TAR

tar − manual page for tar 1.23

tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...

GNU ‘tar’ saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can restore individual files from the archive.

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.

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

-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 superuser)

-v, --verbose

verbosely list files processed

-z, --gzip

filter the archive through gzip

−−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 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

−−sparse−version=MAJOR[.MINOR]

set version of the sparse format to use (implies −−sparse)

−S, −−sparse

handle sparse files efficiently

−k, −−keep−old−files

don’t replace existing files when extracting, treat them as errors

−−skip−old−files

don’t replace existing files when extracting, silently skip over them

−−keep−newer−files

don’t replace existing files that are newer than their archive copies

−−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

−U, −−unlink−first

remove each file prior to extracting over it

−W, −−verify

attempt to verify the archive after writing it

−−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:

−−acls

Save the ACLs to the archive

−−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’)

−−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−acls

Don’t extract the ACLs from the archive

−−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 archive (default for ordinary users)

−−no−selinux

Don’t extract the SELinux context from the archive

−−no−xattrs

Don’t extract the user/root xattrs from the archive

−−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 superuser)

−−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

−−selinux

Save the SELinux context to the archive

−−xattrs

Save the user/root xattrs to the archive

−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

−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

−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

−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

−−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 overridden 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

−−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 patterns):

−−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)

−−checkpoint[=NUMBER]

display progress messages every NUMBERth record (default 10)

−−checkpoint−action=ACTION

execute ACTION on each checkpoint

−−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 signals 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

−o

when creating, same as −−old−archive; when extracting, same as −−no−same−owner

−?, −−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 SIMPLE_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

*This* tar defaults to: −−format=gnu −f− −b20 −−quoting−style=escape −−rmt−command=/sbin/rmt −−rsh−command=/usr/bin/rsh

Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason.

Report bugs to <bug−tar@gnu.org>.

Copyright © 2010 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.

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.