man(1) Manual page archive


     TAR(1)                                                     TAR(1)

     NAME
          tar - tape archiver

     SYNOPSIS
          tar key [ file ... ]

     DESCRIPTION
          Tar saves and restores files, normally on magnetic on tape.
          The key is a string that contains at most one function let-
          ter plus optional modifiers.  Other arguments to the command
          are names of files or directories to be dumped or restored.
          A directory name implies all the contained files and subdi-
          rectories (recursively).

          The function is one of the following letters:

          r    The named files are written on the end of the tape.

          x    Extract the named files from the tape.  If a file is a
               directory, the directory is extracted recursively.
               Owners and modes are restored if possible.  If no file
               argument is given, extract the entire tape.  If the
               tape contains multiple entries for a file, the latest
               one wins.

          t    List all occurrences of each file on tape, or of all
               files if there are no file arguments.

          u    Add the named files if they are not on the tape or are
               newer than the tape version.

          c    Create a new tape; writing begins at the beginning of
               the tape instead of after the last file.

          o    Omit owner and modes of directories, for compatibility
               with old versions of tar.

          p    Restore files to their original modes, ignoring the
               present umask(2). Setuid and sticky information will be
               restored when tar is executed by the super-user.

          The modifiers are:

          0,...,7
               Select a tape drive.  The default is 1.  Incompatible
               with modifier f.

          v    (verbose) Print the name of each file treated preceded
               by the function letter.  With t, give more details
               about the tape entries.

     TAR(1)                                                     TAR(1)

          w    Print the action to be taken followed by file name,
               then wait for user confirmation.  If the answer begins
               with `y', the action is performed.  Any other input
               means don't do it.

          f    Use the next argument as the name of the archive
               instead of the default If the name of the file is `-',
               tar writes to standard output or reads from standard
               input, whichever is appropriate.  Tar can be used to
               move hierarchies thus:

                    (cd fromdir; tar cf - .) | (cd todir; tar xf -)

          b    Write output in nĂ—512-byte blocks, where n is the next
               argument, default 20, maximum 40.  Useful for raw mag-
               netic tape archives (see f above); destructive for disk
               archives.

          l    Complain if links cannot be resolved.  If l is not
               specified, no error messages are printed.

          L    Write information needed to re-create symbolic links on
               the tape instead of following the links.  Tapes thus
               written cannot be read on older versions of tar .

     FILES
     SEE ALSO
          cpio(1), bundle(1), mt(4)

     BUGS
          There is no way to ask for any but the last occurrence of a
          file.
          Tape errors are handled ungracefully.
          The u option can be slow, and works only with archives on
          disk files.
          File names are limited to 100 characters.