GNU tar: an archiver tool

This manual is for GNU tar (version 1.28, 22 July 2014), which creates and extracts files from archives.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being "GNU General Public License", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual", and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual."

The first part of this master menu lists the major nodes in this Info document. The rest of the menu lists all the lower level nodes.

Appendices
1. Introduction
2. Tutorial Introduction to `tar`
3. Invoking GNU `tar`
4. GNU `tar` Operations
5. Performing Backups and Restoring Files
6. Choosing Files and Names for `tar`
7. Date input formats
8. Controlling the Archive Format
9. Tapes and Other Archive Media
10. Reliability and Security
A. Changes
B. Configuring Help Summary
C. Fixing Snapshot Files
D. Tar Internals
E. Genfile
F. Free Software Needs Free Documentation
G. GNU Free Documentation License
H. Index of Command Line Options
I. Index
--- The Detailed Node Listing --- Introduction
1.1 What this Book Contains
1.2 Some Definitions
1.3 What `tar` Does
1.4 How `tar` Archives are Named
1.5 GNU `tar` Authors
1.6 Reporting bugs or suggestions
Tutorial Introduction to `tar`
2.1 Assumptions this Tutorial Makes
2.2 Stylistic Conventions
2.3 Basic `tar` Operations and Options
2.4 The Three Most Frequently Used Operations
2.5 Two Frequently Used Options
2.6 How to Create Archives
2.7 How to List Archives
2.8 How to Extract Members from an Archive
2.9 Going Further Ahead in this Manual
Two Frequently Used Options
The `--file' Option
The `--verbose' Option
Getting Help: Using the `--help' Option
How to Create Archives
2.6.1 Preparing a Practice Directory for Examples
2.6.2 Creating the Archive
2.6.3 Running `--create' with `--verbose'
2.6.4 Short Forms with `create'
2.6.5 Archiving Directories
How to List Archives
Listing the Contents of a Stored Directory
How to Extract Members from an Archive
2.8.1 Extracting an Entire Archive
2.8.2 Extracting Specific Files
2.8.3 Extracting Files that are Directories
2.8.4 Extracting Archives from Untrusted Sources
2.8.5 Commands That Will Fail
Invoking GNU `tar`
3.1 General Synopsis of `tar`
3.2 Using `tar` Options
3.3 The Three Option Styles
3.4 All `tar` Options
3.5 GNU `tar` documentation
3.6 Obtaining GNU `tar` default values
3.7 Checking `tar` progress
3.8 Checkpoints
3.9 Controlling Warning Messages
3.10 Asking for Confirmation During Operations
The Three Option Styles
3.3.1 Long Option Style
3.3.2 Short Option Style
3.3.3 Old Option Style
3.3.4 Mixing Option Styles
All `tar` Options
3.4.1 Operations
3.4.2 `tar` Options
3.4.3 Short Options Cross Reference
GNU `tar` Operations
4.1 Basic GNU `tar` Operations
4.2 Advanced GNU `tar` Operations
4.3 Options Used by `--create'
4.4 Options Used by `--extract'
4.5 Backup options
4.6 Notable `tar` Usages
4.7 Looking Ahead: The Rest of this Manual
Advanced GNU `tar` Operations
4.2.1 The Five Advanced `tar` Operations
4.2.2 How to Add Files to Existing Archives: `--append'
4.2.3 Updating an Archive
4.2.4 Combining Archives with `--concatenate'
4.2.5 Removing Archive Members Using `--delete'
4.2.6 Comparing Archive Members with the File System
How to Add Files to Existing Archives: `--append'
4.2.2.1 Appending Files to an Archive
4.2.2.2 Multiple Members with the Same Name
Updating an Archive
4.2.3.1 How to Update an Archive Using `--update'
Options Used by `--create'
4.3.1 Overriding File Metadata
4.3.2 Ignore Fail Read
Options Used by `--extract'
4.4.1 Options to Help Read Archives
4.4.2 Changing How `tar` Writes Files
4.4.3 Coping with Scarce Resources
Options to Help Read Archives
Reading Full Records
Ignoring Blocks of Zeros
Changing How `tar` Writes Files
Options Controlling the Overwriting of Existing Files
Overwrite Old Files
Keep Old Files
Keep Newer Files
Unlink First
Recursive Unlink
Setting Data Modification Times
Setting Access Permissions
Directory Modification Times and Permissions
Writing to Standard Output
Writing to an External Program
Removing Files
Coping with Scarce Resources
Starting File
Same Order
Performing Backups and Restoring Files
5.1 Using `tar` to Perform Full Dumps
5.2 Using `tar` to Perform Incremental Dumps
5.3 Levels of Backups
5.4 Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
5.5 Using the Backup Scripts
5.6 Using the Restore Script
Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
5.4.1 General-Purpose Variables
5.4.2 Magnetic Tape Control
5.4.3 User Hooks
5.4.4 An Example Text of `Backup-specs'
Choosing Files and Names for `tar`
6.1 Choosing and Naming Archive Files		Choosing the Archive's Name
6.2 Selecting Archive Members
6.3 Reading Names from a File
6.4 Excluding Some Files
6.5 Wildcards Patterns and Matching
6.6 Quoting Member Names		Ways of Quoting Special Characters in Names
6.7 Modifying File and Member Names
6.8 Operating Only on New Files
6.9 Descending into Directories
6.10 Crossing File System Boundaries
Reading Names from a File
6.3.1 `NUL`-Terminated File Names
Excluding Some Files
Problems with Using the `exclude` Options
Wildcards Patterns and Matching
Controlling Pattern-Matching
Crossing File System Boundaries
6.10.1 Changing the Working Directory		Changing Directory
6.10.2 Absolute File Names
Date input formats
7.1 General date syntax		Common rules.
7.2 Calendar date items		19 Dec 1994.
7.3 Time of day items		9:20pm.
7.4 Time zone items		EST, PDT, GMT.
7.6 Day of week items		Monday and others.
7.7 Relative items in date strings		next tuesday, 2 years ago.
7.8 Pure numbers in date strings		19931219, 1440.
7.9 Seconds since the Epoch		@1078100502.
7.10 Specifying time zone rules		TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0".
7.11 Authors of `parse_datetime`		Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.
Controlling the Archive Format
8.1 Using Less Space through Compression
8.2 Handling File Attributes
8.3 Making `tar` Archives More Portable
8.4 Comparison of `tar` and `cpio`
Using Less Space through Compression
8.1.1 Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
8.1.2 Archiving Sparse Files
Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
8.1.1.1 Using lbzip2 with GNU `tar`.
Making `tar` Archives More Portable
8.3.1 Portable Names
8.3.2 Symbolic Links
8.3.3 Hard Links
8.3.4 Old V7 Archives
8.3.5 Ustar Archive Format		Ustar Archives
8.3.6 GNU and old GNU `tar` format		GNU and old GNU format archives.
8.3.7 GNU `tar` and POSIX `tar`		POSIX archives
8.3.8 Checksumming Problems
8.3.9 Large or Negative Values		Large files, negative time stamps, etc.
8.3.10 How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using Other `tar` Implementations
GNU `tar` and POSIX `tar`
8.3.7.1 Controlling Extended Header Keywords
How to Extract GNU-Specific Data Using Other `tar` Implementations
8.3.10.1 Extracting Members Split Between Volumes		Members Split Between Volumes
8.3.10.2 Extracting Sparse Members		Sparse Members
Tapes and Other Archive Media
9.1 Device Selection and Switching		Device selection and switching
9.2 Remote Tape Server
9.3 Some Common Problems and their Solutions
9.4 Blocking
9.5 Many Archives on One Tape		Many archives on one tape
9.6 Using Multiple Tapes
9.7 Including a Label in the Archive
9.8 Verifying Data as It is Stored
9.9 Write Protection
Blocking
9.4.1 Format Variations
9.4.2 The Blocking Factor of an Archive
Many Archives on One Tape
9.5.1 Tape Positions and Tape Marks
9.5.2 The `mt` Utility
Using Multiple Tapes
9.6.1 Archives Longer than One Tape or Disk
9.6.2 Tape Files
9.6.3 Concatenate Volumes into a Single Archive
Tar Internals
Basic Tar Format
GNU Extensions to the Archive Format
Storing Sparse Files
Format of the Incremental Snapshot Files
Dumpdir
Storing Sparse Files
D.0.1 Old GNU Format
D.0.2 PAX Format, Versions 0.0 and 0.1
D.0.3 PAX Format, Version 1.0
Genfile
E.1 Generate Mode		File Generation Mode.
E.2 Status Mode		File Status Mode.
E.3 Exec Mode		Synchronous Execution mode.
Copying This Manual
G. GNU Free Documentation License		License for copying this manual

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