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TAR(1)                           User Commands                          TAR(1)

NAME
       tar - manual page for tar 1.26
SYNOPSIS
       tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
       GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive,
       and can restore individual files from the archive.
       Note that this manual page contains just  very  brief  description  (or
       more like a list of possible functionality) originally generated by the
       help2man utility.  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  com-
       plete manual.
EXAMPLES
       tar -cf archive.tar foo bar
              # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
       tar -tvf archive.tar
              # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.
       tar -xf archive.tar
              # Extract all files from archive.tar.
DEFAULTS
       *This* tar installation defaults to:
       --format=gnu  -f-  -b20  --quoting-style=escape --rmt-command=/sbin/rmt
       --rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh
Main operation mode:
       -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
       --delete
              delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)
       -r, --append
              append files to the end of an archive
       -t, --list
              list the contents of an archive
       --test-label
              test the archive volume label and exit
       -u, --update
              only append files newer than copy in archive
       -x, --extract, --get
              extract files from an archive
Common options:
       -C, --directory=DIR
              change to directory DIR
       -f, --file=ARCHIVE
              use archive file or device ARCHIVE
       -j, --bzip2
              filter the archive through bzip2
        -J, --xz
              filter the archive through xz
       -p, --preserve-permissions
              extract  information  about  file permissions (default for supe-
              ruser)
       -v, --verbose
              verbosely list files processed
       -z, --gzip
              filter the archive through gzip

Operation modifiers:
       --check-device
              check   device   numbers   when  creating  incremental  archives
              (default)
       -g, --listed-incremental=FILE
              handle new GNU-format incremental backup
       -G, --incremental
              handle old GNU-format incremental backup
       --ignore-failed-read
              do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files
       --level=NUMBER
              dump level for created listed-incremental archive
       -n, --seek
              archive is seekable
       --no-check-device
              do not check device numbers when creating incremental archives
       --no-seek
              archive is not seekable
       --occurrence[=NUMBER]
              process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each  file  in  the  ar-
              chive;  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
       --sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]
              set version of the sparse format to use (implies --sparse)
       -S, --sparse
              handle sparse files efficiently
Overwrite control:
       -k, --keep-old-files
              don't replace existing files  when  extracting,  treat  them  as
              errors
       --keep-newer-files
              don't  replace  existing files that are newer than their archive
              copies
       --keep-directory-symlink
              Don't replace existing symlinks to directories when extracting.
       --no-overwrite-dir
              preserve metadata of existing directories
       --overwrite
              overwrite existing files when extracting
       --overwrite-dir
              overwrite  metadata  of  existing  directories  when  extracting
              (default)
       --recursive-unlink
              empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory
       --remove-files
              remove files after adding them to the archive
       --skip-old-files
              don't replace existing files when extracting, silently skip over
              them
       -U, --unlink-first
              remove each file prior to extracting over it
       -W, --verify
              attempt to verify the archive after writing it
Select output stream:
       --ignore-command-error ignore exit codes of children
       --no-ignore-command-error
              treat non-zero exit codes of children as error
       -O, --to-stdout
              extract files to standard output
       --to-command=COMMAND
              pipe extracted files to another program
Handling of file attributes:
       --atime-preserve[=METHOD]
              preserve access times on dumped files, either by  restoring  the
              times  after  reading (METHOD='replace'; default) or by not set-
              ting the times in the first place (METHOD='system')
       --delay-directory-restore
              delay setting modification times and  permissions  of  extracted
              directories until the end of extraction
       --group=NAME
              force NAME as group for added files
       --mode=CHANGES
              force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files
       --mtime=DATE-OR-FILE
              set mtime for added files from DATE-OR-FILE
       -m, --touch
              don't extract file modified time
       --no-delay-directory-restore
              cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore option
       --no-same-owner
              extract files as yourself (default for ordinary users)
       --no-same-permissions
              apply  the user's umask when extracting permissions from the ar-
              chive (default for ordinary users)
       --numeric-owner
              always use numbers for user/group names
       --owner=NAME
              force NAME as owner for added files
       -p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
              extract information about file permissions  (default  for  supe-
              ruser)
       --preserve
              same as both -p and -s
       --same-owner
              try  extracting  files  with the same ownership as exists in the
              archive (default for superuser)
       -s, --preserve-order, --same-order
              sort names to extract to match archive
Handling of extended file attributes:
       --acls Enable the POSIX ACLs support
       --no-acls
              Disable the POSIX ACLs support
       --no-selinux
              Disable the SELinux context support
       --no-xattrs
              Disable extended attributes support
       --selinux
              Enable the SELinux context support
       --xattrs
              Enable extended attributes support
       --xattrs-exclude=MASK
              specify the exclude pattern for xattr keys
       --xattrs-include=MASK
              specify the include pattern for xattr keys
Device selection and switching:
       -f, --file=ARCHIVE
              use archive file or device ARCHIVE
       --force-local
              archive file is local even if it has a colon
       -F, --info-script=NAME, --new-volume-script=NAME
              run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
       -L, --tape-length=NUMBER
              change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes
       -M, --multi-volume
              create/list/extract multi-volume archive
       --rmt-command=COMMAND
              use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt
       --rsh-command=COMMAND
              use remote COMMAND instead of rsh
       --volno-file=FILE
              use/update the volume number in FILE
Device blocking:
       -b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS
              BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record
       -B, --read-full-records
              reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)
       -i, --ignore-zeros
              ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)
       --record-size=NUMBER
              NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512
Archive format selection:
       -H, --format=FORMAT
              create archive of the given format
              FORMAT is one of the following:
                     gnu    GNU tar 1.13.x format
                     oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12
                     pax    POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format
                     posix  same as pax
                     ustar  POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format
                     v7     old V7 tar format
       --old-archive, --portability
              same as --format=v7
       --pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...
              control pax keywords
       --posix
              same as --format=posix
       -V, --label=TEXT
              create archive with volume name TEXT; at list/extract time,  use
              TEXT as a globbing pattern for volume name
Compression options:
       -a, --auto-compress
              use archive suffix to determine the compression program
       -I, --use-compress-program=PROG
              filter through PROG (must accept -d)
       -j, --bzip2
              filter the archive through bzip2
       -J, --xz
              filter the archive through xz
       --lzip filter the archive through lzip
       --lzma filter the archive through lzma
       --lzop
       --no-auto-compress
              do not use archive suffix to determine the compression program
       -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip
              filter the archive through gzip
       -Z, --compress, --uncompress
              filter the archive through compress
       Note:   You   might   need  to  install  external  program  (lzip/ncom-
       press/lzma...) to use some of these compression options
Local file selection:
       --add-file=FILE
              add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name starts with  a
              dash)
       --backup[=CONTROL]
              backup before removal, choose version CONTROL
       -C, --directory=DIR
              change to directory DIR
       --exclude=PATTERN
              exclude files, given as a PATTERN
       --exclude-backups
              exclude backup and lock files
       --exclude-caches
              exclude  contents of directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG, except
              for the tag file itself
       --exclude-caches-all
              exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG
       --exclude-caches-under exclude everything under directories containing
              CACHEDIR.TAG
       --exclude-tag=FILE
              exclude contents of directories containing FILE, except for FILE
              itself
       --exclude-tag-all=FILE exclude directories containing FILE
       --exclude-tag-under=FILE
              exclude everything under directories containing FILE
       --exclude-vcs
              exclude version control system directories
       -h, --dereference
              follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they point to
       --hard-dereference
              follow hard links; archive and dump the files they refer to
       -K, --starting-file=MEMBER-NAME
              begin at member MEMBER-NAME in the archive
       --newer-mtime=DATE
              compare date and time when data changed only
       --no-null
              disable the effect of the previous --null option
       --no-recursion
              avoid descending automatically in directories
       --no-unquote
              do not unquote filenames read with -T
       --null                 -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
       -N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE, --after-date=DATE-OR-FILE
              only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE
       --one-file-system
              stay in local file system when creating archive
       -P, --absolute-names
              don't strip leading `/'s from file names
       --recursion
              recurse into directories (default)
       --suffix=STRING
              backup  before  removal, override usual suffix ('~' unless over-
              ridden by environment variable SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)
       -T, --files-from=FILE
              get names to extract or create from FILE
       --unquote
              unquote filenames read with -T (default)
       -X, --exclude-from=FILE
              exclude patterns listed in FILE
File name transformations:
       --strip-components=NUMBER
              strip NUMBER leading components from file names on extraction
       --transform=EXPRESSION, --xform=EXPRESSION
              use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file names
              File name matching options (affect both exclude and include pat-
              terns):
       --anchored
              patterns match file name start
       --ignore-case
              ignore case
       --no-anchored
              patterns match after any `/' (default for exclusion)
       --no-ignore-case
              case sensitive matching (default)
       --no-wildcards
              verbatim string matching
       --no-wildcards-match-slash
              wildcards do not match `/'
       --wildcards
              use wildcards (default)
       --wildcards-match-slash
              wildcards match `/' (default for exclusion)
Informative output:
       --checkpoint[=NUMBER]
              display progress messages every NUMBERth record (default 10)
       --checkpoint-action=ACTION
              execute ACTION on each checkpoint
       --full-time
              print file time to its full resolution
       --index-file=FILE
              send verbose output to FILE
       -l, --check-links
              print a message if not all links are dumped
       --no-quote-chars=STRING
              disable quoting for characters from STRING
       --quote-chars=STRING
              additionally quote characters from STRING
       --quoting-style=STYLE
              set name quoting style; see below for valid STYLE values
       -R, --block-number
              show block number within archive with each message
       --show-defaults
              show tar defaults
       --show-omitted-dirs
              when  listing  or  extracting, list each directory that does not
              match search criteria
       --show-transformed-names, --show-stored-names
              show file or archive names after transformation
       --totals[=SIGNAL]
              print total bytes after processing the archive; with an argument
              -  print total bytes when this SIGNAL is delivered; Allowed sig-
              nals are: SIGHUP, SIGQUIT,  SIGINT,  SIGUSR1  and  SIGUSR2;  the
              names without SIG prefix are also accepted
       --utc  print file modification dates in UTC
       -v, --verbose
              verbosely list files processed
       --warning=KEYWORD
              warning control
       -w, --interactive, --confirmation
              ask for confirmation for every action
Compatibility options:
       -o     when  creating,  same as --old-archive; when extracting, same as
              --no-same-owner
Other options:
       -?, --help
              give this help list
       --restrict
              disable use of some potentially harmful options
       --usage
              give a short usage message
       --version
              print program version
       Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also  mandatory  or
       optional for any corresponding short options.
       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:
       none, off
              never make backups
       t, numbered
              make numbered backups
       nil, existing
              numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
       never, simple
              always make simple backups
       Valid arguments for the --quoting-style option are:
              literal shell shell-always c c-maybe escape locale clocale
AUTHOR
       Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason.
REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <bug-tar AT gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>;.
       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

tar 1.26                         February 2013                          TAR(1)