tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
tar [ - ] A --catenate --concatenate | c --create | d --diff --compare
| r --append | t --list | u --update | x -extract --get [ --atime-pre-
serve ] [ -b, --block-size N ] [ -B, --read-full-blocks ] [ -C,
--directory DIR ] [ --checkpoint ] [ -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F ] [
--force-local ] [ -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F ] [ -G,
--incremental ] [ -g, --listed-incremental F ] [ -h, --dereference ] [
-i, --ignore-zeros ] [ -j, --bzip2 ] [ --ignore-failed-read ] [ -k,
--keep-old-files ] [ -K, --starting-file F ] [ -l, --one-file-system ]
[ -L, --tape-length N ] [ -m, --modification-time ] [ -M, --multi-vol-
ume ] [ -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE ] [ -o, --old-archive,
--portability ] [ -O, --to-stdout ] [ -p, --same-permissions, --pre-
serve-permissions ] [ -P, --absolute-names ] [ --preserve ] [ -R,
--record-number ] [ --remove-files ] [ -s, --same-order, --preserve-
order ] [ --same-owner ] [ --numeric-owner ] [ -S, --sparse ] [ -T,
--files-from F ] [ --null ] [ --totals ] [ -v, --verbose ] [ -V,
--label NAME ] [ --version ] [ -w, --interactive, --confirmation ] [
-W, --verify ] [ --exclude=FILE ] [ -X, --exclude-from FILE ] [ -Z,
--compress, --uncompress ] [ -z, --gzip, --ungzip ] [ --use-com-
press-program PROG ] [ --block-compress ] [ --rsh-command=CMD ] [
-[0-7][lmh] ]
filename1 [ filename2, ... filenameN ]
directory1 [ directory2, ...directoryN ]
This manual page documents the GNU version of tar , an archiving program
designed to store and extract files from an archive file known as
a tarfile. A tarfile may be made on a tape drive, however, it is also
common to write a tarfile to a normal file. The first argument to tar
must be one of the options: Acdrtux, followed by any optional functions.
The final arguments to tar are the names of the files or directories
which should be archived. The use of a directory name always
implies that the subdirectories below should be included in the archive.
tar -xvvf foo.tar
extract foo.tar
tar -xvvzf foo.tar.gz
extract gzipped foo.tar.gz
tar -cvvf foo.tar foo/
tar contents of folder foo in foo.tar
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
--delete
delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)
-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 copy in archive
-x, --extract, --get
extract files from an archive
--atime-preserve
don't change access times on dumped files
-b, --block-size N
block size of Nx512 bytes (default N=20)
-B, --read-full-blocks
reblock as we read (for reading 4.2BSD pipes)
-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)
--force-local
archive file is local even if has a colon
-F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F
run script at end of each tape (implies -M)
-G, --incremental
create/list/extract old GNU-format incremental backup
-g, --listed-incremental F
create/list/extract new GNU-format incremental backup
-h, --dereference
don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to
-i, --ignore-zeros
ignore blocks of zeros in archive (normally mean EOF)
-j, --bzip2
filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files
--ignore-failed-read
don't exit with non-zero status on unreadable files
-k, --keep-old-files
keep existing files; don't overwrite them from archive
-K, --starting-file F
begin at file F in the archive
-l, --one-file-system
stay in local file system when creating an archive
-L, --tape-length N
change tapes after writing N*1024 bytes
-m, --modification-time
don't extract file modified time
-M, --multi-volume
create/list/extract multi-volume archive
-N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE
only store files newer than DATE
-o, --old-archive, --portability
write a V7 format archive, rather than ANSI format
-O, --to-stdout
extract files to standard output
-p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions
extract all protection information
-P, --absolute-paths
don't strip leading `/'s from file names
--preserve
like -p -s
-R, --record-number
show record number within archive with each message
--remove-files
remove files after adding them to the archive
-s, --same-order, --preserve-order
list of names to extract is sorted to match archive
--same-owner
create extracted files with the same ownership
--numeric-owner
always use numbers for user/group names
-S, --sparse
handle sparse files efficiently
-T, --files-from F
get names to extract or create from file F
--null
-T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
--totals
print total bytes written with --create
-v, --verbose
verbosely list files processed
-V, --label NAME
create archive with volume name NAME
--version
print tar program version number
-w, --interactive, --confirmation
ask for confirmation for every action
-W, --verify
attempt to verify the archive after writing it
--exclude=FILE
exclude file FILE
-X, --exclude-from FILE
exclude files listed in FILE
-Z, --compress, --uncompress
filter the archive through compress
-z, --gzip, --ungzip
filter the archive through gzip
--use-compress-program PROG
filter the archive through PROG (which must accept -d)
--block-compress
block the output of compression program for tapes
--rsh-command=CMD
Use remote COMMAND instead of `rsh'. This option exists so that
people who use something other than the standard `rsh' (e.g., a
Kerberized `rsh') can access a remote device.
-[0-7][lmh]
specify drive and density
The GNU folks, in general, abhor man pages, and create info documents
instead. The maintainer of tar falls into this category. This man
page is neither complete, nor current, and was included in the Debian
Linux packaging of tar entirely to reduce the frequency with which the
lack of a man page gets reported as a bug in our defect tracking system.
If you really want to understand tar, then you should run info and read
the tar info pages, or use the info mode in emacs.
22 September 1993 TAR(1)
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