tar(1)
tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
As shipped in IRIX 6.5.5. Unchanged since IRIX 6.5.
NAME tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility SYNOPSIS tar [ - ] A --catenate --concatenate | c --create [ -- atime-preserve ] [ -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 ] [ --ignore-failed-read ] [ -k, --keep-old- files ] [ -K, --starting-file F ] [ -l, --one-file-system ] [ -L, --tape-length N ] [ -m, --modification-time ] [ -M, --multi-volume ] [ -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE ] [ -o, --old-archive, --portability ] [ -O, --to-stdout ] [ -p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions ] [ -P, -- absolute-paths ] [ --preserve ] [ -R, --record-number ] [ --remove-files ] [ -s, --same-order, --preserve-order ] [ --same-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-compress-program PROG ] [ --block- compress ] [ -[0-7][lmh] ] filename1 [ filename2, ... filenameN ] directory1 [ directory2, ...directoryN ] DESCRIPTION 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. FUNCTION LETTERS One of the following options must -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 OTHER OPTIONS --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 /dev/rmt0) --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) --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 -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 -[0-7][lmh] specify drive and density