invocation.
7861 Note, that @option{--no-quote-chars} does @emph{not} disable those
7862 characters that are quoted by default in the selected quoting style.
7865 @section Modifying File and Member Names
7867 @command{Tar} archives contain detailed information about files stored
7868 in them and full file names are part of that information. When
7869 storing a file to an archive, its file name is recorded in it,
7870 along with the actual file contents. When restoring from an archive,
7871 a file is created on disk with exactly the same name as that stored
7872 in the archive. In the majority of cases this is the desired behavior
7873 of a file archiver. However, there are some cases when it is not.
7875 First of all, it is often unsafe to extract archive members with
7876 absolute file names or those that begin with a @file{../}. @GNUTAR{}
7877 takes special precautions when extracting such names and provides a
7878 special option for handling them, which is described in
7881 Secondly, you may wish to extract file names without some leading
7882 directory components, or with otherwise modified names. In other
7883 cases it is desirable to store files under differing names in the
7886 @GNUTAR{} provides several options for these needs.
7889 @opindex strip-components
7890 @item --strip-components=@var{number}
7891 Strip given @var{number} of leading components from file names before
7895 For example, suppose you have archived whole @file{/usr} hierarchy to
7896 a tar archive named @file{usr.tar}. Among other files, this archive
7897 contains @file{usr/include/stdlib.h}, which you wish to extract to
7898 the current working directory. To do so, you type:
7901 $ @kbd{tar -xf usr.tar --strip=2 usr/include/stdlib.h}
7904 The option @option{--strip=2} instructs @command{tar} to strip the
7905 two leading components (@file{usr/} and @file{include/}) off the file
7908 If you add the @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}) option to the invocation
7909 above, you will note that the verbose listing still contains the
7910 full file name, with the two removed components still in place. This
7911 can be inconvenient, so @command{tar} provides a special option for
7912 altering this behavior:
7914 @anchor{show-transformed-names}
7916 @opindex show-transformed-names
7917 @item --show-transformed-names
7918 Display file or member names with all requested transformations
7927 $ @kbd{tar -xf usr.tar -v --strip=2 usr/include/stdlib.h}
7928 usr/include/stdlib.h
7929 $ @kbd{tar -xf usr.tar -v --strip=2 --show-transformed usr/include/stdlib.h}
7934 Notice that in both cases the file @file{stdlib.h} is extracted to the
7935 current working directory, @option{--show-transformed-names} affects
7936 only the way its name is displayed.
7938 This option is especially useful for verifying whether the invocation
7939 will have the desired effect. Thus, before running
7942 $ @kbd{tar -x --strip=@var{n}}
7946 it is often advisable to run
7949 $ @kbd{tar -t -v --show-transformed --strip=@var{n}}
7953 to make sure the command will produce the intended results.
7955 In case you need to apply more complex modifications to the file name,
7956 @GNUTAR{} provides a general-purpose transformation option:
7961 @item --transform=@var{expression}
7962 @itemx --xform=@var{expression}
7963 Modify file names using supplied @var{expression}.
7967 The @var{expression} is a @command{sed}-like replace expression of the
7971 s/@var{regexp}/@var{replace}/[@var{flags}]
7975 where @var{regexp} is a @dfn{regular expression}, @var{replace} is a
7976 replacement for each file name part that matches @var{regexp}. Both
7977 @var{regexp} and @var{replace} are described in detail in
7978 @ref{The "s" Command, The "s" Command, The `s' Command, sed, GNU sed}.
7980 Any delimiter can be used in lieu of @samp{/}, the only requirement being
7981 that it be used consistently throughout the expression. For example,
7982 the following two expressions are equivalent:
7991 Changing delimiters is often useful when the @var{regex} contains
7992 slashes. For example, it is more convenient to write @code{s,/,-,} than
7995 As in @command{sed}, you can give several replace expressions,
7996 separated by a semicolon.
7998 Supported @var{flags} are:
8002 Apply the replacement to @emph{all} matches to the @var{regexp}, not
8006 Use case-insensitive matching.
8009 @var{regexp} is an @dfn{extended regular expression} (@pxref{Extended
8010 regexps, Extended regular expressions, Extended regular expressions,
8014 Only replace the @var{number}th match of the @var{regexp}.
8016 Note: the @acronym{POSIX} standard does not specify what should happen
8017 when you mix the @samp{g} and @var{number} modifiers. @GNUTAR{}
8018 follows the GNU @command{sed} implementation in this regard, so
8019 the interaction is defined to be: ignore matches before the
8020 @var{number}th, and then match and replace all matches from the
8025 In addition, several @dfn{transformation scope} flags are supported,
8026 that control to what files transformations apply. These are:
8030 Apply transformation to regular archive members.
8033 Do not apply transformation to regular archive members.
8036 Apply transformation to symbolic link targets.
8039 Do not apply transformation to symbolic link targets.
8042 Apply transformation to hard link targets.
8045 Do not apply transformation to hard link targets.
8048 Default is @samp{rsh}, which means to apply tranformations to both archive
8049 members and targets of symbolic and hard links.
8051 Default scope flags can also be changed using @samp{flags=} statement
8052 in the transform expression. The flags set this way remain in force
8053 until next @samp{flags=} statement or end of expression, whichever
8054 occurs first. For example:
8057 --transform 'flags=S;s|^|/usr/local/|'
8060 Here are several examples of @option{--transform} usage:
8063 @item Extract @file{usr/} hierarchy into @file{usr/local/}:
8066 $ @kbd{tar --transform='s,usr/,usr/local/,' -x -f arch.tar}
8069 @item Strip two leading directory components (equivalent to
8070 @option{--strip-components=2}):
8073 $ @kbd{tar --transform='s,/*[^/]*/[^/]*/,,' -x -f arch.tar}
8076 @item Convert each file name to lower case:
8079 $ @kbd{tar --transform 's/.*/\L&/' -x -f arch.tar}
8082 @item Prepend @file{/prefix/} to each file name:
8085 $ @kbd{tar --transform 's,^,/prefix/,' -x -f arch.tar}
8088 @item Archive the @file{/lib} directory, prepending @samp{/usr/local}
8089 to each archive member:
8092 $ @kbd{tar --transform 's,^,/usr/local/,S' -c -f arch.tar /lib}
8096 Notice the use of flags in the last example. The @file{/lib}
8097 directory often contains many symbolic links to files within it.
8098 It may look, for example, like this:
8102 drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-07-08 16:20 /lib/
8103 -rwxr-xr-x root/root 1250840 2008-05-25 07:44 /lib/libc-2.3.2.so
8104 lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2008-06-24 17:12 /lib/libc.so.6 -> libc-2.3.2.so
8108 Using the expression @samp{s,^,/usr/local/,} would mean adding
8109 @samp{/usr/local} to both regular archive members and to link
8110 targets. In this case, @file{/lib/libc.so.6} would become:
8113 /usr/local/lib/libc.so.6 -> /usr/local/libc-2.3.2.so
8116 This is definitely not desired. To avoid this, the @samp{S} flag
8117 is used, which excludes symbolic link targets from filename
8118 transformations. The result is:
8121 $ @kbd{tar --transform 's,^,/usr/local/,S', -c -v -f arch.tar \
8122 --show-transformed /lib}
8123 drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-07-08 16:20 /usr/local/lib/
8124 -rwxr-xr-x root/root 1250840 2008-05-25 07:44 /usr/local/lib/libc-2.3.2.so
8125 lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2008-06-24 17:12 /usr/local/lib/libc.so.6 \
8129 Unlike @option{--strip-components}, @option{--transform} can be used
8130 in any @GNUTAR{} operation mode. For example, the following command
8131 adds files to the archive while replacing the leading @file{usr/}
8132 component with @file{var/}:
8135 $ @kbd{tar -cf arch.tar --transform='s,^usr/,var/,' /}
8138 To test @option{--transform} effect we suggest using
8139 @option{--show-transformed-names} option:
8142 $ @kbd{tar -cf arch.tar --transform='s,^usr/,var/,' \
8143 --verbose --show-transformed-names /}
8146 If both @option{--strip-components} and @option{--transform} are used
8147 together, then @option{--transform} is applied first, and the required
8148 number of components is then stripped from its result.
8150 You can use as many @option{--transform} options in a single command
8151 line as you want. The specified expressions will then be applied in
8152 order of their appearance. For example, the following two invocations
8156 $ @kbd{tar -cf arch.tar --transform='s,/usr/var,/var/' \
8157 --transform='s,/usr/local,/usr/,'}
8158 $ @kbd{tar -cf arch.tar \
8159 --transform='s,/usr/var,/var/;s,/usr/local,/usr/,'}
8163 @section Operating Only on New Files
8165 @cindex Excluding file by age
8166 @cindex Data Modification time, excluding files by
8167 @cindex Modification time, excluding files by
8168 @cindex Age, excluding files by
8169 The @option{--after-date=@var{date}} (@option{--newer=@var{date}},
8170 @option{-N @var{date}}) option causes @command{tar} to only work on
8171 files whose data modification or status change times are newer than
8172 the @var{date} given. If @var{date} starts with @samp{/} or @samp{.},
8173 it is taken to be a file name; the data modification time of that file
8174 is used as the date. If you use this option when creating or appending
8175 to an archive, the archive will only include new files. If you use
8176 @option{--after-date} when extracting an archive, @command{tar} will
8177 only extract files newer than the @var{date} you specify.
8179 If you only want @command{tar} to make the date comparison based on
8180 modification of the file's data (rather than status
8181 changes), then use the @option{--newer-mtime=@var{date}} option.
8183 @cindex --after-date and --update compared
8184 @cindex --newer-mtime and --update compared
8185 You may use these options with any operation. Note that these options
8186 differ from the @option{--update} (@option{-u}) operation in that they
8187 allow you to specify a particular date against which @command{tar} can
8188 compare when deciding whether or not to archive the files.
8193 @item --after-date=@var{date}
8194 @itemx --newer=@var{date}
8195 @itemx -N @var{date}
8196 Only store files newer than @var{date}.
8198 Acts on files only if their data modification or status change times are
8199 later than @var{date}. Use in conjunction with any operation.
8201 If @var{date} starts with @samp{/} or @samp{.}, it is taken to be a file
8202 name; the data modification time of that file is used as the date.
8204 @opindex newer-mtime
8205 @item --newer-mtime=@var{date}
8206 Acts like @option{--after-date}, but only looks at data modification times.
8209 These options limit @command{tar} to operate only on files which have
8210 been modified after the date specified. A file's status is considered to have
8211 changed if its contents have been modified, or if its owner,
8212 permissions, and so forth, have been changed. (For more information on
8213 how to specify a date, see @ref{Date input formats}; remember that the
8214 entire date argument must be quoted if it contains any spaces.)
8216 Gurus would say that @option{--after-date} tests both the data
8217 modification time (@code{mtime}, the time the contents of the file
8218 were last modified) and the status change time (@code{ctime}, the time
8219 the file's status was last changed: owner, permissions, etc.@:)
8220 fields, while @option{--newer-mtime} tests only the @code{mtime}
8223 To be precise, @option{--after-date} checks @emph{both} @code{mtime} and
8224 @code{ctime} and processes the file if either one is more recent than
8225 @var{date}, while @option{--newer-mtime} only checks @code{mtime} and
8226 disregards @code{ctime}. Neither does it use @code{atime} (the last time the
8227 contents of the file were looked at).
8229 Date specifiers can have embedded spaces. Because of this, you may need
8230 to quote date arguments to keep the shell from parsing them as separate
8231 arguments. For example, the following command will add to the archive
8232 all the files modified less than two days ago:
8235 $ @kbd{tar -cf foo.tar --newer-mtime '2 days ago'}
8238 When any of these options is used with the option @option{--verbose}
8239 (@pxref{verbose tutorial}) @GNUTAR{} will try to convert the specified
8240 date back to its textual representation and compare that with the
8241 one given with the option. If the two dates differ, @command{tar} will
8242 print a warning saying what date it will use. This is to help user
8243 ensure he is using the right date. For example:
8247 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --after-date='10 days ago' .}
8248 tar: Option --after-date: Treating date `10 days ago' as 2006-06-11
8254 @strong{Please Note:} @option{--after-date} and @option{--newer-mtime}
8255 should not be used for incremental backups. @xref{Incremental Dumps},
8256 for proper way of creating incremental backups.
8260 @section Descending into Directories
8261 @cindex Avoiding recursion in directories
8262 @cindex Descending directories, avoiding
8263 @cindex Directories, avoiding recursion
8264 @cindex Recursion in directories, avoiding
8266 Usually, @command{tar} will recursively explore all directories (either
8267 those given on the command line or through the @option{--files-from}
8268 option) for the various files they contain. However, you may not always
8269 want @command{tar} to act this way.
8271 @opindex no-recursion
8272 @cindex @command{find}, using with @command{tar}
8273 The @option{--no-recursion} option inhibits @command{tar}'s recursive descent
8274 into specified directories. If you specify @option{--no-recursion}, you can
8275 use the @command{find} (@pxref{Top,, find, find, GNU Find Manual})
8276 utility for hunting through levels of directories to
8277 construct a list of file names which you could then pass to @command{tar}.
8278 @command{find} allows you to be more selective when choosing which files to
8279 archive; see @ref{files}, for more information on using @command{find} with
8283 @item --no-recursion
8284 Prevents @command{tar} from recursively descending directories.
8288 Requires @command{tar} to recursively descend directories.
8289 This is the default.
8292 When you use @option{--no-recursion}, @GNUTAR{} grabs
8293 directory entries themselves, but does not descend on them
8294 recursively. Many people use @command{find} for locating files they
8295 want to back up, and since @command{tar} @emph{usually} recursively
8296 descends on directories, they have to use the @samp{@w{-not -type d}}
8297 test in their @command{find} invocation (@pxref{Type, Type, Type test,
8298 find, Finding Files}), as they usually do not want all the files in a
8299 directory. They then use the @option{--files-from} option to archive
8300 the files located via @command{find}.
8302 The problem when restoring files archived in this manner is that the
8303 directories themselves are not in the archive; so the
8304 @option{--same-permissions} (@option{--preserve-permissions},
8305 @option{-p}) option does not affect them---while users might really
8306 like it to. Specifying @option{--no-recursion} is a way to tell
8307 @command{tar} to grab only the directory entries given to it, adding
8308 no new files on its own. To summarize, if you use @command{find} to
8309 create a list of files to be stored in an archive, use it as follows:
8313 $ @kbd{find @var{dir} @var{tests} | \
8314 tar -cf @var{archive} -T - --no-recursion}
8318 The @option{--no-recursion} option also applies when extracting: it
8319 causes @command{tar} to extract only the matched directory entries, not
8320 the files under those directories.
8322 The @option{--no-recursion} option also affects how globbing patterns
8323 are interpreted (@pxref{controlling pattern-matching}).
8325 The @option{--no-recursion} and @option{--recursion} options apply to
8326 later options and operands, and can be overridden by later occurrences
8327 of @option{--no-recursion} and @option{--recursion}. For example:
8330 $ @kbd{tar -cf jams.tar --no-recursion grape --recursion grape/concord}
8334 creates an archive with one entry for @file{grape}, and the recursive
8335 contents of @file{grape/concord}, but no entries under @file{grape}
8336 other than @file{grape/concord}.
8339 @section Crossing File System Boundaries
8340 @cindex File system boundaries, not crossing
8342 @command{tar} will normally automatically cross file system boundaries in
8343 order to archive files which are part of a directory tree. You can
8344 change this behavior by running @command{tar} and specifying
8345 @option{--one-file-system}. This option only affects files that are
8346 archived because they are in a directory that is being archived;
8347 @command{tar} will still archive files explicitly named on the command line
8348 or through @option{--files-from}, regardless of where they reside.
8351 @opindex one-file-system
8352 @item --one-file-system
8353 Prevents @command{tar} from crossing file system boundaries when
8354 archiving. Use in conjunction with any write operation.
8357 The @option{--one-file-system} option causes @command{tar} to modify its
8358 normal behavior in archiving the contents of directories. If a file in
8359 a directory is not on the same file system as the directory itself, then
8360 @command{tar} will not archive that file. If the file is a directory
8361 itself, @command{tar} will not archive anything beneath it; in other words,
8362 @command{tar} will not cross mount points.
8364 This option is useful for making full or incremental archival backups of
8365 a file system. If this option is used in conjunction with
8366 @option{--verbose} (@option{-v}), files that are excluded are
8367 mentioned by name on the standard error.
8370 * directory:: Changing Directory
8371 * absolute:: Absolute File Names
8375 @subsection Changing the Working Directory
8377 @FIXME{need to read over this node now for continuity; i've switched
8378 things around some.}
8380 @cindex Changing directory mid-stream
8381 @cindex Directory, changing mid-stream
8382 @cindex Working directory, specifying
8383 To change the working directory in the middle of a list of file names,
8384 either on the command line or in a file specified using
8385 @option{--files-from} (@option{-T}), use @option{--directory} (@option{-C}).
8386 This will change the working directory to the specified directory
8387 after that point in the list.
8391 @item --directory=@var{directory}
8392 @itemx -C @var{directory}
8393 Changes the working directory in the middle of a command line.
8399 $ @kbd{tar -c -f jams.tar grape prune -C food cherry}
8403 will place the files @file{grape} and @file{prune} from the current
8404 directory into the archive @file{jams.tar}, followed by the file
8405 @file{cherry} from the directory @file{food}. This option is especially
8406 useful when you have several widely separated files that you want to
8407 store in the same archive.
8409 Note that the file @file{cherry} is recorded in the archive under the
8410 precise name @file{cherry}, @emph{not} @file{food/cherry}. Thus, the
8411 archive will contain three files that all appear to have come from the
8412 same directory; if the archive is extracted with plain @samp{tar
8413 --extract}, all three files will be written in the current directory.
8415 Contrast this with the command,
8418 $ @kbd{tar -c -f jams.tar grape prune -C food red/cherry}
8422 which records the third file in the archive under the name
8423 @file{red/cherry} so that, if the archive is extracted using
8424 @samp{tar --extract}, the third file will be written in a subdirectory
8427 You can use the @option{--directory} option to make the archive
8428 independent of the original name of the directory holding the files.
8429 The following command places the files @file{/etc/passwd},
8430 @file{/etc/hosts}, and @file{/lib/libc.a} into the archive
8434 $ @kbd{tar -c -f foo.tar -C /etc passwd hosts -C /lib libc.a}
8438 However, the names of the archive members will be exactly what they were
8439 on the command line: @file{passwd}, @file{hosts}, and @file{libc.a}.
8440 They will not appear to be related by file name to the original
8441 directories where those files were located.
8443 Note that @option{--directory} options are interpreted consecutively. If
8444 @option{--directory} specifies a relative file name, it is interpreted
8445 relative to the then current directory, which might not be the same as
8446 the original current working directory of @command{tar}, due to a previous
8447 @option{--directory} option.
8449 When using @option{--files-from} (@pxref{files}), you can put various
8450 @command{tar} options (including @option{-C}) in the file list. Notice,
8451 however, that in this case the option and its argument may not be
8452 separated by whitespace. If you use short option, its argument must
8453 either follow the option letter immediately, without any intervening
8454 whitespace, or occupy the next line. Otherwise, if you use long
8455 option, separate its argument by an equal sign.
8457 For instance, the file list for the above example will be:
8470 To use it, you would invoke @command{tar} as follows:
8473 $ @kbd{tar -c -f foo.tar --files-from list}
8476 The interpretation of @option{--directory} is disabled by
8477 @option{--null} option.
8480 @subsection Absolute File Names
8481 @cindex absolute file names
8482 @cindex file names, absolute
8484 By default, @GNUTAR{} drops a leading @samp{/} on
8485 input or output, and complains about file names containing a @file{..}
8486 component. There is an option that turns off this behavior:
8489 @opindex absolute-names
8490 @item --absolute-names
8492 Do not strip leading slashes from file names, and permit file names
8493 containing a @file{..} file name component.
8496 When @command{tar} extracts archive members from an archive, it strips any
8497 leading slashes (@samp{/}) from the member name. This causes absolute
8498 member names in the archive to be treated as relative file names. This
8499 allows you to have such members extracted wherever you want, instead of
8500 being restricted to extracting the member in the exact directory named
8501 in the archive. For example, if the archive member has the name
8502 @file{/etc/passwd}, @command{tar} will extract it as if the name were
8503 really @file{etc/passwd}.
8505 File names containing @file{..} can cause problems when extracting, so
8506 @command{tar} normally warns you about such files when creating an
8507 archive, and rejects attempts to extracts such files.
8509 Other @command{tar} programs do not do this. As a result, if you
8510 create an archive whose member names start with a slash, they will be
8511 difficult for other people with a non-@GNUTAR{}
8512 program to use. Therefore, @GNUTAR{} also strips
8513 leading slashes from member names when putting members into the
8514 archive. For example, if you ask @command{tar} to add the file
8515 @file{/bin/ls} to an archive, it will do so, but the member name will
8516 be @file{bin/ls}@footnote{A side effect of this is that when
8517 @option{--create} is used with @option{--verbose} the resulting output
8518 is not, generally speaking, the same as the one you'd get running
8519 @kbd{tar --list} command. This may be important if you use some
8520 scripts for comparing both outputs. @xref{listing member and file names},
8521 for the information on how to handle this case.}.
8523 If you use the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option,
8524 @command{tar} will do none of these transformations.
8526 To archive or extract files relative to the root directory, specify
8527 the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option.
8529 Normally, @command{tar} acts on files relative to the working
8530 directory---ignoring superior directory names when archiving, and
8531 ignoring leading slashes when extracting.
8533 When you specify @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}),
8534 @command{tar} stores file names including all superior directory
8535 names, and preserves leading slashes. If you only invoked
8536 @command{tar} from the root directory you would never need the
8537 @option{--absolute-names} option, but using this option
8538 may be more convenient than switching to root.
8540 @FIXME{Should be an example in the tutorial/wizardry section using this
8541 to transfer files between systems.}
8544 @item --absolute-names
8545 Preserves full file names (including superior directory names) when
8546 archiving files. Preserves leading slash when extracting files.
8550 @command{tar} prints out a message about removing the @samp{/} from
8551 file names. This message appears once per @GNUTAR{}
8552 invocation. It represents something which ought to be told; ignoring
8553 what it means can cause very serious surprises, later.
8555 Some people, nevertheless, do not want to see this message. Wanting to
8556 play really dangerously, one may of course redirect @command{tar} standard
8557 error to the sink. For example, under @command{sh}:
8560 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar /home 2> /dev/null}
8564 Another solution, both nicer and simpler, would be to change to
8565 the @file{/} directory first, and then avoid absolute notation.
8569 $ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar -C / home}
8572 @xref{Integrity}, for some of the security-related implications
8573 of using this option.
8575 @include parse-datetime.texi
8578 @chapter Controlling the Archive Format
8580 @cindex Tar archive formats
8581 Due to historical reasons, there are several formats of tar archives.
8582 All of them are based on the same principles, but have some subtle
8583 differences that often make them incompatible with each other.
8585 GNU tar is able to create and handle archives in a variety of formats.
8586 The most frequently used formats are (in alphabetical order):
8590 Format used by @GNUTAR{} versions up to 1.13.25. This format derived
8591 from an early @acronym{POSIX} standard, adding some improvements such as
8592 sparse file handling and incremental archives. Unfortunately these
8593 features were implemented in a way incompatible with other archive
8596 Archives in @samp{gnu} format are able to hold file names of unlimited
8600 Format used by @GNUTAR{} of versions prior to 1.12.
8603 Archive format, compatible with the V7 implementation of tar. This
8604 format imposes a number of limitations. The most important of them
8608 @item The maximum length of a file name is limited to 99 characters.
8609 @item The maximum length of a symbolic link is limited to 99 characters.
8610 @item It is impossible to store special files (block and character
8611 devices, fifos etc.)
8612 @item Maximum value of user or group @acronym{ID} is limited to 2097151 (7777777
8614 @item V7 archives do not contain symbolic ownership information (user
8615 and group name of the file owner).
8618 This format has traditionally been used by Automake when producing
8619 Makefiles. This practice will change in the future, in the meantime,
8620 however this means that projects containing file names more than 99
8621 characters long will not be able to use @GNUTAR{} @value{VERSION} and
8622 Automake prior to 1.9.
8625 Archive format defined by @acronym{POSIX.1-1988} specification. It stores
8626 symbolic ownership information. It is also able to store
8627 special files. However, it imposes several restrictions as well:
8630 @item The maximum length of a file name is limited to 256 characters,
8631 provided that the file name can be split at a directory separator in
8632 two parts, first of them being at most 155 bytes long. So, in most
8633 cases the maximum file name length will be shorter than 256
8635 @item The maximum length of a symbolic link name is limited to
8637 @item Maximum size of a file the archive is able to accommodate
8639 @item Maximum value of UID/GID is 2097151.
8640 @item Maximum number of bits in device major and minor numbers is 21.
8644 Format used by J@"org Schilling @command{star}
8645 implementation. @GNUTAR{} is able to read @samp{star} archives but
8646 currently does not produce them.
8649 Archive format defined by @acronym{POSIX.1-2001} specification. This is the
8650 most flexible and feature-rich format. It does not impose any
8651 restrictions on file sizes or file name lengths. This format is quite
8652 recent, so not all tar implementations are able to handle it properly.
8653 However, this format is designed in such a way that any tar
8654 implementation able to read @samp{ustar} archives will be able to read
8655 most @samp{posix} archives as well, with the only exception that any
8656 additional information (such as long file names etc.) will in such
8657 case be extracted as plain text files along with the files it refers to.
8659 This archive format will be the default format for future versions
8664 The following table summarizes the limitations of each of these
8667 @multitable @columnfractions .10 .20 .20 .20 .20
8668 @headitem Format @tab UID @tab File Size @tab File Name @tab Devn
8669 @item gnu @tab 1.8e19 @tab Unlimited @tab Unlimited @tab 63
8670 @item oldgnu @tab 1.8e19 @tab Unlimited @tab Unlimited @tab 63
8671 @item v7 @tab 2097151 @tab 8GB @tab 99 @tab n/a
8672 @item ustar @tab 2097151 @tab 8GB @tab 256 @tab 21
8673 @item posix @tab Unlimited @tab Unlimited @tab Unlimited @tab Unlimited
8676 The default format for @GNUTAR{} is defined at compilation
8677 time. You may check it by running @command{tar --help}, and examining
8678 the last lines of its output. Usually, @GNUTAR{} is configured
8679 to create archives in @samp{gnu} format, however, future version will
8680 switch to @samp{posix}.
8683 * Compression:: Using Less Space through Compression
8684 * Attributes:: Handling File Attributes
8685 * Portability:: Making @command{tar} Archives More Portable
8686 * cpio:: Comparison of @command{tar} and @command{cpio}
8690 @section Using Less Space through Compression
8693 * gzip:: Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
8694 * sparse:: Archiving Sparse Files
8698 @subsection Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
8699 @cindex Compressed archives
8700 @cindex Storing archives in compressed format
8708 @GNUTAR{} is able to create and read compressed archives. It supports
8709 a wide variety of compression programs, namely: @command{gzip},
8710 @command{bzip2}, @command{lzip}, @command{lzma}, @command{lzop},
8711 @command{xz} and traditional @command{compress}. The latter is
8712 supported mostly for backward compatibility, and we recommend
8713 against using it, because it is by far less effective than the other
8714 compression programs@footnote{It also had patent problems in the past.}.
8716 Creating a compressed archive is simple: you just specify a
8717 @dfn{compression option} along with the usual archive creation
8718 commands. The compression option is @option{-z} (@option{--gzip}) to
8719 create a @command{gzip} compressed archive, @option{-j}
8720 (@option{--bzip2}) to create a @command{bzip2} compressed archive,
8721 @option{--lzip} to create an @asis{lzip} compressed archive,
8722 @option{-J} (@option{--xz}) to create an @asis{XZ} archive,
8723 @option{--lzma} to create an @asis{LZMA} compressed
8724 archive, @option{--lzop} to create an @asis{LSOP} archive, and
8725 @option{-Z} (@option{--compress}) to use @command{compress} program.
8729 $ @kbd{tar czf archive.tar.gz .}
8732 You can also let @GNUTAR{} select the compression program based on
8733 the suffix of the archive file name. This is done using
8734 @option{--auto-compress} (@option{-a}) command line option. For
8735 example, the following invocation will use @command{bzip2} for
8739 $ @kbd{tar caf archive.tar.bz2 .}
8743 whereas the following one will use @command{lzma}:
8746 $ @kbd{tar caf archive.tar.lzma .}
8749 For a complete list of file name suffixes recognized by @GNUTAR{},
8750 see @ref{auto-compress}.
8752 Reading compressed archive is even simpler: you don't need to specify
8753 any additional options as @GNUTAR{} recognizes its format
8754 automatically. Thus, the following commands will list and extract the
8755 archive created in previous example:
8758 # List the compressed archive
8759 $ @kbd{tar tf archive.tar.gz}
8760 # Extract the compressed archive
8761 $ @kbd{tar xf archive.tar.gz}
8764 The format recognition algorithm is based on @dfn{signatures}, a
8765 special byte sequences in the beginning of file, that are specific for
8766 certain compression formats. If this approach fails, @command{tar}
8767 falls back to using archive name suffix to determine its format
8768 (@pxref{auto-compress}, for a list of recognized suffixes).
8770 @anchor{alternative decompression programs}
8771 @cindex alternative decompression programs
8772 Some compression programs are able to handle different compression
8773 formats. @GNUTAR{} uses this, if the principal decompressor for the
8774 given format is not available. For example, if @command{compress} is
8775 not installed, @command{tar} will try to use @command{gzip}. As of
8776 version @value{VERSION} the following alternatives are
8777 tried@footnote{To verbosely trace the decompressor selection, use the
8778 @option{--warning=decompress-program} option
8779 (@pxref{warnings,decompress-program}).}:
8781 @multitable @columnfractions 0.3 0.3 0.3
8782 @headitem Format @tab Main decompressor @tab Alternatives
8783 @item compress @tab compress @tab gzip
8784 @item lzma @tab lzma @tab xz
8785 @item bzip2 @tab bzip2 @tab lbzip2
8788 The only case when you have to specify a decompression option while
8789 reading the archive is when reading from a pipe or from a tape drive
8790 that does not support random access. However, in this case @GNUTAR{}
8791 will indicate which option you should use. For example:
8794 $ @kbd{cat archive.tar.gz | tar tf -}
8795 tar: Archive is compressed. Use -z option
8796 tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
8799 If you see such diagnostics, just add the suggested option to the
8800 invocation of @GNUTAR{}:
8803 $ @kbd{cat archive.tar.gz | tar tzf -}
8806 Notice also, that there are several restrictions on operations on
8807 compressed archives. First of all, compressed archives cannot be
8808 modified, i.e., you cannot update (@option{--update}, alias @option{-u})
8809 them or delete (@option{--delete}) members from them or
8810 add (@option{--append}, alias @option{-r}) members to them. Likewise, you
8811 cannot append another @command{tar} archive to a compressed archive using
8812 @option{--concatenate} (@option{-A}). Secondly, multi-volume
8813 archives cannot be compressed.
8815 The following options allow to select a particular compressor program:
8823 Filter the archive through @command{gzip}.
8828 Filter the archive through @code{xz}.
8832 Filter the archive through @code{bzip2}.
8836 Filter the archive through @command{lzip}.
8840 Filter the archive through @command{lzma}.
8844 Filter the archive through @command{lzop}.
8851 Filter the archive through @command{compress}.
8854 When any of these options is given, @GNUTAR{} searches the compressor
8855 binary in the current path and invokes it. The name of the compressor
8856 program is specified at compilation time using a corresponding
8857 @option{--with-@var{compname}} option to @command{configure}, e.g.
8858 @option{--with-bzip2} to select a specific @command{bzip2} binary.
8859 @xref{lbzip2}, for a detailed discussion.
8861 The output produced by @command{tar --help} shows the actual
8862 compressor names along with each of these options.
8864 You can use any of these options on physical devices (tape drives,
8865 etc.) and remote files as well as on normal files; data to or from
8866 such devices or remote files is reblocked by another copy of the
8867 @command{tar} program to enforce the specified (or default) record
8868 size. The default compression parameters are used. Most compression
8869 programs allow to override these by setting a program-specific
8870 environment variable. For example, when using @command{gzip} you can
8871 use @env{GZIP} as in the example below:
8874 $ @kbd{GZIP=--best tar czf archive.tar.gz subdir}
8878 Another way would be to use the @option{-I} option instead (see
8882 $ @kbd{tar -cf archive.tar.gz -I 'gzip --best' subdir}
8886 Finally, the third, traditional, way to achieve the same result is to
8890 $ @kbd{tar cf - subdir | gzip --best -c - > archive.tar.gz}
8893 @cindex corrupted archives
8894 About corrupted compressed archives: compressed files have no
8895 redundancy, for maximum compression. The adaptive nature of the
8896 compression scheme means that the compression tables are implicitly
8897 spread all over the archive. If you lose a few blocks, the dynamic
8898 construction of the compression tables becomes unsynchronized, and there
8899 is little chance that you could recover later in the archive.
8901 Another compression options provide a better control over creating
8902 compressed archives. These are:
8905 @anchor{auto-compress}
8906 @opindex auto-compress
8907 @item --auto-compress
8909 Select a compression program to use by the archive file name
8910 suffix. The following suffixes are recognized:
8912 @multitable @columnfractions 0.3 0.6
8913 @headitem Suffix @tab Compression program
8914 @item @samp{.gz} @tab @command{gzip}
8915 @item @samp{.tgz} @tab @command{gzip}
8916 @item @samp{.taz} @tab @command{gzip}
8917 @item @samp{.Z} @tab @command{compress}
8918 @item @samp{.taZ} @tab @command{compress}
8919 @item @samp{.bz2} @tab @command{bzip2}
8920 @item @samp{.tz2} @tab @command{bzip2}
8921 @item @samp{.tbz2} @tab @command{bzip2}
8922 @item @samp{.tbz} @tab @command{bzip2}
8923 @item @samp{.lz} @tab @command{lzip}
8924 @item @samp{.lzma} @tab @command{lzma}
8925 @item @samp{.tlz} @tab @command{lzma}
8926 @item @samp{.lzo} @tab @command{lzop}
8927 @item @samp{.xz} @tab @command{xz}
8930 @opindex use-compress-program
8931 @item --use-compress-program=@var{prog}
8932 @itemx -I=@var{prog}
8933 Use external compression program @var{prog}. Use this option if you
8934 are not happy with the compression program associated with the suffix
8935 at compile time or if you have a compression program that @GNUTAR{}
8936 does not support. There are two requirements to which @var{prog}
8939 First, when called without options, it should read data from standard
8940 input, compress it and output it on standard output.
8942 Secondly, if called with @option{-d} argument, it should do exactly
8943 the opposite, i.e., read the compressed data from the standard input
8944 and produce uncompressed data on the standard output.
8947 @cindex gpg, using with tar
8948 @cindex gnupg, using with tar
8949 @cindex Using encrypted archives
8950 The @option{--use-compress-program} option, in particular, lets you
8951 implement your own filters, not necessarily dealing with
8952 compression/decompression. For example, suppose you wish to implement
8953 PGP encryption on top of compression, using @command{gpg} (@pxref{Top,
8954 gpg, gpg ---- encryption and signing tool, gpg, GNU Privacy Guard
8955 Manual}). The following script does that:
8961 -d) gpg --decrypt - | gzip -d -c;;
8962 '') gzip -c | gpg -s;;
8963 *) echo "Unknown option $1">&2; exit 1;;
8968 Suppose you name it @file{gpgz} and save it somewhere in your
8969 @env{PATH}. Then the following command will create a compressed
8970 archive signed with your private key:
8973 $ @kbd{tar -cf foo.tar.gpgz -Igpgz .}
8977 Likewise, the command below will list its contents:
8980 $ @kbd{tar -tf foo.tar.gpgz -Igpgz .}
8984 The above is based on the following discussion:
8986 I have one question, or maybe it's a suggestion if there isn't a way
8987 to do it now. I would like to use @option{--gzip}, but I'd also like
8988 the output to be fed through a program like @acronym{GNU}
8989 @command{ecc} (actually, right now that's @samp{exactly} what I'd like
8990 to use :-)), basically adding ECC protection on top of compression.
8991 It seems as if this should be quite easy to do, but I can't work out
8992 exactly how to go about it. Of course, I can pipe the standard output
8993 of @command{tar} through @command{ecc}, but then I lose (though I
8994 haven't started using it yet, I confess) the ability to have
8995 @command{tar} use @command{rmt} for it's I/O (I think).
8997 I think the most straightforward thing would be to let me specify a
8998 general set of filters outboard of compression (preferably ordered,
8999 so the order can be automatically reversed on input operations, and
9000 with the options they require specifiable), but beggars shouldn't be
9001 choosers and anything you decide on would be fine with me.
9003 By the way, I like @command{ecc} but if (as the comments say) it can't
9004 deal with loss of block sync, I'm tempted to throw some time at adding
9005 that capability. Supposing I were to actually do such a thing and
9006 get it (apparently) working, do you accept contributed changes to
9007 utilities like that? (Leigh Clayton @file{loc@@soliton.com}, May 1995).
9009 Isn't that exactly the role of the
9010 @option{--use-compress-prog=@var{program}} option?
9011 I never tried it myself, but I suspect you may want to write a
9012 @var{prog} script or program able to filter stdin to stdout to
9013 way you want. It should recognize the @option{-d} option, for when
9014 extraction is needed rather than creation.
9016 It has been reported that if one writes compressed data (through the
9017 @option{--gzip} or @option{--compress} options) to a DLT and tries to use
9018 the DLT compression mode, the data will actually get bigger and one will
9019 end up with less space on the tape.
9023 * lbzip2:: Using lbzip2 with @GNUTAR{}.
9027 @subsubsection Using lbzip2 with @GNUTAR{}.
9029 @cindex Laszlo Ersek
9030 @command{Lbzip2} is a multithreaded utility for handling
9031 @samp{bzip2} compression, written by Laszlo Ersek. It makes use of
9032 multiple processors to speed up its operation and in general works
9033 considerably faster than @command{bzip2}. For a detailed description
9034 of @command{lbzip2} see @uref{http://freshmeat.net/@/projects/@/lbzip2} and
9035 @uref{http://www.linuxinsight.com/@/lbzip2-parallel-bzip2-utility.html,
9036 lbzip2: parallel bzip2 utility}.
9038 Recent versions of @command{lbzip2} are mostly command line compatible
9039 with @command{bzip2}, which makes it possible to automatically invoke
9040 it via the @option{--bzip2} @GNUTAR{} command line option. To do so,
9041 @GNUTAR{} must be configured with the @option{--with-bzip2} command
9042 line option, like this:
9045 $ @kbd{./configure --with-bzip2=lbzip2 [@var{other-options}]}
9048 Once configured and compiled this way, @command{tar --help} will show the
9053 $ @kbd{tar --help | grep -- --bzip2}
9054 -j, --bzip2 filter the archive through lbzip2
9059 which means that running @command{tar --bzip2} will invoke @command{lbzip2}.
9062 @subsection Archiving Sparse Files
9063 @cindex Sparse Files
9065 Files in the file system occasionally have @dfn{holes}. A @dfn{hole}
9066 in a file is a section of the file's contents which was never written.
9067 The contents of a hole reads as all zeros. On many operating systems,
9068 actual disk storage is not allocated for holes, but they are counted
9069 in the length of the file. If you archive such a file, @command{tar}
9070 could create an archive longer than the original. To have @command{tar}
9071 attempt to recognize the holes in a file, use @option{--sparse}
9072 (@option{-S}). When you use this option, then, for any file using
9073 less disk space than would be expected from its length, @command{tar}
9074 searches the file for consecutive stretches of zeros. It then records
9075 in the archive for the file where the consecutive stretches of zeros
9076 are, and only archives the ``real contents'' of the file. On
9077 extraction (using @option{--sparse} is not needed on extraction) any
9078 such files have holes created wherever the continuous stretches of zeros
9079 were found. Thus, if you use @option{--sparse}, @command{tar} archives
9080 won't take more space than the original.
9086 This option instructs @command{tar} to test each file for sparseness
9087 before attempting to archive it. If the file is found to be sparse it
9088 is treated specially, thus allowing to decrease the amount of space
9089 used by its image in the archive.
9091 This option is meaningful only when creating or updating archives. It
9092 has no effect on extraction.
9095 Consider using @option{--sparse} when performing file system backups,
9096 to avoid archiving the expanded forms of files stored sparsely in the
9099 Even if your system has no sparse files currently, some may be
9100 created in the future. If you use @option{--sparse} while making file
9101 system backups as a matter of course, you can be assured the archive
9102 will never take more space on the media than the files take on disk
9103 (otherwise, archiving a disk filled with sparse files might take
9104 hundreds of tapes). @xref{Incremental Dumps}.
9106 However, be aware that @option{--sparse} option presents a serious
9107 drawback. Namely, in order to determine if the file is sparse
9108 @command{tar} has to read it before trying to archive it, so in total
9109 the file is read @strong{twice}. So, always bear in mind that the
9110 time needed to process all files with this option is roughly twice
9111 the time needed to archive them without it.
9112 @FIXME{A technical note:
9114 Programs like @command{dump} do not have to read the entire file; by
9115 examining the file system directly, they can determine in advance
9116 exactly where the holes are and thus avoid reading through them. The
9117 only data it need read are the actual allocated data blocks.
9118 @GNUTAR{} uses a more portable and straightforward
9119 archiving approach, it would be fairly difficult that it does
9120 otherwise. Elizabeth Zwicky writes to @file{comp.unix.internals}, on
9124 What I did say is that you cannot tell the difference between a hole and an
9125 equivalent number of nulls without reading raw blocks. @code{st_blocks} at
9126 best tells you how many holes there are; it doesn't tell you @emph{where}.
9127 Just as programs may, conceivably, care what @code{st_blocks} is (care
9128 to name one that does?), they may also care where the holes are (I have
9129 no examples of this one either, but it's equally imaginable).
9131 I conclude from this that good archivers are not portable. One can
9132 arguably conclude that if you want a portable program, you can in good
9133 conscience restore files with as many holes as possible, since you can't
9138 @cindex sparse formats, defined
9139 When using @samp{POSIX} archive format, @GNUTAR{} is able to store
9140 sparse files using in three distinct ways, called @dfn{sparse
9141 formats}. A sparse format is identified by its @dfn{number},
9142 consisting, as usual of two decimal numbers, delimited by a dot. By
9143 default, format @samp{1.0} is used. If, for some reason, you wish to
9144 use an earlier format, you can select it using
9145 @option{--sparse-version} option.
9148 @opindex sparse-version
9149 @item --sparse-version=@var{version}
9151 Select the format to store sparse files in. Valid @var{version} values
9152 are: @samp{0.0}, @samp{0.1} and @samp{1.0}. @xref{Sparse Formats},
9153 for a detailed description of each format.
9156 Using @option{--sparse-format} option implies @option{--sparse}.
9159 @section Handling File Attributes
9160 @cindex atrributes, files
9161 @cindex file attributes
9163 When @command{tar} reads files, it updates their access times. To
9164 avoid this, use the @option{--atime-preserve[=METHOD]} option, which can either
9165 reset the access time retroactively or avoid changing it in the first
9169 @opindex atime-preserve
9170 @item --atime-preserve
9171 @itemx --atime-preserve=replace
9172 @itemx --atime-preserve=system
9173 Preserve the access times of files that are read. This works only for
9174 files that you own, unless you have superuser privileges.
9176 @option{--atime-preserve=replace} works on most systems, but it also
9177 restores the data modification time and updates the status change
9178 time. Hence it doesn't interact with incremental dumps nicely
9179 (@pxref{Incremental Dumps}), and it can set access or data modification times
9180 incorrectly if other programs access the file while @command{tar} is
9183 @option{--atime-preserve=system} avoids changing the access time in
9184 the first place, if the operating system supports this.
9185 Unfortunately, this may or may not work on any given operating system
9186 or file system. If @command{tar} knows for sure it won't work, it
9187 complains right away.
9189 Currently @option{--atime-preserve} with no operand defaults to
9190 @option{--atime-preserve=replace}, but this is intended to change to
9191 @option{--atime-preserve=system} when the latter is better-supported.
9196 Do not extract data modification time.
9198 When this option is used, @command{tar} leaves the data modification times
9199 of the files it extracts as the times when the files were extracted,
9200 instead of setting it to the times recorded in the archive.
9202 This option is meaningless with @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
9206 Create extracted files with the same ownership they have in the
9209 This is the default behavior for the superuser,
9210 so this option is meaningful only for non-root users, when @command{tar}
9211 is executed on those systems able to give files away. This is
9212 considered as a security flaw by many people, at least because it
9213 makes quite difficult to correctly account users for the disk space
9214 they occupy. Also, the @code{suid} or @code{sgid} attributes of
9215 files are easily and silently lost when files are given away.
9217 When writing an archive, @command{tar} writes the user @acronym{ID} and user name
9218 separately. If it can't find a user name (because the user @acronym{ID} is not
9219 in @file{/etc/passwd}), then it does not write one. When restoring,
9220 it tries to look the name (if one was written) up in
9221 @file{/etc/passwd}. If it fails, then it uses the user @acronym{ID} stored in
9222 the archive instead.
9224 @opindex no-same-owner
9225 @item --no-same-owner
9227 Do not attempt to restore ownership when extracting. This is the
9228 default behavior for ordinary users, so this option has an effect
9229 only for the superuser.
9231 @opindex numeric-owner
9232 @item --numeric-owner
9233 The @option{--numeric-owner} option allows (ANSI) archives to be written
9234 without user/group name information or such information to be ignored
9235 when extracting. It effectively disables the generation and/or use
9236 of user/group name information. This option forces extraction using
9237 the numeric ids from the archive, ignoring the names.
9239 This is useful in certain circumstances, when restoring a backup from
9240 an emergency floppy with different passwd/group files for example.
9241 It is otherwise impossible to extract files with the right ownerships
9242 if the password file in use during the extraction does not match the
9243 one belonging to the file system(s) being extracted. This occurs,
9244 for example, if you are restoring your files after a major crash and
9245 had booted from an emergency floppy with no password file or put your
9246 disk into another machine to do the restore.
9248 The numeric ids are @emph{always} saved into @command{tar} archives.
9249 The identifying names are added at create time when provided by the
9250 system, unless @option{--format=oldgnu} is used. Numeric ids could be
9251 used when moving archives between a collection of machines using
9252 a centralized management for attribution of numeric ids to users
9253 and groups. This is often made through using the NIS capabilities.
9255 When making a @command{tar} file for distribution to other sites, it
9256 is sometimes cleaner to use a single owner for all files in the
9257 distribution, and nicer to specify the write permission bits of the
9258 files as stored in the archive independently of their actual value on
9259 the file system. The way to prepare a clean distribution is usually
9260 to have some Makefile rule creating a directory, copying all needed
9261 files in that directory, then setting ownership and permissions as
9262 wanted (there are a lot of possible schemes), and only then making a
9263 @command{tar} archive out of this directory, before cleaning
9264 everything out. Of course, we could add a lot of options to
9265 @GNUTAR{} for fine tuning permissions and ownership.
9266 This is not the good way, I think. @GNUTAR{} is
9267 already crowded with options and moreover, the approach just explained
9268 gives you a great deal of control already.
9270 @xopindex{same-permissions, short description}
9271 @xopindex{preserve-permissions, short description}
9273 @itemx --same-permissions
9274 @itemx --preserve-permissions
9275 Extract all protection information.
9277 This option causes @command{tar} to set the modes (access permissions) of
9278 extracted files exactly as recorded in the archive. If this option
9279 is not used, the current @code{umask} setting limits the permissions
9280 on extracted files. This option is by default enabled when
9281 @command{tar} is executed by a superuser.
9284 This option is meaningless with @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
9288 Same as both @option{--same-permissions} and @option{--same-order}.
9290 This option is deprecated, and will be removed in @GNUTAR{} version 1.23.
9295 @section Making @command{tar} Archives More Portable
9297 Creating a @command{tar} archive on a particular system that is meant to be
9298 useful later on many other machines and with other versions of @command{tar}
9299 is more challenging than you might think. @command{tar} archive formats
9300 have been evolving since the first versions of Unix. Many such formats
9301 are around, and are not always compatible with each other. This section
9302 discusses a few problems, and gives some advice about making @command{tar}
9303 archives more portable.
9305 One golden rule is simplicity. For example, limit your @command{tar}
9306 archives to contain only regular files and directories, avoiding
9307 other kind of special files. Do not attempt to save sparse files or
9308 contiguous files as such. Let's discuss a few more problems, in turn.
9310 @FIXME{Discuss GNU extensions (incremental backups, multi-volume
9311 archives and archive labels) in GNU and PAX formats.}
9314 * Portable Names:: Portable Names
9315 * dereference:: Symbolic Links
9316 * hard links:: Hard Links
9317 * old:: Old V7 Archives
9318 * ustar:: Ustar Archives
9319 * gnu:: GNU and old GNU format archives.
9320 * posix:: @acronym{POSIX} archives
9321 * Checksumming:: Checksumming Problems
9322 * Large or Negative Values:: Large files, negative time stamps, etc.
9323 * Other Tars:: How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using
9324 Other @command{tar} Implementations
9327 @node Portable Names
9328 @subsection Portable Names
9330 Use portable file and member names. A name is portable if it contains
9331 only @acronym{ASCII} letters and digits, @samp{/}, @samp{.}, @samp{_}, and
9332 @samp{-}; it cannot be empty, start with @samp{-} or @samp{//}, or
9333 contain @samp{/-}. Avoid deep directory nesting. For portability to
9334 old Unix hosts, limit your file name components to 14 characters or
9337 If you intend to have your @command{tar} archives to be read under
9338 MSDOS, you should not rely on case distinction for file names, and you
9339 might use the @acronym{GNU} @command{doschk} program for helping you
9340 further diagnosing illegal MSDOS names, which are even more limited
9344 @subsection Symbolic Links
9345 @cindex File names, using symbolic links
9346 @cindex Symbolic link as file name
9348 @opindex dereference
9349 Normally, when @command{tar} archives a symbolic link, it writes a
9350 block to the archive naming the target of the link. In that way, the
9351 @command{tar} archive is a faithful record of the file system contents.
9352 When @option{--dereference} (@option{-h}) is used with
9353 @option{--create} (@option{-c}), @command{tar} archives the files
9354 symbolic links point to, instead of
9355 the links themselves.
9357 When creating portable archives, use @option{--dereference}
9358 (@option{-h}): some systems do not support
9359 symbolic links, and moreover, your distribution might be unusable if
9360 it contains unresolved symbolic links.
9362 When reading from an archive, the @option{--dereference} (@option{-h})
9363 option causes @command{tar} to follow an already-existing symbolic
9364 link when @command{tar} writes or reads a file named in the archive.
9365 Ordinarily, @command{tar} does not follow such a link, though it may
9366 remove the link before writing a new file. @xref{Dealing with Old
9369 The @option{--dereference} option is unsafe if an untrusted user can
9370 modify directories while @command{tar} is running. @xref{Security}.
9373 @subsection Hard Links
9374 @cindex File names, using hard links
9375 @cindex hard links, dereferencing
9376 @cindex dereferencing hard links
9378 Normally, when @command{tar} archives a hard link, it writes a
9379 block to the archive naming the target of the link (a @samp{1} type
9380 block). In that way, the actual file contents is stored in file only
9381 once. For example, consider the following two files:
9386 -rw-r--r-- 2 gray staff 4 2007-10-30 15:11 one
9387 -rw-r--r-- 2 gray staff 4 2007-10-30 15:11 jeden
9391 Here, @file{jeden} is a link to @file{one}. When archiving this
9392 directory with a verbose level 2, you will get an output similar to
9396 $ tar cvvf ../archive.tar .
9397 drwxr-xr-x gray/staff 0 2007-10-30 15:13 ./
9398 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 4 2007-10-30 15:11 ./jeden
9399 hrw-r--r-- gray/staff 0 2007-10-30 15:11 ./one link to ./jeden
9402 The last line shows that, instead of storing two copies of the file,
9403 @command{tar} stored it only once, under the name @file{jeden}, and
9404 stored file @file{one} as a hard link to this file.
9406 It may be important to know that all hard links to the given file are
9407 stored in the archive. For example, this may be necessary for exact
9408 reproduction of the file system. The following option does that:
9411 @xopindex{check-links, described}
9414 Check the number of links dumped for each processed file. If this
9415 number does not match the total number of hard links for the file, print
9419 For example, trying to archive only file @file{jeden} with this option
9420 produces the following diagnostics:
9423 $ tar -c -f ../archive.tar -l jeden
9424 tar: Missing links to `jeden'.
9427 Although creating special records for hard links helps keep a faithful
9428 record of the file system contents and makes archives more compact, it
9429 may present some difficulties when extracting individual members from
9430 the archive. For example, trying to extract file @file{one} from the
9431 archive created in previous examples produces, in the absense of file
9435 $ tar xf archive.tar ./one
9436 tar: ./one: Cannot hard link to `./jeden': No such file or directory
9437 tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
9440 The reason for this behavior is that @command{tar} cannot seek back in
9441 the archive to the previous member (in this case, @file{one}), to
9442 extract it@footnote{There are plans to fix this in future releases.}.
9443 If you wish to avoid such problems at the cost of a bigger archive,
9444 use the following option:
9447 @xopindex{hard-dereference, described}
9448 @item --hard-dereference
9449 Dereference hard links and store the files they refer to.
9452 For example, trying this option on our two sample files, we get two
9453 copies in the archive, each of which can then be extracted
9454 independently of the other:
9458 $ tar -c -vv -f ../archive.tar --hard-dereference .
9459 drwxr-xr-x gray/staff 0 2007-10-30 15:13 ./
9460 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 4 2007-10-30 15:11 ./jeden
9461 -rw-r--r-- gray/staff 4 2007-10-30 15:11 ./one
9466 @subsection Old V7 Archives
9467 @cindex Format, old style
9468 @cindex Old style format
9469 @cindex Old style archives
9470 @cindex v7 archive format
9472 Certain old versions of @command{tar} cannot handle additional
9473 information recorded by newer @command{tar} programs. To create an
9474 archive in V7 format (not ANSI), which can be read by these old
9475 versions, specify the @option{--format=v7} option in
9476 conjunction with the @option{--create} (@option{-c}) (@command{tar} also
9477 accepts @option{--portability} or @option{--old-archive} for this
9478 option). When you specify it,
9479 @command{tar} leaves out information about directories, pipes, fifos,
9480 contiguous files, and device files, and specifies file ownership by
9481 group and user IDs instead of group and user names.
9483 When updating an archive, do not use @option{--format=v7}
9484 unless the archive was created using this option.
9486 In most cases, a @emph{new} format archive can be read by an @emph{old}
9487 @command{tar} program without serious trouble, so this option should
9488 seldom be needed. On the other hand, most modern @command{tar}s are
9489 able to read old format archives, so it might be safer for you to
9490 always use @option{--format=v7} for your distributions. Notice,
9491 however, that @samp{ustar} format is a better alternative, as it is
9492 free from many of @samp{v7}'s drawbacks.
9495 @subsection Ustar Archive Format
9497 @cindex ustar archive format
9498 Archive format defined by @acronym{POSIX}.1-1988 specification is called
9499 @code{ustar}. Although it is more flexible than the V7 format, it
9500 still has many restrictions (@pxref{Formats,ustar}, for the detailed
9501 description of @code{ustar} format). Along with V7 format,
9502 @code{ustar} format is a good choice for archives intended to be read
9503 with other implementations of @command{tar}.
9505 To create archive in @code{ustar} format, use @option{--format=ustar}
9506 option in conjunction with the @option{--create} (@option{-c}).
9509 @subsection @acronym{GNU} and old @GNUTAR{} format
9511 @cindex GNU archive format
9512 @cindex Old GNU archive format
9513 @GNUTAR{} was based on an early draft of the
9514 @acronym{POSIX} 1003.1 @code{ustar} standard. @acronym{GNU} extensions to
9515 @command{tar}, such as the support for file names longer than 100
9516 characters, use portions of the @command{tar} header record which were
9517 specified in that @acronym{POSIX} draft as unused. Subsequent changes in
9518 @acronym{POSIX} have allocated the same parts of the header record for
9519 other purposes. As a result, @GNUTAR{} format is
9520 incompatible with the current @acronym{POSIX} specification, and with
9521 @command{tar} programs that follow it.
9523 In the majority of cases, @command{tar} will be configured to create
9524 this format by default. This will change in future releases, since
9525 we plan to make @samp{POSIX} format the default.
9527 To force creation a @GNUTAR{} archive, use option
9528 @option{--format=gnu}.
9531 @subsection @GNUTAR{} and @acronym{POSIX} @command{tar}
9533 @cindex POSIX archive format
9534 @cindex PAX archive format
9535 Starting from version 1.14 @GNUTAR{} features full support for
9536 @acronym{POSIX.1-2001} archives.
9538 A @acronym{POSIX} conformant archive will be created if @command{tar}
9539 was given @option{--format=posix} (@option{--format=pax}) option. No
9540 special option is required to read and extract from a @acronym{POSIX}
9544 * PAX keywords:: Controlling Extended Header Keywords.
9548 @subsubsection Controlling Extended Header Keywords
9552 @item --pax-option=@var{keyword-list}
9553 Handle keywords in @acronym{PAX} extended headers. This option is
9554 equivalent to @option{-o} option of the @command{pax} utility.
9557 @var{Keyword-list} is a comma-separated
9558 list of keyword options, each keyword option taking one of
9559 the following forms:
9562 @item delete=@var{pattern}
9563 When used with one of archive-creation commands,
9564 this option instructs @command{tar} to omit from extended header records
9565 that it produces any keywords matching the string @var{pattern}.
9567 When used in extract or list mode, this option instructs tar
9568 to ignore any keywords matching the given @var{pattern} in the extended
9569 header records. In both cases, matching is performed using the pattern
9570 matching notation described in @acronym{POSIX 1003.2}, 3.13
9571 (@pxref{wildcards}). For example:
9574 --pax-option delete=security.*
9577 would suppress security-related information.
9579 @item exthdr.name=@var{string}
9581 This keyword allows user control over the name that is written into the
9582 ustar header blocks for the extended headers. The name is obtained
9583 from @var{string} after making the following substitutions:
9585 @multitable @columnfractions .25 .55
9586 @headitem Meta-character @tab Replaced By
9587 @item %d @tab The directory name of the file, equivalent to the
9588 result of the @command{dirname} utility on the translated file name.
9589 @item %f @tab The name of the file with the directory information
9590 stripped, equivalent to the result of the @command{basename} utility
9591 on the translated file name.
9592 @item %p @tab The process @acronym{ID} of the @command{tar} process.
9593 @item %% @tab A @samp{%} character.
9596 Any other @samp{%} characters in @var{string} produce undefined
9599 If no option @samp{exthdr.name=string} is specified, @command{tar}
9600 will use the following default value:
9606 @item exthdr.mtime=@var{value}
9608 This keyword defines the value of the @samp{mtime} field that
9609 is written into the ustar header blocks for the extended headers.
9610 By default, the @samp{mtime} field is set to the modification time
9611 of the archive member described by that extended headers.
9613 @item globexthdr.name=@var{string}
9614 This keyword allows user control over the name that is written into
9615 the ustar header blocks for global extended header records. The name
9616 is obtained from the contents of @var{string}, after making
9617 the following substitutions:
9619 @multitable @columnfractions .25 .55
9620 @headitem Meta-character @tab Replaced By
9621 @item %n @tab An integer that represents the
9622 sequence number of the global extended header record in the archive,
9624 @item %p @tab The process @acronym{ID} of the @command{tar} process.
9625 @item %% @tab A @samp{%} character.
9628 Any other @samp{%} characters in @var{string} produce undefined results.
9630 If no option @samp{globexthdr.name=string} is specified, @command{tar}
9631 will use the following default value:
9634 $TMPDIR/GlobalHead.%p.%n
9638 where @samp{$TMPDIR} represents the value of the @var{TMPDIR}
9639 environment variable. If @var{TMPDIR} is not set, @command{tar}
9642 @item globexthdr.mtime=@var{value}
9644 This keyword defines the value of the @samp{mtime} field that
9645 is written into the ustar header blocks for the global extended headers.
9646 By default, the @samp{mtime} field is set to the time when
9647 @command{tar} was invoked.
9649 @item @var{keyword}=@var{value}
9650 When used with one of archive-creation commands, these keyword/value pairs
9651 will be included at the beginning of the archive in a global extended
9652 header record. When used with one of archive-reading commands,
9653 @command{tar} will behave as if it has encountered these keyword/value
9654 pairs at the beginning of the archive in a global extended header
9657 @item @var{keyword}:=@var{value}
9658 When used with one of archive-creation commands, these keyword/value pairs
9659 will be included as records at the beginning of an extended header for
9660 each file. This is effectively equivalent to @var{keyword}=@var{value}
9661 form except that it creates no global extended header records.
9663 When used with one of archive-reading commands, @command{tar} will
9664 behave as if these keyword/value pairs were included as records at the
9665 end of each extended header; thus, they will override any global or
9666 file-specific extended header record keywords of the same names.
9667 For example, in the command:
9670 tar --format=posix --create \
9671 --file archive --pax-option gname:=user .
9674 the group name will be forced to a new value for all files
9675 stored in the archive.
9678 In any of the forms described above, the @var{value} may be
9679 a string enclosed in curly braces. In that case, the string
9680 between the braces is understood either as a textual time
9681 representation, as described in @ref{Date input formats}, or a name of
9682 the existing file, starting with @samp{/} or @samp{.}. In the latter
9683 case, the modification time of that file is used.
9685 For example, to set all modification times to the current date, you
9686 use the following option:
9689 --pax-option='mtime:=@{now@}'
9692 Note quoting of the option's argument.
9694 @cindex archives, binary equivalent
9695 @cindex binary equivalent archives, creating
9696 As another example, here is the option that ensures that any two
9697 archives created using it, will be binary equivalent if they have the
9701 --pax-option=exthdr.name=%d/PaxHeaders/%f,atime:=0
9705 @subsection Checksumming Problems
9707 SunOS and HP-UX @command{tar} fail to accept archives created using
9708 @GNUTAR{} and containing non-@acronym{ASCII} file names, that
9709 is, file names having characters with the eight bit set, because they
9710 use signed checksums, while @GNUTAR{} uses unsigned
9711 checksums while creating archives, as per @acronym{POSIX} standards. On
9712 reading, @GNUTAR{} computes both checksums and
9713 accepts any. It is somewhat worrying that a lot of people may go
9714 around doing backup of their files using faulty (or at least
9715 non-standard) software, not learning about it until it's time to
9716 restore their missing files with an incompatible file extractor, or
9719 @GNUTAR{} computes checksums both ways, and accept
9720 any on read, so @acronym{GNU} tar can read Sun tapes even with their
9721 wrong checksums. @GNUTAR{} produces the standard
9722 checksum, however, raising incompatibilities with Sun. That is to
9723 say, @GNUTAR{} has not been modified to
9724 @emph{produce} incorrect archives to be read by buggy @command{tar}'s.
9725 I've been told that more recent Sun @command{tar} now read standard
9726 archives, so maybe Sun did a similar patch, after all?
9728 The story seems to be that when Sun first imported @command{tar}
9729 sources on their system, they recompiled it without realizing that
9730 the checksums were computed differently, because of a change in
9731 the default signing of @code{char}'s in their compiler. So they
9732 started computing checksums wrongly. When they later realized their
9733 mistake, they merely decided to stay compatible with it, and with
9734 themselves afterwards. Presumably, but I do not really know, HP-UX
9735 has chosen that their @command{tar} archives to be compatible with Sun's.
9736 The current standards do not favor Sun @command{tar} format. In any
9737 case, it now falls on the shoulders of SunOS and HP-UX users to get
9738 a @command{tar} able to read the good archives they receive.
9740 @node Large or Negative Values
9741 @subsection Large or Negative Values
9742 @cindex large values
9743 @cindex future time stamps
9744 @cindex negative time stamps
9747 The above sections suggest to use @samp{oldest possible} archive
9748 format if in doubt. However, sometimes it is not possible. If you
9749 attempt to archive a file whose metadata cannot be represented using
9750 required format, @GNUTAR{} will print error message and ignore such a
9751 file. You will than have to switch to a format that is able to
9752 handle such values. The format summary table (@pxref{Formats}) will
9755 In particular, when trying to archive files larger than 8GB or with
9756 timestamps not in the range 1970-01-01 00:00:00 through 2242-03-16
9757 12:56:31 @sc{utc}, you will have to chose between @acronym{GNU} and
9758 @acronym{POSIX} archive formats. When considering which format to
9759 choose, bear in mind that the @acronym{GNU} format uses
9760 two's-complement base-256 notation to store values that do not fit
9761 into standard @acronym{ustar} range. Such archives can generally be
9762 read only by a @GNUTAR{} implementation. Moreover, they sometimes
9763 cannot be correctly restored on another hosts even by @GNUTAR{}. For
9764 example, using two's complement representation for negative time
9765 stamps that assumes a signed 32-bit @code{time_t} generates archives
9766 that are not portable to hosts with differing @code{time_t}
9769 On the other hand, @acronym{POSIX} archives, generally speaking, can
9770 be extracted by any tar implementation that understands older
9771 @acronym{ustar} format. The only exception are files larger than 8GB.
9773 @FIXME{Describe how @acronym{POSIX} archives are extracted by non
9777 @subsection How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using Other @command{tar} Implementations
9779 In previous sections you became acquainted with various quirks
9780 necessary to make your archives portable. Sometimes you may need to
9781 extract archives containing GNU-specific members using some
9782 third-party @command{tar} implementation or an older version of
9783 @GNUTAR{}. Of course your best bet is to have @GNUTAR{} installed,
9784 but if it is for some reason impossible, this section will explain
9785 how to cope without it.
9787 When we speak about @dfn{GNU-specific} members we mean two classes of
9788 them: members split between the volumes of a multi-volume archive and
9789 sparse members. You will be able to always recover such members if
9790 the archive is in PAX format. In addition split members can be
9791 recovered from archives in old GNU format. The following subsections
9792 describe the required procedures in detail.
9795 * Split Recovery:: Members Split Between Volumes
9796 * Sparse Recovery:: Sparse Members
9799 @node Split Recovery
9800 @subsubsection Extracting Members Split Between Volumes
9802 @cindex Mutli-volume archives, extracting using non-GNU tars
9803 If a member is split between several volumes of an old GNU format archive
9804 most third party @command{tar} implementation will fail to extract
9805 it. To extract it, use @command{tarcat} program (@pxref{Tarcat}).
9806 This program is available from
9807 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/software/@/tar/@/utils/@/tarcat.html, @GNUTAR{}
9808 home page}. It concatenates several archive volumes into a single
9809 valid archive. For example, if you have three volumes named from
9810 @file{vol-1.tar} to @file{vol-3.tar}, you can do the following to
9811 extract them using a third-party @command{tar}:
9814 $ @kbd{tarcat vol-1.tar vol-2.tar vol-3.tar | tar xf -}
9817 @cindex Mutli-volume archives in PAX format, extracting using non-GNU tars
9818 You could use this approach for most (although not all) PAX
9819 format archives as well. However, extracting split members from a PAX
9820 archive is a much easier task, because PAX volumes are constructed in
9821 such a way that each part of a split member is extracted to a
9822 different file by @command{tar} implementations that are not aware of
9823 GNU extensions. More specifically, the very first part retains its
9824 original name, and all subsequent parts are named using the pattern:
9827 %d/GNUFileParts.%p/%f.%n
9831 where symbols preceeded by @samp{%} are @dfn{macro characters} that
9832 have the following meaning:
9834 @multitable @columnfractions .25 .55
9835 @headitem Meta-character @tab Replaced By
9836 @item %d @tab The directory name of the file, equivalent to the
9837 result of the @command{dirname} utility on its full name.
9838 @item %f @tab The file name of the file, equivalent to the result
9839 of the @command{basename} utility on its full name.
9840 @item %p @tab The process @acronym{ID} of the @command{tar} process that
9841 created the archive.
9842 @item %n @tab Ordinal number of this particular part.
9845 For example, if the file @file{var/longfile} was split during archive
9846 creation between three volumes, and the creator @command{tar} process
9847 had process @acronym{ID} @samp{27962}, then the member names will be:
9851 var/GNUFileParts.27962/longfile.1
9852 var/GNUFileParts.27962/longfile.2
9855 When you extract your archive using a third-party @command{tar}, these
9856 files will be created on your disk, and the only thing you will need
9857 to do to restore your file in its original form is concatenate them in
9858 the proper order, for example:
9863 $ @kbd{cat GNUFileParts.27962/longfile.1 \
9864 GNUFileParts.27962/longfile.2 >> longfile}
9865 $ rm -f GNUFileParts.27962
9869 Notice, that if the @command{tar} implementation you use supports PAX
9870 format archives, it will probably emit warnings about unknown keywords
9871 during extraction. They will look like this:
9876 Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.volume.filename' ignored.
9877 Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.volume.size' ignored.
9878 Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.volume.offset' ignored.
9883 You can safely ignore these warnings.
9885 If your @command{tar} implementation is not PAX-aware, you will get
9886 more warnings and more files generated on your disk, e.g.:
9890 $ @kbd{tar xf vol-1.tar}
9891 var/PaxHeaders.27962/longfile: Unknown file type 'x', extracted as
9893 Unexpected EOF in archive
9894 $ @kbd{tar xf vol-2.tar}
9895 tmp/GlobalHead.27962.1: Unknown file type 'g', extracted as normal file
9896 GNUFileParts.27962/PaxHeaders.27962/sparsefile.1: Unknown file type
9897 'x', extracted as normal file
9901 Ignore these warnings. The @file{PaxHeaders.*} directories created
9902 will contain files with @dfn{extended header keywords} describing the
9903 extracted files. You can delete them, unless they describe sparse
9904 members. Read further to learn more about them.
9906 @node Sparse Recovery
9907 @subsubsection Extracting Sparse Members
9909 @cindex sparse files, extracting with non-GNU tars
9910 Any @command{tar} implementation will be able to extract sparse members from a
9911 PAX archive. However, the extracted files will be @dfn{condensed},
9912 i.e., any zero blocks will be removed from them. When we restore such
9913 a condensed file to its original form, by adding zero blocks (or
9914 @dfn{holes}) back to their original locations, we call this process
9915 @dfn{expanding} a compressed sparse file.
9918 To expand a file, you will need a simple auxiliary program called
9919 @command{xsparse}. It is available in source form from
9920 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/software/@/tar/@/utils/@/xsparse.html, @GNUTAR{}
9923 @cindex sparse files v.1.0, extracting with non-GNU tars
9924 Let's begin with archive members in @dfn{sparse format
9925 version 1.0}@footnote{@xref{PAX 1}.}, which are the easiest to expand.
9926 The condensed file will contain both file map and file data, so no
9927 additional data will be needed to restore it. If the original file
9928 name was @file{@var{dir}/@var{name}}, then the condensed file will be
9929 named @file{@var{dir}/@/GNUSparseFile.@var{n}/@/@var{name}}, where
9930 @var{n} is a decimal number@footnote{Technically speaking, @var{n} is a
9931 @dfn{process @acronym{ID}} of the @command{tar} process which created the
9932 archive (@pxref{PAX keywords}).}.
9934 To expand a version 1.0 file, run @command{xsparse} as follows:
9937 $ @kbd{xsparse @file{cond-file}}
9941 where @file{cond-file} is the name of the condensed file. The utility
9942 will deduce the name for the resulting expanded file using the
9943 following algorithm:
9946 @item If @file{cond-file} does not contain any directories,
9947 @file{../cond-file} will be used;
9949 @item If @file{cond-file} has the form
9950 @file{@var{dir}/@var{t}/@var{name}}, where both @var{t} and @var{name}
9951 are simple names, with no @samp{/} characters in them, the output file
9952 name will be @file{@var{dir}/@var{name}}.
9954 @item Otherwise, if @file{cond-file} has the form
9955 @file{@var{dir}/@var{name}}, the output file name will be
9959 In the unlikely case when this algorithm does not suit your needs,
9960 you can explicitly specify output file name as a second argument to
9964 $ @kbd{xsparse @file{cond-file} @file{out-file}}
9967 It is often a good idea to run @command{xsparse} in @dfn{dry run} mode
9968 first. In this mode, the command does not actually expand the file,
9969 but verbosely lists all actions it would be taking to do so. The dry
9970 run mode is enabled by @option{-n} command line argument:
9974 $ @kbd{xsparse -n /home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile}
9975 Reading v.1.0 sparse map
9976 Expanding file `/home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile' to
9977 `/home/gray/sparsefile'
9982 To actually expand the file, you would run:
9985 $ @kbd{xsparse /home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile}
9989 The program behaves the same way all UNIX utilities do: it will keep
9990 quiet unless it has simething important to tell you (e.g. an error
9991 condition or something). If you wish it to produce verbose output,
9992 similar to that from the dry run mode, use @option{-v} option:
9996 $ @kbd{xsparse -v /home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile}
9997 Reading v.1.0 sparse map
9998 Expanding file `/home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile' to
9999 `/home/gray/sparsefile'
10004 Additionally, if your @command{tar} implementation has extracted the
10005 @dfn{extended headers} for this file, you can instruct @command{xstar}
10006 to use them in order to verify the integrity of the expanded file.
10007 The option @option{-x} sets the name of the extended header file to
10008 use. Continuing our example:
10012 $ @kbd{xsparse -v -x /home/gray/PaxHeaders.6058/sparsefile \
10013 /home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile}
10014 Reading extended header file
10015 Found variable GNU.sparse.major = 1
10016 Found variable GNU.sparse.minor = 0
10017 Found variable GNU.sparse.name = sparsefile
10018 Found variable GNU.sparse.realsize = 217481216
10019 Reading v.1.0 sparse map
10020 Expanding file `/home/gray/GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile' to
10021 `/home/gray/sparsefile'
10026 @anchor{extracting sparse v.0.x}
10027 @cindex sparse files v.0.1, extracting with non-GNU tars
10028 @cindex sparse files v.0.0, extracting with non-GNU tars
10029 An @dfn{extended header} is a special @command{tar} archive header
10030 that precedes an archive member and contains a set of
10031 @dfn{variables}, describing the member properties that cannot be
10032 stored in the standard @code{ustar} header. While optional for
10033 expanding sparse version 1.0 members, the use of extended headers is
10034 mandatory when expanding sparse members in older sparse formats: v.0.0
10035 and v.0.1 (The sparse formats are described in detail in @ref{Sparse
10036 Formats}.) So, for these formats, the question is: how to obtain
10037 extended headers from the archive?
10039 If you use a @command{tar} implementation that does not support PAX
10040 format, extended headers for each member will be extracted as a
10041 separate file. If we represent the member name as
10042 @file{@var{dir}/@var{name}}, then the extended header file will be
10043 named @file{@var{dir}/@/PaxHeaders.@var{n}/@/@var{name}}, where
10044 @var{n} is an integer number.
10046 Things become more difficult if your @command{tar} implementation
10047 does support PAX headers, because in this case you will have to
10048 manually extract the headers. We recommend the following algorithm:
10052 Consult the documentation of your @command{tar} implementation for an
10053 option that prints @dfn{block numbers} along with the archive
10054 listing (analogous to @GNUTAR{}'s @option{-R} option). For example,
10055 @command{star} has @option{-block-number}.
10058 Obtain verbose listing using the @samp{block number} option, and
10059 find block numbers of the sparse member in question and the member
10060 immediately following it. For example, running @command{star} on our
10065 $ @kbd{star -t -v -block-number -f arc.tar}
10067 star: Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.sparse.size' ignored.
10068 star: Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.sparse.numblocks' ignored.
10069 star: Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.sparse.name' ignored.
10070 star: Unknown extended header keyword 'GNU.sparse.map' ignored.
10071 block 56: 425984 -rw-r--r-- gray/users Jun 25 14:46 2006 GNUSparseFile.28124/sparsefile
10072 block 897: 65391 -rw-r--r-- gray/users Jun 24 20:06 2006 README
10078 (as usual, ignore the warnings about unknown keywords.)
10081 Let @var{size} be the size of the sparse member, @var{Bs} be its block number
10082 and @var{Bn} be the block number of the next member.
10086 @var{N} = @var{Bs} - @var{Bn} - @var{size}/512 - 2
10090 This number gives the size of the extended header part in tar @dfn{blocks}.
10091 In our example, this formula gives: @code{897 - 56 - 425984 / 512 - 2
10095 Use @command{dd} to extract the headers:
10098 @kbd{dd if=@var{archive} of=@var{hname} bs=512 skip=@var{Bs} count=@var{N}}
10102 where @var{archive} is the archive name, @var{hname} is a name of the
10103 file to store the extended header in, @var{Bs} and @var{N} are
10104 computed in previous steps.
10106 In our example, this command will be
10109 $ @kbd{dd if=arc.tar of=xhdr bs=512 skip=56 count=7}
10113 Finally, you can expand the condensed file, using the obtained header:
10117 $ @kbd{xsparse -v -x xhdr GNUSparseFile.6058/sparsefile}
10118 Reading extended header file
10119 Found variable GNU.sparse.size = 217481216
10120 Found variable GNU.sparse.numblocks = 208
10121 Found variable GNU.sparse.name = sparsefile
10122 Found variable GNU.sparse.map = 0,2048,1050624,2048,@dots{}
10123 Expanding file `GNUSparseFile.28124/sparsefile' to `sparsefile'
10129 @section Comparison of @command{tar} and @command{cpio}
10132 @FIXME{Reorganize the following material}
10134 The @command{cpio} archive formats, like @command{tar}, do have maximum
10135 file name lengths. The binary and old @acronym{ASCII} formats have a maximum file
10136 length of 256, and the new @acronym{ASCII} and @acronym{CRC ASCII} formats have a max
10137 file length of 1024. @acronym{GNU} @command{cpio} can read and write archives
10138 with arbitrary file name lengths, but other @command{cpio} implementations
10139 may crash unexplainedly trying to read them.
10141 @command{tar} handles symbolic links in the form in which it comes in @acronym{BSD};
10142 @command{cpio} doesn't handle symbolic links in the form in which it comes
10143 in System V prior to SVR4, and some vendors may have added symlinks
10144 to their system without enhancing @command{cpio} to know about them.
10145 Others may have enhanced it in a way other than the way I did it
10146 at Sun, and which was adopted by AT&T (and which is, I think, also
10147 present in the @command{cpio} that Berkeley picked up from AT&T and put
10148 into a later @acronym{BSD} release---I think I gave them my changes).
10150 (SVR4 does some funny stuff with @command{tar}; basically, its @command{cpio}
10151 can handle @command{tar} format input, and write it on output, and it
10152 probably handles symbolic links. They may not have bothered doing
10153 anything to enhance @command{tar} as a result.)
10155 @command{cpio} handles special files; traditional @command{tar} doesn't.
10157 @command{tar} comes with V7, System III, System V, and @acronym{BSD} source;
10158 @command{cpio} comes only with System III, System V, and later @acronym{BSD}
10159 (4.3-tahoe and later).
10161 @command{tar}'s way of handling multiple hard links to a file can handle
10162 file systems that support 32-bit i-numbers (e.g., the @acronym{BSD} file system);
10163 @command{cpio}s way requires you to play some games (in its ``binary''
10164 format, i-numbers are only 16 bits, and in its ``portable @acronym{ASCII}'' format,
10165 they're 18 bits---it would have to play games with the "file system @acronym{ID}"
10166 field of the header to make sure that the file system @acronym{ID}/i-number pairs
10167 of different files were always different), and I don't know which
10168 @command{cpio}s, if any, play those games. Those that don't might get
10169 confused and think two files are the same file when they're not, and
10170 make hard links between them.
10172 @command{tar}s way of handling multiple hard links to a file places only
10173 one copy of the link on the tape, but the name attached to that copy
10174 is the @emph{only} one you can use to retrieve the file; @command{cpio}s
10175 way puts one copy for every link, but you can retrieve it using any
10179 What type of check sum (if any) is used, and how is this calculated.
10182 See the attached manual pages for @command{tar} and @command{cpio} format.
10183 @command{tar} uses a checksum which is the sum of all the bytes in the
10184 @command{tar} header for a file; @command{cpio} uses no checksum.
10187 If anyone knows why @command{cpio} was made when @command{tar} was present
10191 It wasn't. @command{cpio} first showed up in PWB/UNIX 1.0; no
10192 generally-available version of UNIX had @command{tar} at the time. I don't
10193 know whether any version that was generally available @emph{within AT&T}
10194 had @command{tar}, or, if so, whether the people within AT&T who did
10195 @command{cpio} knew about it.
10197 On restore, if there is a corruption on a tape @command{tar} will stop at
10198 that point, while @command{cpio} will skip over it and try to restore the
10201 The main difference is just in the command syntax and header format.
10203 @command{tar} is a little more tape-oriented in that everything is blocked
10204 to start on a record boundary.
10207 Is there any differences between the ability to recover crashed
10208 archives between the two of them. (Is there any chance of recovering
10209 crashed archives at all.)
10212 Theoretically it should be easier under @command{tar} since the blocking
10213 lets you find a header with some variation of @samp{dd skip=@var{nn}}.
10214 However, modern @command{cpio}'s and variations have an option to just
10215 search for the next file header after an error with a reasonable chance
10216 of resyncing. However, lots of tape driver software won't allow you to
10217 continue past a media error which should be the only reason for getting
10218 out of sync unless a file changed sizes while you were writing the
10222 If anyone knows why @command{cpio} was made when @command{tar} was present
10223 at the unix scene, please tell me about this too.
10226 Probably because it is more media efficient (by not blocking everything
10227 and using only the space needed for the headers where @command{tar}
10228 always uses 512 bytes per file header) and it knows how to archive
10231 You might want to look at the freely available alternatives. The
10232 major ones are @command{afio}, @GNUTAR{}, and
10233 @command{pax}, each of which have their own extensions with some
10234 backwards compatibility.
10236 Sparse files were @command{tar}red as sparse files (which you can
10237 easily test, because the resulting archive gets smaller, and
10238 @acronym{GNU} @command{cpio} can no longer read it).
10241 @chapter Tapes and Other Archive Media
10244 A few special cases about tape handling warrant more detailed
10245 description. These special cases are discussed below.
10247 Many complexities surround the use of @command{tar} on tape drives. Since
10248 the creation and manipulation of archives located on magnetic tape was
10249 the original purpose of @command{tar}, it contains many features making
10250 such manipulation easier.
10252 Archives are usually written on dismountable media---tape cartridges,
10253 mag tapes, or floppy disks.
10255 The amount of data a tape or disk holds depends not only on its size,
10256 but also on how it is formatted. A 2400 foot long reel of mag tape
10257 holds 40 megabytes of data when formatted at 1600 bits per inch. The
10258 physically smaller EXABYTE tape cartridge holds 2.3 gigabytes.
10260 Magnetic media are re-usable---once the archive on a tape is no longer
10261 needed, the archive can be erased and the tape or disk used over.
10262 Media quality does deteriorate with use, however. Most tapes or disks
10263 should be discarded when they begin to produce data errors. EXABYTE
10264 tape cartridges should be discarded when they generate an @dfn{error
10265 count} (number of non-usable bits) of more than 10k.
10267 Magnetic media are written and erased using magnetic fields, and
10268 should be protected from such fields to avoid damage to stored data.
10269 Sticking a floppy disk to a filing cabinet using a magnet is probably
10273 * Device:: Device selection and switching
10274 * Remote Tape Server::
10275 * Common Problems and Solutions::
10276 * Blocking:: Blocking
10277 * Many:: Many archives on one tape
10278 * Using Multiple Tapes:: Using Multiple Tapes
10279 * label:: Including a Label in the Archive
10281 * Write Protection::
10285 @section Device Selection and Switching
10289 @item -f [@var{hostname}:]@var{file}
10290 @itemx --file=[@var{hostname}:]@var{file}
10291 Use archive file or device @var{file} on @var{hostname}.
10294 This option is used to specify the file name of the archive @command{tar}
10297 If the file name is @samp{-}, @command{tar} reads the archive from standard
10298 input (when listing or extracting), or writes it to standard output
10299 (when creating). If the @samp{-} file name is given when updating an
10300 archive, @command{tar} will read the original archive from its standard
10301 input, and will write the entire new archive to its standard output.
10303 If the file name contains a @samp{:}, it is interpreted as
10304 @samp{hostname:file name}. If the @var{hostname} contains an @dfn{at}
10305 sign (@samp{@@}), it is treated as @samp{user@@hostname:file name}. In
10306 either case, @command{tar} will invoke the command @command{rsh} (or
10307 @command{remsh}) to start up an @command{/usr/libexec/rmt} on the remote
10308 machine. If you give an alternate login name, it will be given to the
10310 Naturally, the remote machine must have an executable
10311 @command{/usr/libexec/rmt}. This program is free software from the
10312 University of California, and a copy of the source code can be found
10313 with the sources for @command{tar}; it's compiled and installed by default.
10314 The exact path to this utility is determined when configuring the package.
10315 It is @file{@var{prefix}/libexec/rmt}, where @var{prefix} stands for
10316 your installation prefix. This location may also be overridden at
10317 runtime by using the @option{--rmt-command=@var{command}} option (@xref{Option Summary,
10318 ---rmt-command}, for detailed description of this option. @xref{Remote
10319 Tape Server}, for the description of @command{rmt} command).
10321 If this option is not given, but the environment variable @env{TAPE}
10322 is set, its value is used; otherwise, old versions of @command{tar}
10323 used a default archive name (which was picked when @command{tar} was
10324 compiled). The default is normally set up to be the @dfn{first} tape
10325 drive or other transportable I/O medium on the system.
10327 Starting with version 1.11.5, @GNUTAR{} uses
10328 standard input and standard output as the default device, and I will
10329 not try anymore supporting automatic device detection at installation
10330 time. This was failing really in too many cases, it was hopeless.
10331 This is now completely left to the installer to override standard
10332 input and standard output for default device, if this seems
10333 preferable. Further, I think @emph{most} actual usages of
10334 @command{tar} are done with pipes or disks, not really tapes,
10335 cartridges or diskettes.
10337 Some users think that using standard input and output is running
10338 after trouble. This could lead to a nasty surprise on your screen if
10339 you forget to specify an output file name---especially if you are going
10340 through a network or terminal server capable of buffering large amounts
10341 of output. We had so many bug reports in that area of configuring
10342 default tapes automatically, and so many contradicting requests, that
10343 we finally consider the problem to be portably intractable. We could
10344 of course use something like @samp{/dev/tape} as a default, but this
10345 is @emph{also} running after various kind of trouble, going from hung
10346 processes to accidental destruction of real tapes. After having seen
10347 all this mess, using standard input and output as a default really
10348 sounds like the only clean choice left, and a very useful one too.
10350 @GNUTAR{} reads and writes archive in records, I
10351 suspect this is the main reason why block devices are preferred over
10352 character devices. Most probably, block devices are more efficient
10353 too. The installer could also check for @samp{DEFTAPE} in
10354 @file{<sys/mtio.h>}.
10357 @xopindex{force-local, short description}
10358 @item --force-local
10359 Archive file is local even if it contains a colon.
10361 @opindex rsh-command
10362 @item --rsh-command=@var{command}
10363 Use remote @var{command} instead of @command{rsh}. This option exists
10364 so that people who use something other than the standard @command{rsh}
10365 (e.g., a Kerberized @command{rsh}) can access a remote device.
10367 When this command is not used, the shell command found when
10368 the @command{tar} program was installed is used instead. This is
10369 the first found of @file{/usr/ucb/rsh}, @file{/usr/bin/remsh},
10370 @file{/usr/bin/rsh}, @file{/usr/bsd/rsh} or @file{/usr/bin/nsh}.
10371 The installer may have overridden this by defining the environment
10372 variable @env{RSH} @emph{at installation time}.
10375 Specify drive and density.
10377 @xopindex{multi-volume, short description}
10379 @itemx --multi-volume
10380 Create/list/extract multi-volume archive.
10382 This option causes @command{tar} to write a @dfn{multi-volume} archive---one
10383 that may be larger than will fit on the medium used to hold it.
10384 @xref{Multi-Volume Archives}.
10386 @xopindex{tape-length, short description}
10388 @itemx --tape-length=@var{size}[@var{suf}]
10389 Change tape after writing @var{size} units of data. Unless @var{suf} is
10390 given, @var{size} is treated as kilobytes, i.e. @samp{@var{size} x
10391 1024} bytes. The following suffixes alter this behavior:
10393 @float Table, size-suffixes
10394 @caption{Size Suffixes}
10395 @multitable @columnfractions 0.2 0.3 0.3
10396 @headitem Suffix @tab Units @tab Byte Equivalent
10397 @item b @tab Blocks @tab @var{size} x 512
10398 @item B @tab Kilobytes @tab @var{size} x 1024
10399 @item c @tab Bytes @tab @var{size}
10400 @item G @tab Gigabytes @tab @var{size} x 1024^3
10401 @item K @tab Kilobytes @tab @var{size} x 1024
10402 @item k @tab Kilobytes @tab @var{size} x 1024
10403 @item M @tab Megabytes @tab @var{size} x 1024^2
10404 @item P @tab Petabytes @tab @var{size} x 1024^5
10405 @item T @tab Terabytes @tab @var{size} x 1024^4
10406 @item w @tab Words @tab @var{size} x 2
10410 This option might be useful when your tape drivers do not properly
10411 detect end of physical tapes. By being slightly conservative on the
10412 maximum tape length, you might avoid the problem entirely.
10414 @xopindex{info-script, short description}
10415 @xopindex{new-volume-script, short description}
10416 @item -F @var{file}
10417 @itemx --info-script=@var{file}
10418 @itemx --new-volume-script=@var{file}
10419 Execute @file{file} at end of each tape. This implies
10420 @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}). @xref{info-script}, for a detailed
10421 description of this option.
10424 @node Remote Tape Server
10425 @section Remote Tape Server
10427 @cindex remote tape drive
10429 In order to access the tape drive on a remote machine, @command{tar}
10430 uses the remote tape server written at the University of California at
10431 Berkeley. The remote tape server must be installed as
10432 @file{@var{prefix}/libexec/rmt} on any machine whose tape drive you
10433 want to use. @command{tar} calls @command{rmt} by running an
10434 @command{rsh} or @command{remsh} to the remote machine, optionally
10435 using a different login name if one is supplied.
10437 A copy of the source for the remote tape server is provided. It is
10438 Copyright @copyright{} 1983 by the Regents of the University of
10439 California, but can be freely distributed. It is compiled and
10440 installed by default.
10442 @cindex absolute file names
10443 Unless you use the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option,
10444 @GNUTAR{} will not allow you to create an archive that contains
10445 absolute file names (a file name beginning with @samp{/}.) If you try,
10446 @command{tar} will automatically remove the leading @samp{/} from the
10447 file names it stores in the archive. It will also type a warning
10448 message telling you what it is doing.
10450 When reading an archive that was created with a different
10451 @command{tar} program, @GNUTAR{} automatically
10452 extracts entries in the archive which have absolute file names as if
10453 the file names were not absolute. This is an important feature. A
10454 visitor here once gave a @command{tar} tape to an operator to restore;
10455 the operator used Sun @command{tar} instead of @GNUTAR{},
10456 and the result was that it replaced large portions of
10457 our @file{/bin} and friends with versions from the tape; needless to
10458 say, we were unhappy about having to recover the file system from
10461 For example, if the archive contained a file @file{/usr/bin/computoy},
10462 @GNUTAR{} would extract the file to @file{usr/bin/computoy},
10463 relative to the current directory. If you want to extract the files in
10464 an archive to the same absolute names that they had when the archive
10465 was created, you should do a @samp{cd /} before extracting the files
10466 from the archive, or you should either use the @option{--absolute-names}
10467 option, or use the command @samp{tar -C / @dots{}}.
10469 @cindex Ultrix 3.1 and write failure
10470 Some versions of Unix (Ultrix 3.1 is known to have this problem),
10471 can claim that a short write near the end of a tape succeeded,
10472 when it actually failed. This will result in the -M option not
10473 working correctly. The best workaround at the moment is to use a
10474 significantly larger blocking factor than the default 20.
10476 In order to update an archive, @command{tar} must be able to backspace the
10477 archive in order to reread or rewrite a record that was just read (or
10478 written). This is currently possible only on two kinds of files: normal
10479 disk files (or any other file that can be backspaced with @samp{lseek}),
10480 and industry-standard 9-track magnetic tape (or any other kind of tape
10481 that can be backspaced with the @code{MTIOCTOP} @code{ioctl}).
10483 This means that the @option{--append}, @option{--concatenate}, and
10484 @option{--delete} commands will not work on any other kind of file.
10485 Some media simply cannot be backspaced, which means these commands and
10486 options will never be able to work on them. These non-backspacing
10487 media include pipes and cartridge tape drives.
10489 Some other media can be backspaced, and @command{tar} will work on them
10490 once @command{tar} is modified to do so.
10492 Archives created with the @option{--multi-volume}, @option{--label}, and
10493 @option{--incremental} (@option{-G}) options may not be readable by other version
10494 of @command{tar}. In particular, restoring a file that was split over
10495 a volume boundary will require some careful work with @command{dd}, if
10496 it can be done at all. Other versions of @command{tar} may also create
10497 an empty file whose name is that of the volume header. Some versions
10498 of @command{tar} may create normal files instead of directories archived
10499 with the @option{--incremental} (@option{-G}) option.
10501 @node Common Problems and Solutions
10502 @section Some Common Problems and their Solutions
10507 errors from system:
10509 no such file or directory
10512 errors from @command{tar}:
10513 directory checksum error
10514 header format error
10516 errors from media/system:
10528 @dfn{Block} and @dfn{record} terminology is rather confused, and it
10529 is also confusing to the expert reader. On the other hand, readers
10530 who are new to the field have a fresh mind, and they may safely skip
10531 the next two paragraphs, as the remainder of this manual uses those
10532 two terms in a quite consistent way.
10534 John Gilmore, the writer of the public domain @command{tar} from which
10535 @GNUTAR{} was originally derived, wrote (June 1995):
10538 The nomenclature of tape drives comes from IBM, where I believe
10539 they were invented for the IBM 650 or so. On IBM mainframes, what
10540 is recorded on tape are tape blocks. The logical organization of
10541 data is into records. There are various ways of putting records into
10542 blocks, including @code{F} (fixed sized records), @code{V} (variable
10543 sized records), @code{FB} (fixed blocked: fixed size records, @var{n}
10544 to a block), @code{VB} (variable size records, @var{n} to a block),
10545 @code{VSB} (variable spanned blocked: variable sized records that can
10546 occupy more than one block), etc. The @code{JCL} @samp{DD RECFORM=}
10547 parameter specified this to the operating system.
10549 The Unix man page on @command{tar} was totally confused about this.
10550 When I wrote @code{PD TAR}, I used the historically correct terminology
10551 (@command{tar} writes data records, which are grouped into blocks).
10552 It appears that the bogus terminology made it into @acronym{POSIX} (no surprise
10553 here), and now Fran@,{c}ois has migrated that terminology back
10554 into the source code too.
10557 The term @dfn{physical block} means the basic transfer chunk from or
10558 to a device, after which reading or writing may stop without anything
10559 being lost. In this manual, the term @dfn{block} usually refers to
10560 a disk physical block, @emph{assuming} that each disk block is 512
10561 bytes in length. It is true that some disk devices have different
10562 physical blocks, but @command{tar} ignore these differences in its own
10563 format, which is meant to be portable, so a @command{tar} block is always
10564 512 bytes in length, and @dfn{block} always mean a @command{tar} block.
10565 The term @dfn{logical block} often represents the basic chunk of
10566 allocation of many disk blocks as a single entity, which the operating
10567 system treats somewhat atomically; this concept is only barely used
10570 The term @dfn{physical record} is another way to speak of a physical
10571 block, those two terms are somewhat interchangeable. In this manual,
10572 the term @dfn{record} usually refers to a tape physical block,
10573 @emph{assuming} that the @command{tar} archive is kept on magnetic tape.
10574 It is true that archives may be put on disk or used with pipes,
10575 but nevertheless, @command{tar} tries to read and write the archive one
10576 @dfn{record} at a time, whatever the medium in use. One record is made
10577 up of an integral number of blocks, and this operation of putting many
10578 disk blocks into a single tape block is called @dfn{reblocking}, or
10579 more simply, @dfn{blocking}. The term @dfn{logical record} refers to
10580 the logical organization of many characters into something meaningful
10581 to the application. The term @dfn{unit record} describes a small set
10582 of characters which are transmitted whole to or by the application,
10583 and often refers to a line of text. Those two last terms are unrelated
10584 to what we call a @dfn{record} in @GNUTAR{}.
10586 When writing to tapes, @command{tar} writes the contents of the archive
10587 in chunks known as @dfn{records}. To change the default blocking
10588 factor, use the @option{--blocking-factor=@var{512-size}} (@option{-b
10589 @var{512-size}}) option. Each record will then be composed of
10590 @var{512-size} blocks. (Each @command{tar} block is 512 bytes.
10591 @xref{Standard}.) Each file written to the archive uses at least one
10592 full record. As a result, using a larger record size can result in
10593 more wasted space for small files. On the other hand, a larger record
10594 size can often be read and written much more efficiently.
10596 Further complicating the problem is that some tape drives ignore the
10597 blocking entirely. For these, a larger record size can still improve
10598 performance (because the software layers above the tape drive still
10599 honor the blocking), but not as dramatically as on tape drives that
10602 When reading an archive, @command{tar} can usually figure out the
10603 record size on itself. When this is the case, and a non-standard
10604 record size was used when the archive was created, @command{tar} will
10605 print a message about a non-standard blocking factor, and then operate
10606 normally. On some tape devices, however, @command{tar} cannot figure
10607 out the record size itself. On most of those, you can specify a
10608 blocking factor (with @option{--blocking-factor}) larger than the
10609 actual blocking factor, and then use the @option{--read-full-records}
10610 (@option{-B}) option. (If you specify a blocking factor with
10611 @option{--blocking-factor} and don't use the
10612 @option{--read-full-records} option, then @command{tar} will not
10613 attempt to figure out the recording size itself.) On some devices,
10614 you must always specify the record size exactly with
10615 @option{--blocking-factor} when reading, because @command{tar} cannot
10616 figure it out. In any case, use @option{--list} (@option{-t}) before
10617 doing any extractions to see whether @command{tar} is reading the archive
10620 @command{tar} blocks are all fixed size (512 bytes), and its scheme for
10621 putting them into records is to put a whole number of them (one or
10622 more) into each record. @command{tar} records are all the same size;
10623 at the end of the file there's a block containing all zeros, which
10624 is how you tell that the remainder of the last record(s) are garbage.
10626 In a standard @command{tar} file (no options), the block size is 512
10627 and the record size is 10240, for a blocking factor of 20. What the
10628 @option{--blocking-factor} option does is sets the blocking factor,
10629 changing the record size while leaving the block size at 512 bytes.
10630 20 was fine for ancient 800 or 1600 bpi reel-to-reel tape drives;
10631 most tape drives these days prefer much bigger records in order to
10632 stream and not waste tape. When writing tapes for myself, some tend
10633 to use a factor of the order of 2048, say, giving a record size of
10634 around one megabyte.
10636 If you use a blocking factor larger than 20, older @command{tar}
10637 programs might not be able to read the archive, so we recommend this
10638 as a limit to use in practice. @GNUTAR{}, however,
10639 will support arbitrarily large record sizes, limited only by the
10640 amount of virtual memory or the physical characteristics of the tape
10644 * Format Variations:: Format Variations
10645 * Blocking Factor:: The Blocking Factor of an Archive
10648 @node Format Variations
10649 @subsection Format Variations
10650 @cindex Format Parameters
10651 @cindex Format Options
10652 @cindex Options, archive format specifying
10653 @cindex Options, format specifying
10656 Format parameters specify how an archive is written on the archive
10657 media. The best choice of format parameters will vary depending on
10658 the type and number of files being archived, and on the media used to
10661 To specify format parameters when accessing or creating an archive,
10662 you can use the options described in the following sections.
10663 If you do not specify any format parameters, @command{tar} uses
10664 default parameters. You cannot modify a compressed archive.
10665 If you create an archive with the @option{--blocking-factor} option
10666 specified (@pxref{Blocking Factor}), you must specify that
10667 blocking-factor when operating on the archive. @xref{Formats}, for other
10668 examples of format parameter considerations.
10670 @node Blocking Factor
10671 @subsection The Blocking Factor of an Archive
10672 @cindex Blocking Factor
10673 @cindex Record Size
10674 @cindex Number of blocks per record
10675 @cindex Number of bytes per record
10676 @cindex Bytes per record
10677 @cindex Blocks per record
10680 @opindex blocking-factor
10681 The data in an archive is grouped into blocks, which are 512 bytes.
10682 Blocks are read and written in whole number multiples called
10683 @dfn{records}. The number of blocks in a record (i.e., the size of a
10684 record in units of 512 bytes) is called the @dfn{blocking factor}.
10685 The @option{--blocking-factor=@var{512-size}} (@option{-b
10686 @var{512-size}}) option specifies the blocking factor of an archive.
10687 The default blocking factor is typically 20 (i.e., 10240 bytes), but
10688 can be specified at installation. To find out the blocking factor of
10689 an existing archive, use @samp{tar --list --file=@var{archive-name}}.
10690 This may not work on some devices.
10692 Records are separated by gaps, which waste space on the archive media.
10693 If you are archiving on magnetic tape, using a larger blocking factor
10694 (and therefore larger records) provides faster throughput and allows you
10695 to fit more data on a tape (because there are fewer gaps). If you are
10696 archiving on cartridge, a very large blocking factor (say 126 or more)
10697 greatly increases performance. A smaller blocking factor, on the other
10698 hand, may be useful when archiving small files, to avoid archiving lots
10699 of nulls as @command{tar} fills out the archive to the end of the record.
10700 In general, the ideal record size depends on the size of the
10701 inter-record gaps on the tape you are using, and the average size of the
10702 files you are archiving. @xref{create}, for information on
10705 @FIXME{Need example of using a cartridge with blocking factor=126 or more.}
10707 Archives with blocking factors larger than 20 cannot be read
10708 by very old versions of @command{tar}, or by some newer versions
10709 of @command{tar} running on old machines with small address spaces.
10710 With @GNUTAR{}, the blocking factor of an archive is limited
10711 only by the maximum record size of the device containing the archive,
10712 or by the amount of available virtual memory.
10714 Also, on some systems, not using adequate blocking factors, as sometimes
10715 imposed by the device drivers, may yield unexpected diagnostics. For
10716 example, this has been reported:
10719 Cannot write to /dev/dlt: Invalid argument
10723 In such cases, it sometimes happen that the @command{tar} bundled by
10724 the system is aware of block size idiosyncrasies, while @GNUTAR{}
10725 requires an explicit specification for the block size,
10726 which it cannot guess. This yields some people to consider
10727 @GNUTAR{} is misbehaving, because by comparison,
10728 @cite{the bundle @command{tar} works OK}. Adding @w{@kbd{-b 256}},
10729 for example, might resolve the problem.
10731 If you use a non-default blocking factor when you create an archive, you
10732 must specify the same blocking factor when you modify that archive. Some
10733 archive devices will also require you to specify the blocking factor when
10734 reading that archive, however this is not typically the case. Usually, you
10735 can use @option{--list} (@option{-t}) without specifying a blocking factor---@command{tar}
10736 reports a non-default record size and then lists the archive members as
10737 it would normally. To extract files from an archive with a non-standard
10738 blocking factor (particularly if you're not sure what the blocking factor
10739 is), you can usually use the @option{--read-full-records} (@option{-B}) option while
10740 specifying a blocking factor larger then the blocking factor of the archive
10741 (i.e., @samp{tar --extract --read-full-records --blocking-factor=300}).
10742 @xref{list}, for more information on the @option{--list} (@option{-t})
10743 operation. @xref{Reading}, for a more detailed explanation of that option.
10746 @item --blocking-factor=@var{number}
10747 @itemx -b @var{number}
10748 Specifies the blocking factor of an archive. Can be used with any
10749 operation, but is usually not necessary with @option{--list} (@option{-t}).
10755 @item -b @var{blocks}
10756 @itemx --blocking-factor=@var{blocks}
10757 Set record size to @math{@var{blocks}*512} bytes.
10759 This option is used to specify a @dfn{blocking factor} for the archive.
10760 When reading or writing the archive, @command{tar}, will do reads and writes
10761 of the archive in records of @math{@var{block}*512} bytes. This is true
10762 even when the archive is compressed. Some devices requires that all
10763 write operations be a multiple of a certain size, and so, @command{tar}
10764 pads the archive out to the next record boundary.
10766 The default blocking factor is set when @command{tar} is compiled, and is
10767 typically 20. Blocking factors larger than 20 cannot be read by very
10768 old versions of @command{tar}, or by some newer versions of @command{tar}
10769 running on old machines with small address spaces.
10771 With a magnetic tape, larger records give faster throughput and fit
10772 more data on a tape (because there are fewer inter-record gaps).
10773 If the archive is in a disk file or a pipe, you may want to specify
10774 a smaller blocking factor, since a large one will result in a large
10775 number of null bytes at the end of the archive.
10777 When writing cartridge or other streaming tapes, a much larger
10778 blocking factor (say 126 or more) will greatly increase performance.
10779 However, you must specify the same blocking factor when reading or
10780 updating the archive.
10782 Apparently, Exabyte drives have a physical block size of 8K bytes.
10783 If we choose our blocksize as a multiple of 8k bytes, then the problem
10784 seems to disappear. Id est, we are using block size of 112 right
10785 now, and we haven't had the problem since we switched@dots{}
10787 With @GNUTAR{} the blocking factor is limited only
10788 by the maximum record size of the device containing the archive, or by
10789 the amount of available virtual memory.
10791 However, deblocking or reblocking is virtually avoided in a special
10792 case which often occurs in practice, but which requires all the
10793 following conditions to be simultaneously true:
10796 the archive is subject to a compression option,
10798 the archive is not handled through standard input or output, nor
10799 redirected nor piped,
10801 the archive is directly handled to a local disk, instead of any special
10804 @option{--blocking-factor} is not explicitly specified on the @command{tar}
10808 If the output goes directly to a local disk, and not through
10809 stdout, then the last write is not extended to a full record size.
10810 Otherwise, reblocking occurs. Here are a few other remarks on this
10816 @command{gzip} will complain about trailing garbage if asked to
10817 uncompress a compressed archive on tape, there is an option to turn
10818 the message off, but it breaks the regularity of simply having to use
10819 @samp{@var{prog} -d} for decompression. It would be nice if gzip was
10820 silently ignoring any number of trailing zeros. I'll ask Jean-loup
10821 Gailly, by sending a copy of this message to him.
10824 @command{compress} does not show this problem, but as Jean-loup pointed
10825 out to Michael, @samp{compress -d} silently adds garbage after
10826 the result of decompression, which tar ignores because it already
10827 recognized its end-of-file indicator. So this bug may be safely
10831 @samp{gzip -d -q} will be silent about the trailing zeros indeed,
10832 but will still return an exit status of 2 which tar reports in turn.
10833 @command{tar} might ignore the exit status returned, but I hate doing
10834 that, as it weakens the protection @command{tar} offers users against
10835 other possible problems at decompression time. If @command{gzip} was
10836 silently skipping trailing zeros @emph{and} also avoiding setting the
10837 exit status in this innocuous case, that would solve this situation.
10840 @command{tar} should become more solid at not stopping to read a pipe at
10841 the first null block encountered. This inelegantly breaks the pipe.
10842 @command{tar} should rather drain the pipe out before exiting itself.
10845 @xopindex{ignore-zeros, short description}
10847 @itemx --ignore-zeros
10848 Ignore blocks of zeros in archive (means EOF).
10850 The @option{--ignore-zeros} (@option{-i}) option causes @command{tar} to ignore blocks
10851 of zeros in the archive. Normally a block of zeros indicates the
10852 end of the archive, but when reading a damaged archive, or one which
10853 was created by concatenating several archives together, this option
10854 allows @command{tar} to read the entire archive. This option is not on
10855 by default because many versions of @command{tar} write garbage after
10858 Note that this option causes @command{tar} to read to the end of the
10859 archive file, which may sometimes avoid problems when multiple files
10860 are stored on a single physical tape.
10862 @xopindex{read-full-records, short description}
10864 @itemx --read-full-records
10865 Reblock as we read (for reading 4.2@acronym{BSD} pipes).
10867 If @option{--read-full-records} is used, @command{tar}
10868 will not panic if an attempt to read a record from the archive does
10869 not return a full record. Instead, @command{tar} will keep reading
10870 until it has obtained a full
10873 This option is turned on by default when @command{tar} is reading
10874 an archive from standard input, or from a remote machine. This is
10875 because on @acronym{BSD} Unix systems, a read of a pipe will return however
10876 much happens to be in the pipe, even if it is less than @command{tar}
10877 requested. If this option was not used, @command{tar} would fail as
10878 soon as it read an incomplete record from the pipe.
10880 This option is also useful with the commands for updating an archive.
10886 @FIXME{Appropriate options should be moved here from elsewhere.}
10888 @cindex blocking factor
10889 @cindex tape blocking
10891 When handling various tapes or cartridges, you have to take care of
10892 selecting a proper blocking, that is, the number of disk blocks you
10893 put together as a single tape block on the tape, without intervening
10894 tape gaps. A @dfn{tape gap} is a small landing area on the tape
10895 with no information on it, used for decelerating the tape to a
10896 full stop, and for later regaining the reading or writing speed.
10897 When the tape driver starts reading a record, the record has to
10898 be read whole without stopping, as a tape gap is needed to stop the
10899 tape motion without losing information.
10901 @cindex Exabyte blocking
10902 @cindex DAT blocking
10903 Using higher blocking (putting more disk blocks per tape block) will use
10904 the tape more efficiently as there will be less tape gaps. But reading
10905 such tapes may be more difficult for the system, as more memory will be
10906 required to receive at once the whole record. Further, if there is a
10907 reading error on a huge record, this is less likely that the system will
10908 succeed in recovering the information. So, blocking should not be too
10909 low, nor it should be too high. @command{tar} uses by default a blocking of
10910 20 for historical reasons, and it does not really matter when reading or
10911 writing to disk. Current tape technology would easily accommodate higher
10912 blockings. Sun recommends a blocking of 126 for Exabytes and 96 for DATs.
10913 We were told that for some DLT drives, the blocking should be a multiple
10914 of 4Kb, preferably 64Kb (@w{@kbd{-b 128}}) or 256 for decent performance.
10915 Other manufacturers may use different recommendations for the same tapes.
10916 This might also depends of the buffering techniques used inside modern
10917 tape controllers. Some imposes a minimum blocking, or a maximum blocking.
10918 Others request blocking to be some exponent of two.
10920 So, there is no fixed rule for blocking. But blocking at read time
10921 should ideally be the same as blocking used at write time. At one place
10922 I know, with a wide variety of equipment, they found it best to use a
10923 blocking of 32 to guarantee that their tapes are fully interchangeable.
10925 I was also told that, for recycled tapes, prior erasure (by the same
10926 drive unit that will be used to create the archives) sometimes lowers
10927 the error rates observed at rewriting time.
10929 I might also use @option{--number-blocks} instead of
10930 @option{--block-number}, so @option{--block} will then expand to
10931 @option{--blocking-factor} unambiguously.
10934 @section Many Archives on One Tape
10936 @FIXME{Appropriate options should be moved here from elsewhere.}
10938 @findex ntape @r{device}
10939 Most tape devices have two entries in the @file{/dev} directory, or
10940 entries that come in pairs, which differ only in the minor number for
10941 this device. Let's take for example @file{/dev/tape}, which often
10942 points to the only or usual tape device of a given system. There might
10943 be a corresponding @file{/dev/nrtape} or @file{/dev/ntape}. The simpler
10944 name is the @emph{rewinding} version of the device, while the name
10945 having @samp{nr} in it is the @emph{no rewinding} version of the same
10948 A rewinding tape device will bring back the tape to its beginning point
10949 automatically when this device is opened or closed. Since @command{tar}
10950 opens the archive file before using it and closes it afterwards, this
10951 means that a simple:
10954 $ @kbd{tar cf /dev/tape @var{directory}}
10958 will reposition the tape to its beginning both prior and after saving
10959 @var{directory} contents to it, thus erasing prior tape contents and
10960 making it so that any subsequent write operation will destroy what has
10963 @cindex tape positioning
10964 So, a rewinding device is normally meant to hold one and only one file.
10965 If you want to put more than one @command{tar} archive on a given tape, you
10966 will need to avoid using the rewinding version of the tape device. You
10967 will also have to pay special attention to tape positioning. Errors in
10968 positioning may overwrite the valuable data already on your tape. Many
10969 people, burnt by past experiences, will only use rewinding devices and
10970 limit themselves to one file per tape, precisely to avoid the risk of
10971 such errors. Be fully aware that writing at the wrong position on a
10972 tape loses all information past this point and most probably until the
10973 end of the tape, and this destroyed information @emph{cannot} be
10976 To save @var{directory-1} as a first archive at the beginning of a
10977 tape, and leave that tape ready for a second archive, you should use:
10980 $ @kbd{mt -f /dev/nrtape rewind}
10981 $ @kbd{tar cf /dev/nrtape @var{directory-1}}
10985 @dfn{Tape marks} are special magnetic patterns written on the tape
10986 media, which are later recognizable by the reading hardware. These
10987 marks are used after each file, when there are many on a single tape.
10988 An empty file (that is to say, two tape marks in a row) signal the
10989 logical end of the tape, after which no file exist. Usually,
10990 non-rewinding tape device drivers will react to the close request issued
10991 by @command{tar} by first writing two tape marks after your archive, and by
10992 backspacing over one of these. So, if you remove the tape at that time
10993 from the tape drive, it is properly terminated. But if you write
10994 another file at the current position, the second tape mark will be
10995 erased by the new information, leaving only one tape mark between files.
10997 So, you may now save @var{directory-2} as a second archive after the
10998 first on the same tape by issuing the command:
11001 $ @kbd{tar cf /dev/nrtape @var{directory-2}}
11005 and so on for all the archives you want to put on the same tape.
11007 Another usual case is that you do not write all the archives the same
11008 day, and you need to remove and store the tape between two archive
11009 sessions. In general, you must remember how many files are already
11010 saved on your tape. Suppose your tape already has 16 files on it, and
11011 that you are ready to write the 17th. You have to take care of skipping
11012 the first 16 tape marks before saving @var{directory-17}, say, by using
11016 $ @kbd{mt -f /dev/nrtape rewind}
11017 $ @kbd{mt -f /dev/nrtape fsf 16}
11018 $ @kbd{tar cf /dev/nrtape @var{directory-17}}
11021 In all the previous examples, we put aside blocking considerations, but
11022 you should do the proper things for that as well. @xref{Blocking}.
11025 * Tape Positioning:: Tape Positions and Tape Marks
11026 * mt:: The @command{mt} Utility
11029 @node Tape Positioning
11030 @subsection Tape Positions and Tape Marks
11033 Just as archives can store more than one file from the file system,
11034 tapes can store more than one archive file. To keep track of where
11035 archive files (or any other type of file stored on tape) begin and
11036 end, tape archive devices write magnetic @dfn{tape marks} on the
11037 archive media. Tape drives write one tape mark between files,
11038 two at the end of all the file entries.
11040 If you think of data as a series of records "rrrr"'s, and tape marks as
11041 "*"'s, a tape might look like the following:
11044 rrrr*rrrrrr*rrrrr*rr*rrrrr**-------------------------
11047 Tape devices read and write tapes using a read/write @dfn{tape
11048 head}---a physical part of the device which can only access one
11049 point on the tape at a time. When you use @command{tar} to read or
11050 write archive data from a tape device, the device will begin reading
11051 or writing from wherever on the tape the tape head happens to be,
11052 regardless of which archive or what part of the archive the tape
11053 head is on. Before writing an archive, you should make sure that no
11054 data on the tape will be overwritten (unless it is no longer needed).
11055 Before reading an archive, you should make sure the tape head is at
11056 the beginning of the archive you want to read. You can do it manually
11057 via @code{mt} utility (@pxref{mt}). The @code{restore} script does
11058 that automatically (@pxref{Scripted Restoration}).
11060 If you want to add new archive file entries to a tape, you should
11061 advance the tape to the end of the existing file entries, backspace
11062 over the last tape mark, and write the new archive file. If you were
11063 to add two archives to the example above, the tape might look like the
11067 rrrr*rrrrrr*rrrrr*rr*rrrrr*rrr*rrrr**----------------
11071 @subsection The @command{mt} Utility
11074 @FIXME{Is it true that this only works on non-block devices?
11075 should explain the difference, (fixed or variable).}
11076 @xref{Blocking Factor}.
11078 You can use the @command{mt} utility to advance or rewind a tape past a
11079 specified number of archive files on the tape. This will allow you
11080 to move to the beginning of an archive before extracting or reading
11081 it, or to the end of all the archives before writing a new one.
11082 @FIXME{Why isn't there an "advance 'til you find two tape marks
11085 The syntax of the @command{mt} command is:
11088 @kbd{mt [-f @var{tapename}] @var{operation} [@var{number}]}
11091 where @var{tapename} is the name of the tape device, @var{number} is
11092 the number of times an operation is performed (with a default of one),
11093 and @var{operation} is one of the following:
11095 @FIXME{is there any use for record operations?}
11100 Writes @var{number} tape marks at the current position on the tape.
11103 Moves tape position forward @var{number} files.
11106 Moves tape position back @var{number} files.
11109 Rewinds the tape. (Ignores @var{number}.)
11113 Rewinds the tape and takes the tape device off-line. (Ignores @var{number}.)
11116 Prints status information about the tape unit.
11120 If you don't specify a @var{tapename}, @command{mt} uses the environment
11121 variable @env{TAPE}; if @env{TAPE} is not set, @command{mt} will use
11122 the default device specified in your @file{sys/mtio.h} file
11123 (@code{DEFTAPE} variable). If this is not defined, the program will
11124 display a descriptive error message and exit with code 1.
11126 @command{mt} returns a 0 exit status when the operation(s) were
11127 successful, 1 if the command was unrecognized, and 2 if an operation
11130 @node Using Multiple Tapes
11131 @section Using Multiple Tapes
11133 Often you might want to write a large archive, one larger than will fit
11134 on the actual tape you are using. In such a case, you can run multiple
11135 @command{tar} commands, but this can be inconvenient, particularly if you
11136 are using options like @option{--exclude=@var{pattern}} or dumping entire file systems.
11137 Therefore, @command{tar} provides a special mode for creating
11138 multi-volume archives.
11140 @dfn{Multi-volume} archive is a single @command{tar} archive, stored
11141 on several media volumes of fixed size. Although in this section we will
11142 often call @samp{volume} a @dfn{tape}, there is absolutely no
11143 requirement for multi-volume archives to be stored on tapes. Instead,
11144 they can use whatever media type the user finds convenient, they can
11145 even be located on files.
11147 When creating a multi-volume archive, @GNUTAR{} continues to fill
11148 current volume until it runs out of space, then it switches to
11149 next volume (usually the operator is queried to replace the tape on
11150 this point), and continues working on the new volume. This operation
11151 continues until all requested files are dumped. If @GNUTAR{} detects
11152 end of media while dumping a file, such a file is archived in split
11153 form. Some very big files can even be split across several volumes.
11155 Each volume is itself a valid @GNUTAR{} archive, so it can be read
11156 without any special options. Consequently any file member residing
11157 entirely on one volume can be extracted or otherwise operated upon
11158 without needing the other volume. Sure enough, to extract a split
11159 member you would need all volumes its parts reside on.
11161 Multi-volume archives suffer from several limitations. In particular,
11162 they cannot be compressed.
11164 @GNUTAR{} is able to create multi-volume archives of two formats
11165 (@pxref{Formats}): @samp{GNU} and @samp{POSIX}.
11168 * Multi-Volume Archives:: Archives Longer than One Tape or Disk
11169 * Tape Files:: Tape Files
11170 * Tarcat:: Concatenate Volumes into a Single Archive
11174 @node Multi-Volume Archives
11175 @subsection Archives Longer than One Tape or Disk
11176 @cindex Multi-volume archives
11178 @opindex multi-volume
11179 To create an archive that is larger than will fit on a single unit of
11180 the media, use the @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}) option in conjunction with
11181 the @option{--create} option (@pxref{create}). A @dfn{multi-volume}
11182 archive can be manipulated like any other archive (provided the
11183 @option{--multi-volume} option is specified), but is stored on more
11184 than one tape or file.
11186 When you specify @option{--multi-volume}, @command{tar} does not report an
11187 error when it comes to the end of an archive volume (when reading), or
11188 the end of the media (when writing). Instead, it prompts you to load
11189 a new storage volume. If the archive is on a magnetic tape, you
11190 should change tapes when you see the prompt; if the archive is on a
11191 floppy disk, you should change disks; etc.
11194 @item --multi-volume
11196 Creates a multi-volume archive, when used in conjunction with
11197 @option{--create} (@option{-c}). To perform any other operation on a multi-volume
11198 archive, specify @option{--multi-volume} in conjunction with that
11203 $ @kbd{tar --create --multi-volume --file=/dev/tape @var{files}}
11207 The method @command{tar} uses to detect end of tape is not perfect, and
11208 fails on some operating systems or on some devices. If @command{tar}
11209 cannot detect the end of the tape itself, you can use
11210 @option{--tape-length} option to inform it about the capacity of the
11213 @anchor{tape-length}
11215 @opindex tape-length
11216 @item --tape-length=@var{size}[@var{suf}]
11217 @itemx -L @var{size}[@var{suf}]
11218 Set maximum length of a volume. The @var{suf}, if given, specifies
11219 units in which @var{size} is expressed, e.g. @samp{2M} mean 2
11220 megabytes (@pxref{size-suffixes}, for a list of allowed size
11221 suffixes). Without @var{suf}, units of 1024 bytes (kilobyte) are
11224 This option selects @option{--multi-volume} automatically. For example:
11227 $ @kbd{tar --create --tape-length=41943040 --file=/dev/tape @var{files}}
11231 or, which is equivalent:
11234 $ @kbd{tar --create --tape-length=4G --file=/dev/tape @var{files}}
11238 @anchor{change volume prompt}
11239 When @GNUTAR{} comes to the end of a storage media, it asks you to
11240 change the volume. The built-in prompt for POSIX locale
11241 is@footnote{If you run @GNUTAR{} under a different locale, the
11242 translation to the locale's language will be used.}:
11245 Prepare volume #@var{n} for `@var{archive}' and hit return:
11249 where @var{n} is the ordinal number of the volume to be created and
11250 @var{archive} is archive file or device name.
11252 When prompting for a new tape, @command{tar} accepts any of the following
11257 Request @command{tar} to explain possible responses.
11259 Request @command{tar} to exit immediately.
11260 @item n @var{file-name}
11261 Request @command{tar} to write the next volume on the file @var{file-name}.
11263 Request @command{tar} to run a subshell. This option can be disabled
11264 by giving @option{--restrict} command line option to
11265 @command{tar}@footnote{@xref{--restrict}, for more information about
11268 Request @command{tar} to begin writing the next volume.
11271 (You should only type @samp{y} after you have changed the tape;
11272 otherwise @command{tar} will write over the volume it just finished.)
11274 @cindex Volume number file
11276 @anchor{volno-file}
11277 @opindex volno-file
11278 The volume number used by @command{tar} in its tape-changing prompt
11279 can be changed; if you give the
11280 @option{--volno-file=@var{file-of-number}} option, then
11281 @var{file-of-number} should be an non-existing file to be created, or
11282 else, a file already containing a decimal number. That number will be
11283 used as the volume number of the first volume written. When
11284 @command{tar} is finished, it will rewrite the file with the
11285 now-current volume number. (This does not change the volume number
11286 written on a tape label, as per @ref{label}, it @emph{only} affects
11287 the number used in the prompt.)
11289 @cindex End-of-archive info script
11290 @cindex Info script
11291 @anchor{info-script}
11292 @opindex info-script
11293 @opindex new-volume-script
11294 If you want more elaborate behavior than this, you can write a special
11295 @dfn{new volume script}, that will be responsible for changing the
11296 volume, and instruct @command{tar} to use it instead of its normal
11297 prompting procedure:
11300 @item --info-script=@var{script-name}
11301 @itemx --new-volume-script=@var{script-name}
11302 @itemx -F @var{script-name}
11303 Specify the full name of the volume script to use. The script can be
11304 used to eject cassettes, or to broadcast messages such as
11305 @samp{Someone please come change my tape} when performing unattended
11309 The @var{script-name} is executed without any command line
11310 arguments. It inherits @command{tar}'s shell environment.
11311 Additional data is passed to it via the following
11312 environment variables:
11315 @vrindex TAR_VERSION, info script environment variable
11317 @GNUTAR{} version number.
11319 @vrindex TAR_ARCHIVE, info script environment variable
11321 The name of the archive @command{tar} is processing.
11323 @vrindex TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR, info script environment variable
11324 @item TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR
11325 Current blocking factor (@pxref{Blocking}).
11327 @vrindex TAR_VOLUME, info script environment variable
11329 Ordinal number of the volume @command{tar} is about to start.
11331 @vrindex TAR_SUBCOMMAND, info script environment variable
11332 @item TAR_SUBCOMMAND
11333 A short option describing the operation @command{tar} is executing.
11334 @xref{Operations}, for a complete list of subcommand options.
11336 @vrindex TAR_FORMAT, info script environment variable
11338 Format of the archive being processed. @xref{Formats}, for a complete
11339 list of archive format names.
11341 @vrindex TAR_FD, info script environment variable
11343 File descriptor which can be used to communicate the new volume
11344 name to @command{tar}.
11347 The volume script can instruct @command{tar} to use new archive name,
11348 by writing in to file descriptor @env{$TAR_FD} (see below for an example).
11350 If the info script fails, @command{tar} exits; otherwise, it begins
11351 writing the next volume.
11353 If you want @command{tar} to cycle through a series of files or tape
11354 drives, there are three approaches to choose from. First of all, you
11355 can give @command{tar} multiple @option{--file} options. In this case
11356 the specified files will be used, in sequence, as the successive
11357 volumes of the archive. Only when the first one in the sequence needs
11358 to be used again will @command{tar} prompt for a tape change (or run
11359 the info script). For example, suppose someone has two tape drives on
11360 a system named @file{/dev/tape0} and @file{/dev/tape1}. For having
11361 @GNUTAR{} to switch to the second drive when it needs to write the
11362 second tape, and then back to the first tape, etc., just do either of:
11365 $ @kbd{tar --create --multi-volume --file=/dev/tape0 --file=/dev/tape1 @var{files}}
11366 $ @kbd{tar -cM -f /dev/tape0 -f /dev/tape1 @var{files}}
11369 The second method is to use the @samp{n} response to the tape-change
11372 Finally, the most flexible approach is to use a volume script, that
11373 writes new archive name to the file descriptor @env{$TAR_FD}. For example, the
11374 following volume script will create a series of archive files, named
11375 @file{@var{archive}-@var{vol}}, where @var{archive} is the name of the
11376 archive being created (as given by @option{--file} option) and
11377 @var{vol} is the ordinal number of the archive being created:
11382 echo Preparing volume $TAR_VOLUME of $TAR_ARCHIVE.
11384 name=`expr $TAR_ARCHIVE : '\(.*\)-.*'`
11385 case $TAR_SUBCOMMAND in
11387 -d|-x|-t) test -r $@{name:-$TAR_ARCHIVE@}-$TAR_VOLUME || exit 1
11392 echo $@{name:-$TAR_ARCHIVE@}-$TAR_VOLUME >&$TAR_FD
11396 The same script can be used while listing, comparing or extracting
11397 from the created archive. For example:
11401 # @r{Create a multi-volume archive:}
11402 $ @kbd{tar -c -L1024 -f archive.tar -F new-volume .}
11403 # @r{Extract from the created archive:}
11404 $ @kbd{tar -x -f archive.tar -F new-volume .}
11409 Notice, that the first command had to use @option{-L} option, since
11410 otherwise @GNUTAR{} will end up writing everything to file
11411 @file{archive.tar}.
11413 You can read each individual volume of a multi-volume archive as if it
11414 were an archive by itself. For example, to list the contents of one
11415 volume, use @option{--list}, without @option{--multi-volume} specified.
11416 To extract an archive member from one volume (assuming it is described
11417 that volume), use @option{--extract}, again without
11418 @option{--multi-volume}.
11420 If an archive member is split across volumes (i.e., its entry begins on
11421 one volume of the media and ends on another), you need to specify
11422 @option{--multi-volume} to extract it successfully. In this case, you
11423 should load the volume where the archive member starts, and use
11424 @samp{tar --extract --multi-volume}---@command{tar} will prompt for later
11425 volumes as it needs them. @xref{extracting archives}, for more
11426 information about extracting archives.
11428 Multi-volume archives can be modified like any other archive. To add
11429 files to a multi-volume archive, you need to only mount the last
11430 volume of the archive media (and new volumes, if needed). For all
11431 other operations, you need to use the entire archive.
11433 If a multi-volume archive was labeled using
11434 @option{--label=@var{archive-label}} (@pxref{label}) when it was
11435 created, @command{tar} will not automatically label volumes which are
11436 added later. To label subsequent volumes, specify
11437 @option{--label=@var{archive-label}} again in conjunction with the
11438 @option{--append}, @option{--update} or @option{--concatenate} operation.
11440 Notice that multi-volume support is a GNU extension and the archives
11441 created in this mode should be read only using @GNUTAR{}. If you
11442 absolutely have to process such archives using a third-party @command{tar}
11443 implementation, read @ref{Split Recovery}.
11446 @subsection Tape Files
11447 @cindex labeling archives
11451 To give the archive a name which will be recorded in it, use the
11452 @option{--label=@var{volume-label}} (@option{-V @var{volume-label}})
11453 option. This will write a special block identifying
11454 @var{volume-label} as the name of the archive to the front of the
11455 archive which will be displayed when the archive is listed with
11456 @option{--list}. If you are creating a multi-volume archive with
11457 @option{--multi-volume} (@pxref{Using Multiple Tapes}), then the
11458 volume label will have @samp{Volume @var{nnn}} appended to the name
11459 you give, where @var{nnn} is the number of the volume of the archive.
11460 If you use the @option{--label=@var{volume-label}} option when
11461 reading an archive, it checks to make sure the label on the tape
11462 matches the one you gave. @xref{label}.
11464 When @command{tar} writes an archive to tape, it creates a single
11465 tape file. If multiple archives are written to the same tape, one
11466 after the other, they each get written as separate tape files. When
11467 extracting, it is necessary to position the tape at the right place
11468 before running @command{tar}. To do this, use the @command{mt} command.
11469 For more information on the @command{mt} command and on the organization
11470 of tapes into a sequence of tape files, see @ref{mt}.
11472 People seem to often do:
11475 @kbd{--label="@var{some-prefix} `date +@var{some-format}`"}
11478 or such, for pushing a common date in all volumes or an archive set.
11481 @subsection Concatenate Volumes into a Single Archive
11484 Sometimes it is necessary to convert existing @GNUTAR{} multi-volume
11485 archive to a single @command{tar} archive. Simply concatenating all
11486 volumes into one will not work, since each volume carries an additional
11487 information at the beginning. @GNUTAR{} is shipped with the shell
11488 script @command{tarcat} designed for this purpose.
11490 The script takes a list of files comprising a multi-volume archive
11491 and creates the resulting archive at the standard output. For example:
11494 @kbd{tarcat vol.1 vol.2 vol.3 | tar tf -}
11497 The script implements a simple heuristics to determine the format of
11498 the first volume file and to decide how to process the rest of the
11499 files. However, it makes no attempt to verify whether the files are
11500 given in order or even if they are valid @command{tar} archives.
11501 It uses @command{dd} and does not filter its standard error, so you
11502 will usually see lots of spurious messages.
11504 @FIXME{The script is not installed. Should we install it?}
11507 @section Including a Label in the Archive
11508 @cindex Labeling an archive
11509 @cindex Labels on the archive media
11510 @cindex Labeling multi-volume archives
11513 To avoid problems caused by misplaced paper labels on the archive
11514 media, you can include a @dfn{label} entry --- an archive member which
11515 contains the name of the archive --- in the archive itself. Use the
11516 @option{--label=@var{archive-label}} (@option{-V @var{archive-label}})
11517 option@footnote{Until version 1.10, that option was called
11518 @option{--volume}, but is not available under that name anymore.} in
11519 conjunction with the @option{--create} operation to include a label
11520 entry in the archive as it is being created.
11523 @item --label=@var{archive-label}
11524 @itemx -V @var{archive-label}
11525 Includes an @dfn{archive-label} at the beginning of the archive when
11526 the archive is being created, when used in conjunction with the
11527 @option{--create} operation. Checks to make sure the archive label
11528 matches the one specified (when used in conjunction with any other
11532 If you create an archive using both
11533 @option{--label=@var{archive-label}} (@option{-V @var{archive-label}})
11534 and @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}), each volume of the archive
11535 will have an archive label of the form @samp{@var{archive-label}
11536 Volume @var{n}}, where @var{n} is 1 for the first volume, 2 for the
11537 next, and so on. @xref{Using Multiple Tapes}, for information on
11538 creating multiple volume archives.
11540 @cindex Volume label, listing
11541 @cindex Listing volume label
11542 The volume label will be displayed by @option{--list} along with
11543 the file contents. If verbose display is requested, it will also be
11544 explicitly marked as in the example below:
11548 $ @kbd{tar --verbose --list --file=iamanarchive}
11549 V--------- 0/0 0 1992-03-07 12:01 iamalabel--Volume Header--
11550 -rw-r--r-- ringo/user 40 1990-05-21 13:30 iamafilename
11554 @opindex test-label
11555 @anchor{--test-label option}
11556 However, @option{--list} option will cause listing entire
11557 contents of the archive, which may be undesirable (for example, if the
11558 archive is stored on a tape). You can request checking only the volume
11559 label by specifying @option{--test-label} option. This option reads only the
11560 first block of an archive, so it can be used with slow storage
11561 devices. For example:
11565 $ @kbd{tar --test-label --file=iamanarchive}
11570 If @option{--test-label} is used with one or more command line
11571 arguments, @command{tar} compares the volume label with each
11572 argument. It exits with code 0 if a match is found, and with code 1
11573 otherwise@footnote{Note that @GNUTAR{} versions up to 1.23 indicated
11574 mismatch with an exit code 2 and printed a spurious diagnostics on
11575 stderr.}. No output is displayed, unless you also used the
11576 @option{--verbose} option. For example:
11580 $ @kbd{tar --test-label --file=iamanarchive 'iamalabel'}
11582 $ @kbd{tar --test-label --file=iamanarchive 'alabel'}
11587 When used with the @option{--verbose} option, @command{tar}
11588 prints the actual volume label (if any), and a verbose diagnostics in
11589 case of a mismatch:
11593 $ @kbd{tar --test-label --verbose --file=iamanarchive 'iamalabel'}
11596 $ @kbd{tar --test-label --verbose --file=iamanarchive 'alabel'}
11598 tar: Archive label mismatch
11603 If you request any operation, other than @option{--create}, along
11604 with using @option{--label} option, @command{tar} will first check if
11605 the archive label matches the one specified and will refuse to proceed
11606 if it does not. Use this as a safety precaution to avoid accidentally
11607 overwriting existing archives. For example, if you wish to add files
11608 to @file{archive}, presumably labeled with string @samp{My volume},
11613 $ @kbd{tar -rf archive --label 'My volume' .}
11614 tar: Archive not labeled to match `My volume'
11619 in case its label does not match. This will work even if
11620 @file{archive} is not labeled at all.
11622 Similarly, @command{tar} will refuse to list or extract the
11623 archive if its label doesn't match the @var{archive-label}
11624 specified. In those cases, @var{archive-label} argument is interpreted
11625 as a globbing-style pattern which must match the actual magnetic
11626 volume label. @xref{exclude}, for a precise description of how match
11627 is attempted@footnote{Previous versions of @command{tar} used full
11628 regular expression matching, or before that, only exact string
11629 matching, instead of wildcard matchers. We decided for the sake of
11630 simplicity to use a uniform matching device through
11631 @command{tar}.}. If the switch @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}) is being used,
11632 the volume label matcher will also suffix @var{archive-label} by
11633 @w{@samp{ Volume [1-9]*}} if the initial match fails, before giving
11634 up. Since the volume numbering is automatically added in labels at
11635 creation time, it sounded logical to equally help the user taking care
11636 of it when the archive is being read.
11638 You can also use @option{--label} to get a common information on
11639 all tapes of a series. For having this information different in each
11640 series created through a single script used on a regular basis, just
11641 manage to get some date string as part of the label. For example:
11645 $ @kbd{tar -cM -f /dev/tape -V "Daily backup for `date +%Y-%m-%d`"}
11646 $ @kbd{tar --create --file=/dev/tape --multi-volume \
11647 --label="Daily backup for `date +%Y-%m-%d`"}
11651 Some more notes about volume labels:
11654 @item Each label has its own date and time, which corresponds
11655 to the time when @GNUTAR{} initially attempted to write it,
11656 often soon after the operator launches @command{tar} or types the
11657 carriage return telling that the next tape is ready.
11659 @item Comparing date labels to get an idea of tape throughput is
11660 unreliable. It gives correct results only if the delays for rewinding
11661 tapes and the operator switching them were negligible, which is
11662 usually not the case.
11666 @section Verifying Data as It is Stored
11667 @cindex Verifying a write operation
11668 @cindex Double-checking a write operation
11673 @opindex verify, short description
11674 Attempt to verify the archive after writing.
11677 This option causes @command{tar} to verify the archive after writing it.
11678 Each volume is checked after it is written, and any discrepancies
11679 are recorded on the standard error output.
11681 Verification requires that the archive be on a back-space-able medium.
11682 This means pipes, some cartridge tape drives, and some other devices
11683 cannot be verified.
11685 You can insure the accuracy of an archive by comparing files in the
11686 system with archive members. @command{tar} can compare an archive to the
11687 file system as the archive is being written, to verify a write
11688 operation, or can compare a previously written archive, to insure that
11691 @xopindex{verify, using with @option{--create}}
11692 @xopindex{create, using with @option{--verify}}
11693 To check for discrepancies in an archive immediately after it is
11694 written, use the @option{--verify} (@option{-W}) option in conjunction with
11695 the @option{--create} operation. When this option is
11696 specified, @command{tar} checks archive members against their counterparts
11697 in the file system, and reports discrepancies on the standard error.
11699 To verify an archive, you must be able to read it from before the end
11700 of the last written entry. This option is useful for detecting data
11701 errors on some tapes. Archives written to pipes, some cartridge tape
11702 drives, and some other devices cannot be verified.
11704 One can explicitly compare an already made archive with the file
11705 system by using the @option{--compare} (@option{--diff}, @option{-d})
11706 option, instead of using the more automatic @option{--verify} option.
11709 Note that these two options have a slightly different intent. The
11710 @option{--compare} option checks how identical are the logical contents of some
11711 archive with what is on your disks, while the @option{--verify} option is
11712 really for checking if the physical contents agree and if the recording
11713 media itself is of dependable quality. So, for the @option{--verify}
11714 operation, @command{tar} tries to defeat all in-memory cache pertaining to
11715 the archive, while it lets the speed optimization undisturbed for the
11716 @option{--compare} option. If you nevertheless use @option{--compare} for
11717 media verification, you may have to defeat the in-memory cache yourself,
11718 maybe by opening and reclosing the door latch of your recording unit,
11719 forcing some doubt in your operating system about the fact this is really
11720 the same volume as the one just written or read.
11722 The @option{--verify} option would not be necessary if drivers were indeed
11723 able to detect dependably all write failures. This sometimes require many
11724 magnetic heads, some able to read after the writes occurred. One would
11725 not say that drivers unable to detect all cases are necessarily flawed,
11726 as long as programming is concerned.
11728 The @option{--verify} (@option{-W}) option will not work in
11729 conjunction with the @option{--multi-volume} (@option{-M}) option or
11730 the @option{--append} (@option{-r}), @option{--update} (@option{-u})
11731 and @option{--delete} operations. @xref{Operations}, for more
11732 information on these operations.
11734 Also, since @command{tar} normally strips leading @samp{/} from file
11735 names (@pxref{absolute}), a command like @samp{tar --verify -cf
11736 /tmp/foo.tar /etc} will work as desired only if the working directory is
11737 @file{/}, as @command{tar} uses the archive's relative member names
11738 (e.g., @file{etc/motd}) when verifying the archive.
11740 @node Write Protection
11741 @section Write Protection
11743 Almost all tapes and diskettes, and in a few rare cases, even disks can
11744 be @dfn{write protected}, to protect data on them from being changed.
11745 Once an archive is written, you should write protect the media to prevent
11746 the archive from being accidentally overwritten or deleted. (This will
11747 protect the archive from being changed with a tape or floppy drive---it
11748 will not protect it from magnet fields or other physical hazards.)
11750 The write protection device itself is usually an integral part of the
11751 physical media, and can be a two position (write enabled/write
11752 disabled) switch, a notch which can be popped out or covered, a ring
11753 which can be removed from the center of a tape reel, or some other
11754 changeable feature.
11756 @node Reliability and security
11757 @chapter Reliability and Security
11759 The @command{tar} command reads and writes files as any other
11760 application does, and is subject to the usual caveats about
11761 reliability and security. This section contains some commonsense
11762 advice on the topic.
11770 @section Reliability
11772 Ideally, when @command{tar} is creating an archive, it reads from a
11773 file system that is not being modified, and encounters no errors or
11774 inconsistencies while reading and writing. If this is the case, the
11775 archive should faithfully reflect what was read. Similarly, when
11776 extracting from an archive, ideally @command{tar} ideally encounters
11777 no errors and the extracted files faithfully reflect what was in the
11780 However, when reading or writing real-world file systems, several
11781 things can go wrong; these include permissions problems, corruption of
11782 data, and race conditions.
11785 * Permissions problems::
11786 * Data corruption and repair::
11787 * Race conditions::
11790 @node Permissions problems
11791 @subsection Permissions Problems
11793 If @command{tar} encounters errors while reading or writing files, it
11794 normally reports an error and exits with nonzero status. The work it
11795 does may therefore be incomplete. For example, when creating an
11796 archive, if @command{tar} cannot read a file then it cannot copy the
11797 file into the archive.
11799 @node Data corruption and repair
11800 @subsection Data Corruption and Repair
11802 If an archive becomes corrupted by an I/O error, this may corrupt the
11803 data in an extracted file. Worse, it may corrupt the file's metadata,
11804 which may cause later parts of the archive to become misinterpreted.
11805 An tar-format archive contains a checksum that most likely will detect
11806 errors in the metadata, but it will not detect errors in the data.
11808 If data corruption is a concern, you can compute and check your own
11809 checksums of an archive by using other programs, such as
11812 When attempting to recover from a read error or data corruption in an
11813 archive, you may need to skip past the questionable data and read the
11814 rest of the archive. This requires some expertise in the archive
11815 format and in other software tools.
11817 @node Race conditions
11818 @subsection Race conditions
11820 If some other process is modifying the file system while @command{tar}
11821 is reading or writing files, the result may well be inconsistent due
11822 to race conditions. For example, if another process creates some
11823 files in a directory while @command{tar} is creating an archive
11824 containing the directory's files, @command{tar} may see some of the
11825 files but not others, or it may see a file that is in the process of
11826 being created. The resulting archive may not be a snapshot of the
11827 file system at any point in time. If an application such as a
11828 database system depends on an accurate snapshot, restoring from the
11829 @command{tar} archive of a live file system may therefore break that
11830 consistency and may break the application. The simplest way to avoid
11831 the consistency issues is to avoid making other changes to the file
11832 system while tar is reading it or writing it.
11834 When creating an archive, several options are available to avoid race
11835 conditions. Some hosts have a way of snapshotting a file system, or
11836 of temporarily suspending all changes to a file system, by (say)
11837 suspending the only virtual machine that can modify a file system; if
11838 you use these facilities and have @command{tar -c} read from a
11839 snapshot when creating an archive, you can avoid inconsistency
11840 problems. More drastically, before starting @command{tar} you could
11841 suspend or shut down all processes other than @command{tar} that have
11842 access to the file system, or you could unmount the file system and
11843 then mount it read-only.
11845 When extracting from an archive, one approach to avoid race conditions
11846 is to create a directory that no other process can write to, and
11852 In some cases @command{tar} may be used in an adversarial situation,
11853 where an untrusted user is attempting to gain information about or
11854 modify otherwise-inaccessible files. Dealing with untrusted data
11855 (that is, data generated by an untrusted user) typically requires
11856 extra care, because even the smallest mistake in the use of
11857 @command{tar} is more likely to be exploited by an adversary than by a
11863 * Live untrusted data::
11864 * Security rules of thumb::
11868 @subsection Privacy
11870 Standard privacy concerns apply when using @command{tar}. For
11871 example, suppose you are archiving your home directory into a file
11872 @file{/archive/myhome.tar}. Any secret information in your home
11873 directory, such as your SSH secret keys, are copied faithfully into
11874 the archive. Therefore, if your home directory contains any file that
11875 should not be read by some other user, the archive itself should be
11876 not be readable by that user. And even if the archive's data are
11877 inaccessible to untrusted users, its metadata (such as size or
11878 last-modified date) may reveal some information about your home
11879 directory; if the metadata are intended to be private, the archive's
11880 parent directory should also be inaccessible to untrusted users.
11882 One precaution is to create @file{/archive} so that it is not
11883 accessible to any user, unless that user also has permission to access
11884 all the files in your home directory.
11886 Similarly, when extracting from an archive, take care that the
11887 permissions of the extracted files are not more generous than what you
11888 want. Even if the archive itself is readable only to you, files
11889 extracted from it have their own permissions that may differ.
11892 @subsection Integrity
11894 When creating archives, take care that they are not writable by a
11895 untrusted user; otherwise, that user could modify the archive, and
11896 when you later extract from the archive you will get incorrect data.
11898 When @command{tar} extracts from an archive, by default it writes into
11899 files relative to the working directory. If the archive was generated
11900 by an untrusted user, that user therefore can write into any file
11901 under the working directory. If the working directory contains a
11902 symbolic link to another directory, the untrusted user can also write
11903 into any file under the referenced directory. When extracting from an
11904 untrusted archive, it is therefore good practice to create an empty
11905 directory and run @command{tar} in that directory.
11907 When extracting from two or more untrusted archives, each one should
11908 be extracted independently, into different empty directories.
11909 Otherwise, the first archive could create a symbolic link into an area
11910 outside the working directory, and the second one could follow the
11911 link and overwrite data that is not under the working directory. For
11912 example, when restoring from a series of incremental dumps, the
11913 archives should have been created by a trusted process, as otherwise
11914 the incremental restores might alter data outside the working
11917 If you use the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option when
11918 extracting, @command{tar} respects any file names in the archive, even
11919 file names that begin with @file{/} or contain @file{..}. As this
11920 lets the archive overwrite any file in your system that you can write,
11921 the @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}) option should be used only
11922 for trusted archives.
11924 Conversely, with the @option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option,
11925 @command{tar} refuses to replace existing files when extracting; and
11926 with the @option{--no-overwrite-dir} option, @command{tar} refuses to
11927 replace the permissions or ownership of already-existing directories.
11928 These options may help when extracting from untrusted archives.
11930 @node Live untrusted data
11931 @subsection Dealing with Live Untrusted Data
11933 Extra care is required when creating from or extracting into a file
11934 system that is accessible to untrusted users. For example, superusers
11935 who invoke @command{tar} must be wary about its actions being hijacked
11936 by an adversary who is reading or writing the file system at the same
11937 time that @command{tar} is operating.
11939 When creating an archive from a live file system, @command{tar} is
11940 vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. For example, an adversarial
11941 user could create the illusion of an indefinitely-deep directory
11942 hierarchy @file{d/e/f/g/...} by creating directories one step ahead of
11943 @command{tar}, or the illusion of an indefinitely-long file by
11944 creating a sparse file but arranging for blocks to be allocated just
11945 before @command{tar} reads them. There is no easy way for
11946 @command{tar} to distinguish these scenarios from legitimate uses, so
11947 you may need to monitor @command{tar}, just as you'd need to monitor
11948 any other system service, to detect such attacks.
11950 While a superuser is extracting from an archive into a live file
11951 system, an untrusted user might replace a directory with a symbolic
11952 link, in hopes that @command{tar} will follow the symbolic link and
11953 extract data into files that the untrusted user does not have access
11954 to. Even if the archive was generated by the superuser, it may
11955 contain a file such as @file{d/etc/passwd} that the untrusted user
11956 earlier created in order to break in; if the untrusted user replaces
11957 the directory @file{d/etc} with a symbolic link to @file{/etc} while
11958 @command{tar} is running, @command{tar} will overwrite
11959 @file{/etc/passwd}. This attack can be prevented by extracting into a
11960 directory that is inaccessible to untrusted users.
11962 Similar attacks via symbolic links are also possible when creating an
11963 archive, if the untrusted user can modify an ancestor of a top-level
11964 argument of @command{tar}. For example, an untrusted user that can
11965 modify @file{/home/eve} can hijack a running instance of @samp{tar -cf
11966 - /home/eve/Documents/yesterday} by replacing
11967 @file{/home/eve/Documents} with a symbolic link to some other
11968 location. Attacks like these can be prevented by making sure that
11969 untrusted users cannot modify any files that are top-level arguments
11970 to @command{tar}, or any ancestor directories of these files.
11972 @node Security rules of thumb
11973 @subsection Security Rules of Thumb
11975 This section briefly summarizes rules of thumb for avoiding security
11981 Protect archives at least as much as you protect any of the files
11985 Extract from an untrusted archive only into an otherwise-empty
11986 directory. This directory and its parent should be accessible only to
11987 trusted users. For example:
11991 $ @kbd{chmod go-rwx .}
11992 $ @kbd{mkdir -m go-rwx dir}
11994 $ @kbd{tar -xvf /archives/got-it-off-the-net.tar.gz}
11998 As a corollary, do not do an incremental restore from an untrusted archive.
12001 Do not let untrusted users access files extracted from untrusted
12002 archives without checking first for problems such as setuid programs.
12005 Do not let untrusted users modify directories that are ancestors of
12006 top-level arguments of @command{tar}. For example, while you are
12007 executing @samp{tar -cf /archive/u-home.tar /u/home}, do not let an
12008 untrusted user modify @file{/}, @file{/archive}, or @file{/u}.
12011 Pay attention to the diagnostics and exit status of @command{tar}.
12014 When archiving live file systems, monitor running instances of
12015 @command{tar} to detect denial-of-service attacks.
12018 Avoid unusual options such as @option{--absolute-names} (@option{-P}),
12019 @option{--dereference} (@option{-h}), @option{--overwrite},
12020 @option{--recursive-unlink}, and @option{--remove-files} unless you
12021 understand their security implications.
12028 This appendix lists some important user-visible changes between
12029 version @GNUTAR{} @value{VERSION} and previous versions. An up-to-date
12030 version of this document is available at
12031 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/software/@/tar/manual/changes.html,the
12032 @GNUTAR{} documentation page}.
12035 @item Use of globbing patterns when listing and extracting.
12037 Previous versions of GNU tar assumed shell-style globbing when
12038 extracting from or listing an archive. For example:
12041 $ @kbd{tar xf foo.tar '*.c'}
12044 would extract all files whose names end in @samp{.c}. This behavior
12045 was not documented and was incompatible with traditional tar
12046 implementations. Therefore, starting from version 1.15.91, GNU tar
12047 no longer uses globbing by default. For example, the above invocation
12048 is now interpreted as a request to extract from the archive the file
12051 To facilitate transition to the new behavior for those users who got
12052 used to the previous incorrect one, @command{tar} will print a warning
12053 if it finds out that a requested member was not found in the archive
12054 and its name looks like a globbing pattern. For example:
12057 $ @kbd{tar xf foo.tar '*.c'}
12058 tar: Pattern matching characters used in file names. Please,
12059 tar: use --wildcards to enable pattern matching, or --no-wildcards to
12060 tar: suppress this warning.
12061 tar: *.c: Not found in archive
12062 tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
12065 To treat member names as globbing patterns, use the @option{--wildcards} option.
12066 If you want to tar to mimic the behavior of versions prior to 1.15.91,
12067 add this option to your @env{TAR_OPTIONS} variable.
12069 @xref{wildcards}, for the detailed discussion of the use of globbing
12070 patterns by @GNUTAR{}.
12072 @item Use of short option @option{-o}.
12074 Earlier versions of @GNUTAR{} understood @option{-o} command line
12075 option as a synonym for @option{--old-archive}.
12077 @GNUTAR{} starting from version 1.13.90 understands this option as
12078 a synonym for @option{--no-same-owner}. This is compatible with
12079 UNIX98 @command{tar} implementations.
12081 However, to facilitate transition, @option{-o} option retains its
12082 old semantics when it is used with one of archive-creation commands.
12083 Users are encouraged to use @option{--format=oldgnu} instead.
12085 It is especially important, since versions of @acronym{GNU} Automake
12086 up to and including 1.8.4 invoke tar with this option to produce
12087 distribution tarballs. @xref{Formats,v7}, for the detailed discussion
12088 of this issue and its implications.
12090 @xref{Options, tar-formats, Changing Automake's Behavior,
12091 automake, GNU Automake}, for a description on how to use various
12092 archive formats with @command{automake}.
12094 Future versions of @GNUTAR{} will understand @option{-o} only as a
12095 synonym for @option{--no-same-owner}.
12097 @item Use of short option @option{-l}
12099 Earlier versions of @GNUTAR{} understood @option{-l} option as a
12100 synonym for @option{--one-file-system}. Since such usage contradicted
12101 to UNIX98 specification and harmed compatibility with other
12102 implementations, it was declared deprecated in version 1.14. However,
12103 to facilitate transition to its new semantics, it was supported by
12104 versions 1.15 and 1.15.90. The present use of @option{-l} as a short
12105 variant of @option{--check-links} was introduced in version 1.15.91.
12107 @item Use of options @option{--portability} and @option{--old-archive}
12109 These options are deprecated. Please use @option{--format=v7} instead.
12111 @item Use of option @option{--posix}
12113 This option is deprecated. Please use @option{--format=posix} instead.
12116 @node Configuring Help Summary
12117 @appendix Configuring Help Summary
12119 Running @kbd{tar --help} displays the short @command{tar} option
12120 summary (@pxref{help}). This summary is organized by @dfn{groups} of
12121 semantically close options. The options within each group are printed
12122 in the following order: a short option, eventually followed by a list
12123 of corresponding long option names, followed by a short description of
12124 the option. For example, here is an excerpt from the actual @kbd{tar
12128 Main operation mode:
12130 -A, --catenate, --concatenate append tar files to an archive
12131 -c, --create create a new archive
12132 -d, --diff, --compare find differences between archive and
12134 --delete delete from the archive
12137 @vrindex ARGP_HELP_FMT, environment variable
12138 The exact visual representation of the help output is configurable via
12139 @env{ARGP_HELP_FMT} environment variable. The value of this variable
12140 is a comma-separated list of @dfn{format variable} assignments. There
12141 are two kinds of format variables. An @dfn{offset variable} keeps the
12142 offset of some part of help output text from the leftmost column on
12143 the screen. A @dfn{boolean} variable is a flag that toggles some
12144 output feature on or off. Depending on the type of the corresponding
12145 variable, there are two kinds of assignments:
12148 @item Offset assignment
12150 The assignment to an offset variable has the following syntax:
12153 @var{variable}=@var{value}
12157 where @var{variable} is the variable name, and @var{value} is a
12158 numeric value to be assigned to the variable.
12160 @item Boolean assignment
12162 To assign @code{true} value to a variable, simply put this variable name. To
12163 assign @code{false} value, prefix the variable name with @samp{no-}. For
12168 # Assign @code{true} value:
12170 # Assign @code{false} value:
12176 Following variables are declared:
12178 @deftypevr {Help Output} boolean dup-args
12179 If true, arguments for an option are shown with both short and long
12180 options, even when a given option has both forms, for example:
12183 -f ARCHIVE, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12186 If false, then if an option has both short and long forms, the
12187 argument is only shown with the long one, for example:
12190 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12194 and a message indicating that the argument is applicable to both
12195 forms is printed below the options. This message can be disabled
12196 using @code{dup-args-note} (see below).
12198 The default is false.
12201 @deftypevr {Help Output} boolean dup-args-note
12202 If this variable is true, which is the default, the following notice
12203 is displayed at the end of the help output:
12206 Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or
12207 optional for any corresponding short options.
12210 Setting @code{no-dup-args-note} inhibits this message. Normally, only one of
12211 variables @code{dup-args} or @code{dup-args-note} should be set.
12214 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset short-opt-col
12215 Column in which short options start. Default is 2.
12219 $ @kbd{tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12220 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12221 $ @kbd{ARGP_HELP_FMT=short-opt-col=6 tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12222 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12227 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset long-opt-col
12228 Column in which long options start. Default is 6. For example:
12232 $ @kbd{tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12233 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12234 $ @kbd{ARGP_HELP_FMT=long-opt-col=16 tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12235 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12240 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset doc-opt-col
12241 Column in which @dfn{doc options} start. A doc option isn't actually
12242 an option, but rather an arbitrary piece of documentation that is
12243 displayed in much the same manner as the options. For example, in
12244 the description of @option{--format} option:
12248 -H, --format=FORMAT create archive of the given format.
12250 FORMAT is one of the following:
12252 gnu GNU tar 1.13.x format
12253 oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
12254 pax POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
12256 ustar POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
12257 v7 old V7 tar format
12262 the format names are doc options. Thus, if you set
12263 @kbd{ARGP_HELP_FMT=doc-opt-col=6} the above part of the help output
12264 will look as follows:
12268 -H, --format=FORMAT create archive of the given format.
12270 FORMAT is one of the following:
12272 gnu GNU tar 1.13.x format
12273 oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
12274 pax POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
12276 ustar POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
12277 v7 old V7 tar format
12282 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset opt-doc-col
12283 Column in which option description starts. Default is 29.
12287 $ @kbd{tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12288 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12289 $ @kbd{ARGP_HELP_FMT=opt-doc-col=19 tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12290 -f, --file=ARCHIVE use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12291 $ @kbd{ARGP_HELP_FMT=opt-doc-col=9 tar --help|grep ARCHIVE}
12293 use archive file or device ARCHIVE
12298 Notice, that the description starts on a separate line if
12299 @code{opt-doc-col} value is too small.
12302 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset header-col
12303 Column in which @dfn{group headers} are printed. A group header is a
12304 descriptive text preceding an option group. For example, in the
12308 Main operation mode:
12310 -A, --catenate, --concatenate append tar files to
12312 -c, --create create a new archive
12315 @samp{Main operation mode:} is the group header.
12317 The default value is 1.
12320 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset usage-indent
12321 Indentation of wrapped usage lines. Affects @option{--usage}
12322 output. Default is 12.
12325 @deftypevr {Help Output} offset rmargin
12326 Right margin of the text output. Used for wrapping.
12329 @node Fixing Snapshot Files
12330 @appendix Fixing Snapshot Files
12331 @include tar-snapshot-edit.texi
12333 @node Tar Internals
12334 @appendix Tar Internals
12335 @include intern.texi
12339 @include genfile.texi
12341 @node Free Software Needs Free Documentation
12342 @appendix Free Software Needs Free Documentation
12343 @include freemanuals.texi
12345 @node GNU Free Documentation License
12346 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
12350 @node Index of Command Line Options
12351 @appendix Index of Command Line Options
12353 This appendix contains an index of all @GNUTAR{} long command line
12354 options. The options are listed without the preceding double-dash.
12355 For a cross-reference of short command line options, see
12356 @ref{Short Option Summary}.
12369 @c Local variables:
12370 @c texinfo-column-for-description: 32
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