TAR(1)TAR(1)NAMEtar - GNU tape archiver
SYNOPSIStar [OPTION]... [FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
GNU tar creates and manipulates archives which are actu
ally collections of many other files; the program provides
users with an organized and systematic method for control
ling a large amount of data.
If a long option shows an argument as mandatory, then it
is mandatory for the equivalent short option also. Simi
larly for optional arguments.
Main operation mode:
-t, --list
list the contents of an archive
-x, --extract, --get
extract files from 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
-u, --update
only append files newer than copy in archive
-A, --catenate
append tar files to an archive
--concatenate
same as -A
--delete
delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)
Operation modifiers:
-W, --verify
attempt to verify the archive after writing it
--remove-files
remove files after adding them to the archive
-k, --keep-old-files
don't replace existing files when extracting
--overwrite
overwrite existing files when extracting
--overwrite-dir
overwrite directory metadata when extracting
-U, --unlink-first
remove each file prior to extracting over it
--recursive-unlink
empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory
-S, --sparse
handle sparse files efficiently
-O, --to-stdout
extract files to standard output
-G, --incremental
handle old GNU-format incremental backup
-g, --listed-incremental=FILE
handle new GNU-format incremental backup
--ignore-failed-read
do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files
Handling of file attributes:
--owner=NAME
force NAME as owner for added files
--group=NAME
force NAME as group for added files
--mode=CHANGES
force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files
--atime-preserve
don't change access times on dumped files
-m, --modification-time
don't extract file modified time
--same-owner
try extracting files with the same ownership
--no-same-owner
extract files as yourself
--numeric-owner
always use numbers for user/group names
-p, --same-permissions
extract permissions information
--no-same-permissions
do not extract permissions information
--preserve-permissions
same as -p
-s, --same-order
sort names to extract to match archive
--preserve-order
same as -s
--preserve
same as both -p and -s
Device selection and switching:
-f, --file=ARCHIVE
use archive file or device ARCHIVE
--force-local
archive file is local even if has a colon
--rsh-command=COMMAND
use remote COMMAND instead of rsh
-[0-7][lmh]
specify drive and density
-M, --multi-volume
create/list/extract multi-volume archive
-L, --tape-length=NUM
change tape after writing NUM x 1024 bytes
-F, --info-script=FILE
run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
--new-volume-script=FILE
same as -F FILE
--volno-file=FILE
use/update the volume number in FILE
Device blocking:
-b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS
BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record
--record-size=SIZE
SIZE bytes per record, multiple of 512
-i, --ignore-zeros
ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)
-B, --read-full-records
reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)
Archive format selection:
-V, --label=NAME
create archive with volume name NAME
PATTERN
at list/extract time, a globbing PATTERN
-o, --old-archive, --portability
write a V7 format archive
--posix
write a POSIX format archive
-j, --bzip2
filter the archive through bzip2
-z, --gzip, --ungzip
filter the archive through gzip
-Z, --compress, --uncompress
filter the archive through compress
--use-compress-program=PROG
filter through PROG (must accept -d)
Local file selection:
-C, --directory=DIR
change to directory DIR
-T, --files-from=NAME
get names to extract or create from file NAME
--null -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
--exclude=PATTERN
exclude files, given as a PATTERN
-X, --exclude-from=FILE
exclude patterns listed in FILE
--anchored
exclude patterns match file name start (default)
--no-anchored
exclude patterns match after any /
--ignore-case
exclusion ignores case
--no-ignore-case
exclusion is case sensitive (default)
--wildcards
exclude patterns use wildcards (default)
--no-wildcards
exclude patterns are plain strings
--wildcards-match-slash
exclude pattern wildcards match '/' (default)
--no-wildcards-match-slash
exclude pattern wildcards do not match '/'
-P, --absolute-names
don't strip leading `/'s from file names
-h, --dereference
dump instead the files symlinks point to
--no-recursion
avoid descending automatically in directories
-l, --one-file-system
stay in local file system when creating archive
-K, --starting-file=NAME
begin at file NAME in the archive
-N, --newer=DATE
only store files newer than DATE
--newer-mtime=DATE
compare date and time when data changed only
--after-date=DATE
same as -N
--backup[=CONTROL]
backup before removal, choose version control
--suffix=SUFFIX
backup before removal, override usual suffix
Informative output:
--help print this help, then exit
--version
print tar program version number, then exit
-v, --verbose
verbosely list files processed
--checkpoint
print directory names while reading the archive
--totals
print total bytes written while creating archive
-R, --block-number
show block number within archive with each message
-w, --interactive
ask for confirmation for every action
--confirmation
same as -w
The backup suffix is `~', unless set with --suffix or SIM
PLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control may be set with
--backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:
t, numbered
make numbered backups
nil, existing
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple other
wise
never, simple
always make simple backups
NOTES
GNU tar cannot read nor produce --posix archives. If
POSIXLY_CORRECT is set in the environment, GNU extensions
are disallowed with --posix . Support for POSIX is only
partially implemented, don't count on it yet. ARCHIVE may
be FILE, HOST:FILE or USER@HOST:FILE; DATE may be a tex
tual date or a file name starting with `/' or `.', in
which case the file's date is used.
*This* `tar' defaults to `-f- -b20'.
BUGS
Report bugs to <bug-tar@gnu.org>.
TAR(1)
