TAR(1)				 User Commands				TAR(1)



NAME
       tar - an archiver tool

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/ssh

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

       --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@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)