TAR(1) tar TAR(1)
NAME
tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
SYNOPSIS
tar <operation> [options]
Operations:
[-]A --catenate --concatenate
[-]c --create
[-]d --diff --compare
[-]r --append
[-]t --list
[-]u --update
[-]x --extract --get
--delete
Common Options:
-C, --directory DIR
-f, --file F
-j, --bzip2
-p, --preserve-permissions
-v, --verbose
-z, --gzip
All Options:
[ --atime-preserve ] [ -b, --blocking-factor N ] [ -B, --read-full-records ] [ --backup BACKUP-TYPE ]
[ --block-compress ] [ -C, --directory DIR ] [ --check-links ] [ --checkpoint ] [ -f, --file [HOST-NAME:]F [HOSTNAME:]F
NAME:]F ] [ -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F ] [ --force-local ] [ --format FORMAT ] [ -g,
--listed-incremental F ] [ -G, --incremental ] [ --group GROUP ] [ -h, --dereference ] [ --help ] [
-i, --ignore-zeros ] [ --ignore-case ] [ --ignore-failed-read ] [ --index-file FILE ] [ -j, --bzip2 ]
[ -k, --keep-old-files ] [ -K, --starting-file F ] [ --keep-newer-files ] [ -l, --one-file-system ] [
-L, --tape-length N ] [ -m, --touch, --modification-time ] [ -M, --multi-volume ] [ --mode PERMIS-SIONS PERMISSIONS
SIONS ] [ -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE ] [ --newer-mtime DATE ] [ --no-anchored ] [ --no-ignore-case --noignore-case
ignore-case ] [ --no-recursion ] [ --no-same-permissions ] [ --no-wildcards ] [ --no-wildcards-match-slash --no-wildcards-matchslash
slash ] [ --null ] [ --numeric-owner ] [ -o, --old-archive, --portability, --no-same-owner ] [
-O, --to-stdout ] [ --occurrence NUM ] [ --overwrite ] [ --overwrite-dir ] [ --owner USER ] [ -p,
--same-permissions, --preserve-permissions ] [ -P, --absolute-names ] [ --pax-option KEYWORD-LIST ] [
--posix ] [ --preserve ] [ -R, --block-number ] [ --record-size SIZE ] [ --recursion ] [ --recursive-unlink --recursiveunlink
unlink ] [ --remove-files ] [ --rmt-command CMD ] [ --rsh-command CMD ] [ -s, --same-order, --pre-serve-order --preserve-order
serve-order ] [ -S, --sparse ] [ --same-owner ] [ --show-defaults ] [ --show-omitted-dirs ] [
--strip-components NUMBER, --strip-path NUMBER (1) ] [ --suffix SUFFIX ] [ -T, --files-from F ] [
--totals ] [ -U, --unlink-first ] [ --use-compress-program PROG ] [ --utc ] [ -v, --verbose ] [ -V,
--label NAME ] [ --version ] [ --volno-file F ] [ -w, --interactive, --confirmation ] [ -W, --verify
] [ --wildcards ] [ --wildcards-match-slash ] [ --exclude PATTERN ] [ -X, --exclude-from FILE ] [ -Z,
--compress, --uncompress ] [ -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip ] [ -[0-7][lmh] ]
(1) tar-1.14 uses --strip-path, tar-1.14.90+ uses --strip-components
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of tar, an archiving program designed to store and extract
files from an archive file known as a tarfile. A tarfile may be made on a tape drive, however, it is
also common to write a tarfile to a normal file. The first argument to tar must be one of the
options Acdrtux, followed by any optional functions. The final arguments to tar are the names of the
files or directories which should be archived. The use of a directory name always implies that the
subdirectories below should be included in the archive.
EXAMPLES
tar -xvf foo.tar
verbosely extract foo.tar
tar -xzf foo.tar.gz
extract gzipped foo.tar.gz
tar -cjf foo.tar.bz2 bar/
create bzipped tar archive of the directory bar called foo.tar.bz2
tar -xjf foo.tar.bz2 -C bar/
extract bzipped foo.tar.bz2 after changing directory to bar
tar -xzf foo.tar.gz blah.txt
extract the file blah.txt from foo.tar.bz2
FUNCTION LETTERS
One of the following options must be used:
-A, --catenate, --concatenate
append tar files to an archive
-c, --create
create a new archive
-d, --diff, --compare
find differences between archive and file system
-r, --append
append files to the end of an archive
-t, --list
list the contents of an archive
-u, --update
only append files that are newer than the existing in archive
-x, --extract, --get
extract files from an archive
--delete
delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)
COMMON OPTIONS
-C, --directory DIR
change to directory DIR
-f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
use archive file or device F (default "-", meaning stdin/stdout)
-j, --bzip2
filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files
-p, --preserve-permissions
extract all protection information
-v, --verbose
verbosely list files processed
-z, --gzip, --ungzip
filter the archive through gzip
ALL OPTIONS
--atime-preserve
don't change access times on dumped files
-b, --blocking-factor N
block size of Nx512 bytes (default N=20)
-B, --read-full-blocks
reblock as we read (for reading 4.2BSD pipes)
--backup BACKUP-TYPE
backup files instead of deleting them using BACKUP-TYPE simple or numbered
--block-compress
block the output of compression program for tapes
-C, --directory DIR
change to directory DIR
--check-links
warn if number of hard links to the file on the filesystem mismatch the number of links
recorded in the archive
--checkpoint
print directory names while reading the archive
-f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
use archive file or device F (default "-", meaning stdin/stdout)
-F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F
run script at end of each tape (implies --multi-volume)
--force-local
archive file is local even if has a colon
--format FORMAT
selects output archive format
v7 - Unix V7
oldgnu - GNU tar <=1.12
gnu - GNU tar 1.13
ustar - POSIX.1-1988
posix - POSIX.1-2001
-g, --listed-incremental F
create/list/extract new GNU-format incremental backup
-G, --incremental
create/list/extract old GNU-format incremental backup
-h, --dereference
don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to
--help like this manpage, but not as cool
-i, --ignore-zeros
ignore blocks of zeros in archive (normally mean EOF)
--ignore-case
ignore case when excluding files
--ignore-failed-read
don't exit with non-zero status on unreadable files
--index-file FILE
send verbose output to FILE instead of stdout
-j, --bzip2
filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files
-k, --keep-old-files
keep existing files; don't overwrite them from archive
-K, --starting-file F
begin at file F in the archive
--keep-newer-files
do not overwrite files which are newer than the archive
-l, --one-file-system
stay in local file system when creating an archive
-L, --tape-length N
change tapes after writing N*1024 bytes
-m, --touch, --modification-time
don't extract file modified time
-M, --multi-volume
create/list/extract multi-volume archive
--mode PERMISSIONS
apply PERMISSIONS while adding files (see chmod(1))
-N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE
only store files newer than DATE
--newer-mtime DATE
like --newer, but with a DATE
--no-anchored
match any subsequenceof the name's components with --exclude
--no-ignore-case
use case-sensitive matching with --exclude
--no-recursion
don't recurse into directories
--no-same-permissions
apply user's umask when extracting files instead of recorded permissions
--no-wildcards
don't use wildcards with --exclude
--no-wildcards-match-slash
wildcards do not match slashes (/) with --exclude
--null --files-from reads null-terminated names, disable --directory
--numeric-owner
always use numbers for user/group names
-o, --old-archive, --portability
like --format=v7; -o exhibits this behavior when creating an archive (deprecated behavior)
-o, --no-same-owner
do not attempt to restore ownership when extracting; -o exhibits this behavior when extracting
an archive
-O, --to-stdout
extract files to standard output
--occurrence NUM
process only NUM occurrences of each named file; used with --delete, --diff, --extract, or
--list
--overwrite
overwrite existing files and directory metadata when extracting
--overwrite-dir
overwrite directory metadata when extracting
--owner USER
change owner of extraced files to USER
-p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions
extract all protection information
-P, --absolute-names
don't strip leading `/'s from file names
--pax-option KEYWORD-LIST
used only with POSIX.1-2001 archives to modify the way tar handles extended header keywords
--posix
like --format=posix
--preserve
like --preserve-permissions --same-order
-R, --record-number
show record number within archive with each message
--record-size SIZE
use SIZE bytes per record when accessing archives
--recursion
recurse into directories
--recursive-unlink
remove existing directories before extracting directories of the same name
--remove-files
remove files after adding them to the archive
--rmt-command CMD
use CMD instead of the default /usr/sbin/rmt
--rsh-command CMD
use remote CMD instead of rsh(1)
-s, --same-order, --preserve-order
list of names to extract is sorted to match archive
-S, --sparse
handle sparse files efficiently
--same-owner
create extracted files with the same ownership
--show-defaults
display the default options used by tar
--show-omitted-dirs
print directories tar skips while operating on an archive
--strip-components NUMBER, --strip-path NUMBER
strip NUMBER of leading components from file names before extraction
(1) tar-1.14 uses --strip-path, tar-1.14.90+ uses --strip-components
--suffix SUFFIX
use SUFFIX instead of default '~' when backing up files
-T, --files-from F
get names to extract or create from file F
--totals
print total bytes written with --create
-U, --unlink-first
remove existing files before extracting files of the same name
--use-compress-program PROG
access the archive through PROG which is generally a compression program
--utc display file modification dates in UTC
-v, --verbose
verbosely list files processed
-V, --label NAME
create archive with volume name NAME
--version
print tar program version number
--volno-file F
keep track of which volume of a multi-volume archive its working in FILE; used with --multi-
volume
-w, --interactive, --confirmation
ask for confirmation for every action
-W, --verify
attempt to verify the archive after writing it
--wildcards
use wildcards with --exclude
--wildcards-match-slash
wildcards match slashes (/) with --exclude
--exclude PATTERN
exclude files based upon PATTERN
-X, --exclude-from FILE
exclude files listed in FILE
-Z, --compress, --uncompress
filter the archive through compress
-z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip
filter the archive through gzip
--use-compress-program PROG
filter the archive through PROG (which must accept -d)
-[0-7][lmh]
specify drive and density
BUGS
The GNU folks, in general, abhor man pages, and create info documents instead. The maintainer of tar
falls into this category. Thus this man page may not be complete, nor current.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for tar is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and tar programs are
properly installed at your site, the command
info tar
should give you access to the complete manual.
AUTHORS
Debian Linux http://www.debian.org/
Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
GNU Oct 2004 TAR(1)
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