.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.43.3.

.TH TAR "1" "November 2013" "tar 1.27.1" "User Commands"

.SH NAME

tar \- manual page for tar 1.27.1

.SH SYNOPSIS

.B tar

[\fIOPTION\fR...] [\fIFILE\fR]...

.SH DESCRIPTION

GNU 'tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can

restore individual files from the archive.

.SH EXAMPLES

.TP

tar \-cf archive.tar foo bar

# Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.

.TP

tar \-tvf archive.tar

# List all files in archive.tar verbosely.

.TP

tar \-xf archive.tar

# Extract all files from archive.tar.

.IP

Main operation mode:

.TP

\-A, \-\-catenate, \-\-concatenate

append tar files to an archive

.TP

\-c, \-\-create

create a new archive

.TP

\-d, \-\-diff, \-\-compare

find differences between archive and file system

.TP

\-\-delete

delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)

.TP

\-r, \-\-append

append files to the end of an archive

.TP

\-t, \-\-list

list the contents of an archive

.TP

\-\-test\-label

test the archive volume label and exit

.TP

\-u, \-\-update

only append files newer than copy in archive

.TP

\-x, \-\-extract, \-\-get

extract files from an archive

.IP

Operation modifiers:

.TP

\-\-check\-device

check device numbers when creating incremental

archives (default)

.TP

\-g, \-\-listed\-incremental=FILE

handle new GNU\-format incremental backup

.TP

\-G, \-\-incremental

handle old GNU\-format incremental backup

.TP

\-\-ignore\-failed\-read

do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files

.TP

\-\-level=NUMBER

dump level for created listed\-incremental archive

.TP

\-n, \-\-seek

archive is seekable

.TP

\-\-no\-check\-device

do not check device numbers when creating

incremental archives

.TP

\-\-no\-seek

archive is not seekable

.TP

\-\-occurrence[=NUMBER]

process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file

in the archive; this option is valid only in

conjunction with one of the subcommands \-\-delete,

\-\-diff, \-\-extract or \-\-list and when a list of

files is given either on the command line or via

the \-T option; NUMBER defaults to 1

.TP

\-\-sparse\-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]

set version of the sparse format to use (implies

\-\-sparse)

.TP

\-S, \-\-sparse

handle sparse files efficiently

.IP

Overwrite control:

.TP

\-k, \-\-keep\-old\-files

don't replace existing files when extracting,

treat them as errors

.TP

\-\-keep\-directory\-symlink

preserve existing symlinks to directories when

extracting

.TP

\-\-keep\-newer\-files

don't replace existing files that are newer than

their archive copies

.TP

\-\-no\-overwrite\-dir

preserve metadata of existing directories

.TP

\-\-overwrite

overwrite existing files when extracting

.TP

\-\-overwrite\-dir

overwrite metadata of existing directories when

extracting (default)

.TP

\-\-recursive\-unlink

empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory

.TP

\-\-remove\-files

remove files after adding them to the archive

.TP

\-\-skip\-old\-files

don't replace existing files when extracting,

silently skip over them

.TP

\-U, \-\-unlink\-first

remove each file prior to extracting over it

.TP

\-W, \-\-verify

attempt to verify the archive after writing it

.IP

Select output stream:

.HP

\-\-ignore\-command\-error ignore exit codes of children

.TP

\-\-no\-ignore\-command\-error

treat non\-zero exit codes of children as

error

.TP

\-O, \-\-to\-stdout

extract files to standard output

.TP

\-\-to\-command=COMMAND

pipe extracted files to another program

.IP

Handling of file attributes:

.TP

\-\-atime\-preserve[=METHOD]

preserve access times on dumped files, either

by restoring the times after reading

(METHOD='replace'; default) or by not setting the

times in the first place (METHOD='system')

.TP

\-\-delay\-directory\-restore

delay setting modification times and

permissions of extracted directories until the end

of extraction

.TP

\-\-group=NAME

force NAME as group for added files

.TP

\-\-mode=CHANGES

force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files

.TP

\-\-mtime=DATE\-OR\-FILE

set mtime for added files from DATE\-OR\-FILE

.TP

\-m, \-\-touch

don't extract file modified time

.TP

\-\-no\-delay\-directory\-restore

cancel the effect of \-\-delay\-directory\-restore

option

.TP

\-\-no\-same\-owner

extract files as yourself (default for ordinary

users)

.TP

\-\-no\-same\-permissions

apply the user's umask when extracting permissions

from the archive (default for ordinary users)

.TP

\-\-numeric\-owner

always use numbers for user/group names

.TP

\-\-owner=NAME

force NAME as owner for added files

.TP

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

extract information about file permissions

(default for superuser)

.TP

\-\-preserve

same as both \-p and \-s

.TP

\-\-same\-owner

try extracting files with the same ownership as

exists in the archive (default for superuser)

.TP

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

member arguments are listed in the same order as

the files in the archive

.IP

Handling of extended file attributes:

.TP

\-\-acls

Enable the POSIX ACLs support

.TP

\-\-no\-acls

Disable the POSIX ACLs support

.TP

\-\-no\-selinux

Disable the SELinux context support

.TP

\-\-no\-xattrs

Disable extended attributes support

.TP

\-\-selinux

Enable the SELinux context support

.TP

\-\-xattrs

Enable extended attributes support

.TP

\-\-xattrs\-exclude=MASK

specify the exclude pattern for xattr keys

.TP

\-\-xattrs\-include=MASK

specify the include pattern for xattr keys

.IP

Device selection and switching:

.TP

\-f, \-\-file=ARCHIVE

use archive file or device ARCHIVE

.TP

\-\-force\-local

archive file is local even if it has a colon

.TP

\-F, \-\-info\-script=NAME, \-\-new\-volume\-script=NAME

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

.TP

\-L, \-\-tape\-length=NUMBER

change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes

.TP

\-M, \-\-multi\-volume

create/list/extract multi\-volume archive

.TP

\-\-rmt\-command=COMMAND

use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt

.TP

\-\-rsh\-command=COMMAND

use remote COMMAND instead of rsh

.TP

\-\-volno\-file=FILE

use/update the volume number in FILE

.IP

Device blocking:

.TP

\-b, \-\-blocking\-factor=BLOCKS

BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record

.TP

\-B, \-\-read\-full\-records

reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)

.TP

\-i, \-\-ignore\-zeros

ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)

.TP

\-\-record\-size=NUMBER

NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512

.IP

Archive format selection:

.TP

\-H, \-\-format=FORMAT

create archive of the given format

.IP

FORMAT is one of the following:

.TP

gnu

GNU tar 1.13.x format

.TP

oldgnu

GNU format as per tar <= 1.12

.TP

pax

POSIX 1003.1\-2001 (pax) format

.TP

posix

same as pax

.TP

ustar

POSIX 1003.1\-1988 (ustar) format

.TP

v7

old V7 tar format

.TP

\-\-old\-archive, \-\-portability

same as \-\-format=v7

.TP

\-\-pax\-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...

control pax keywords

.TP

\-\-posix

same as \-\-format=posix

.TP

\-V, \-\-label=TEXT

create archive with volume name TEXT; at

list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern

for volume name

.IP

Compression options:

.TP

\-a, \-\-auto\-compress

use archive suffix to determine the compression

program

.TP

\-I, \-\-use\-compress\-program=PROG

filter through PROG (must accept \-d)

.TP

\-j, \-\-bzip2

filter the archive through bzip2

.TP

\-J, \-\-xz

filter the archive through xz

.TP

\-\-lzip

filter the archive through lzip

.TP

\-\-lzma

filter the archive through xz \-\-format=lzma

.HP

\-\-lzop

.TP

\-\-no\-auto\-compress

do not use archive suffix to determine the

compression program

.TP

\-z, \-\-gzip, \-\-gunzip, \-\-ungzip

filter the archive through gzip

.TP

\-Z, \-\-compress, \-\-uncompress

filter the archive through compress

.IP

Local file selection:

.TP

\-\-add\-file=FILE

add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name

starts with a dash)

.TP

\-\-backup[=CONTROL]

backup before removal, choose version CONTROL

.TP

\-C, \-\-directory=DIR

change to directory DIR

.TP

\-\-exclude=PATTERN

exclude files, given as a PATTERN

.TP

\-\-exclude\-backups

exclude backup and lock files

.TP

\-\-exclude\-caches

exclude contents of directories containing

CACHEDIR.TAG, except for the tag file itself

.TP

\-\-exclude\-caches\-all

exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG

.TP

\-\-exclude\-caches\-under exclude everything under directories containing

CACHEDIR.TAG

.TP

\-\-exclude\-tag=FILE

exclude contents of directories containing FILE,

except for FILE itself

.HP

\-\-exclude\-tag\-all=FILE exclude directories containing FILE

.TP

\-\-exclude\-tag\-under=FILE

exclude everything under directories

containing FILE

.TP

\-\-exclude\-vcs

exclude version control system directories

.TP

\-h, \-\-dereference

follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they

point to

.TP

\-\-hard\-dereference

follow hard links; archive and dump the files they

refer to

.TP

\-K, \-\-starting\-file=MEMBER\-NAME

begin at member MEMBER\-NAME when reading the

archive

.TP

\-\-newer\-mtime=DATE

compare date and time when data changed only

.TP

\-\-no\-null

disable the effect of the previous \-\-null option

.TP

\-\-no\-recursion

avoid descending automatically in directories

.TP

\-\-no\-unquote

do not unquote filenames read with \-T

.HP

\-\-null                 \-T reads null\-terminated names, disable \-C

.TP

\-N, \-\-newer=DATE\-OR\-FILE, \-\-after\-date=DATE\-OR\-FILE

only store files newer than DATE\-OR\-FILE

.TP

\-\-one\-file\-system

stay in local file system when creating archive

.TP

\-P, \-\-absolute\-names

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

.TP

\-\-recursion

recurse into directories (default)

.TP

\-\-suffix=STRING

backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~'

unless overridden by environment variable

SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)

.TP

\-T, \-\-files\-from=FILE

get names to extract or create from FILE

.TP

\-\-unquote

unquote filenames read with \-T (default)

.TP

\-X, \-\-exclude\-from=FILE

exclude patterns listed in FILE

.IP

File name transformations:

.TP

\-\-strip\-components=NUMBER

strip NUMBER leading components from file

names on extraction

.TP

\-\-transform=EXPRESSION, \-\-xform=EXPRESSION

use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file

names

.IP

File name matching options (affect both exclude and include patterns):

.TP

\-\-anchored

patterns match file name start

.TP

\-\-ignore\-case

ignore case

.TP

\-\-no\-anchored

patterns match after any '/' (default for

exclusion)

.TP

\-\-no\-ignore\-case

case sensitive matching (default)

.TP

\-\-no\-wildcards

verbatim string matching

.TP

\-\-no\-wildcards\-match\-slash

wildcards do not match '/'

.TP

\-\-wildcards

use wildcards (default)

.TP

\-\-wildcards\-match\-slash

wildcards match '/' (default for exclusion)

.IP

Informative output:

.TP

\-\-checkpoint[=NUMBER]

display progress messages every NUMBERth record

(default 10)

.TP

\-\-checkpoint\-action=ACTION

execute ACTION on each checkpoint

.TP

\-\-full\-time

print file time to its full resolution

.TP

\-\-index\-file=FILE

send verbose output to FILE

.TP

\-l, \-\-check\-links

print a message if not all links are dumped

.TP

\-\-no\-quote\-chars=STRING

disable quoting for characters from STRING

.TP

\-\-quote\-chars=STRING

additionally quote characters from STRING

.TP

\-\-quoting\-style=STYLE

set name quoting style; see below for valid STYLE

values

.TP

\-R, \-\-block\-number

show block number within archive with each message

.TP

\-\-show\-defaults

show tar defaults

.TP

\-\-show\-omitted\-dirs

when listing or extracting, list each directory

that does not match search criteria

.TP

\-\-show\-snapshot\-field\-ranges

show valid ranges for snapshot\-file fields

.TP

\-\-show\-transformed\-names, \-\-show\-stored\-names

show file or archive names after transformation

.TP

\-\-totals[=SIGNAL]

print total bytes after processing the archive;

with an argument \- print total bytes when this

SIGNAL is delivered; Allowed signals are: SIGHUP,

SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2; the names

without SIG prefix are also accepted

.TP

\-\-utc

print file modification times in UTC

.TP

\-v, \-\-verbose

verbosely list files processed

.TP

\-\-warning=KEYWORD

warning control

.TP

\-w, \-\-interactive, \-\-confirmation

ask for confirmation for every action

.IP

Compatibility options:

.TP

\-o

when creating, same as \-\-old\-archive; when

extracting, same as \-\-no\-same\-owner

.IP

Other options:

.TP

\-?, \-\-help

give this help list

.TP

\-\-restrict

disable use of some potentially harmful options

.TP

\-\-usage

give a short usage message

.TP

\-\-version

print program version

.PP

Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional

for any corresponding short options.

.PP

The backup suffix is '~', unless set with \-\-suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.

The version control may be set with \-\-backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:

.TP

none, off

never make backups

.TP

t, numbered

make numbered backups

.TP

nil, existing

numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise

.TP

never, simple

always make simple backups

.PP

Valid arguments for the \-\-quoting\-style option are:

.IP

literal

shell

shell\-always

c

c\-maybe

escape

locale

clocale

.PP

*This* tar defaults to:

\-\-format=gnu \-f\- \-b20 \-\-quoting\-style=escape \-\-rmt\-command=/etc/rmt

\-\-rsh\-command=/usr/bin/ssh

.SH AUTHOR

Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason.

.SH "REPORTING BUGS"

Report bugs to <bug\-tar@gnu.org>.

.SH COPYRIGHT

Copyright \(co 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.

.br

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.

There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

.SH "SEE ALSO"

The full documentation for

.B tar

is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the

.B info

and

.B tar

programs are properly installed at your site, the command

.IP

.B info tar

.PP

should give you access to the complete manual.