NAME

SYNOPSIS

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 ] [ --checkpoint ] [ -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]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 FILE ] [ --keep-newer-files ] [ -l, --check-links ] [ -L, --tape-length N ] [ -m, --touch, --modification-time ] [ -M, --multi-volume ] [ --mode PERMISSIONS ] [ -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE ] [ --newer-mtime DATE ] [ --no-anchored ] [ --no-ignore-case ] [ --no-recursion ] [ --no-same-permissions ] [ --no-wildcards ] [ --no-wildcards-match-slash ] [ --null ] [ --numeric-owner ] [ -o, --old-archive, --portability, --no-same-owner ] [ -O, --to-stdout ] [ --occurrence NUM ] [ --one-file-system ] [ --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 ] [ --remove-files ] [ --rmt-command CMD ] [ --rsh-command CMD ] [ -s, --same-order, --preserve-order ] [ -S, --sparse ] [ --same-owner ] [ --show-defaults ] [ --show-omitted-dirs ] [ --strip-components NUMBER, --strip-path NUMBER (1) ] [ --suffix SUFFIX ] [ -T, --files-from FILE ] [ --totals ] [ -U, --unlink-first ] [ --use-compress-program PROG ] [ --utc ] [ -v, --verbose ] [ -V, --label NAME ] [ --version ] [ --volno-file FILE ] [ -w, --interactive, --confirmation ] [ -W, --verify ] [ --wildcards ] [ --wildcards-match-slash ] [ --exclude PATTERN ] [ -X, --exclude-from FILE ] [ -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip ] [ -Z, --compress, --uncompress ] [ -[0-7][lmh] ]

(1) tar-1.14 uses --strip-path, tar-1.14.90+ uses --strip-components  

DESCRIPTION

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.gz

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

--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 FILE, --new-volume-script FILE

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 FILE

begin at file F in the archive

--keep-newer-files

do not overwrite files which are newer than the archive

-l, --check-links

warn if number of hard links to the file on the filesystem mismatch the number of links recorded in the 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 that were modified or had status updates (permissions, ACLs, extended attributes,...) since DATE

--newer-mtime DATE

like --newer, but only store files that were modified since 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

--one-file-system

stay in local file system when creating an archive

--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 FILE

get names to extract or create from file FILE

--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 FILE

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, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip

filter the archive through gzip

-Z, --compress, --uncompress

filter the archive through compress

--use-compress-program PROG

filter the archive through PROG (which must accept -d)

-[0-7][lmh]

specify drive and density

BUGS

REPORTING BUGS

AUTHORS

Debian Linux http://www.debian.org/
Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>

Index

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLES

FUNCTION LETTERS

COMMON OPTIONS

ALL OPTIONS

BUGS

REPORTING BUGS

AUTHORS