TAR(1)									tar								    TAR(1)

NAME

       tar - The GNU version of the tar archiving utility

SYNOPSIS

       tar <operation> [options]

       Operations:
       [-]A --catenate --concatenate
       [-]c --create
       [-]d --diff --compare
       [-]r --append
       [-]t --list
       [-]u --update
       [-]x --extract --get
       --delete

       Common Options:
       -C, --directory DIR
       -f, --file F
       -j, --bzip2
       -p, --preserve-permissions
       -v, --verbose
       -z, --gzip

       All Options:
       [  --atime-preserve  ] [ -b, --blocking-factor N ] [ -B, --read-full-records ] [ --backup BACKUP-TYPE ] [ --block-compress ] [ -C, --direc-
       tory DIR ] [ --check-links ] [ --checkpoint ] [ -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F ] [ -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F ] [ --force-local	 ]
       [ --format FORMAT ] [ -g, --listed-incremental F ] [ -G, --incremental ] [ --group GROUP ] [ -h, --dereference ] [ --help ] [ -i, --ignore-
       zeros ] [ --ignore-case ] [ --ignore-failed-read ] [ --index-file FILE ] [ -j, --bzip2 ] [ -k, --keep-old-files ] [ -K, --starting-file F ]
       [  --keep-newer-files  ]  [  -l,  --one-file-system ] [ -L, --tape-length N ] [ -m, --touch, --modification-time ] [ -M, --multi-volume ] [
       --mode PERMISSIONS ] [ -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE ] [ --newer-mtime DATE ] [ --no-anchored ] [ --no-ignore-case ] [ --no-recursion
       ]  [  --no-same-permissions  ]  [  --no-wildcards  ] [ --no-wildcards-match-slash ] [ --null	] [ --numeric-owner ] [ -o, --old-archive,
       --portability, --no-same-owner ] [ -O, --to-stdout ] [ --occurrence NUM ] [ --overwrite ] [ --overwrite-dir  ]  [  --owner  USER  ]  [  -p,
       --same-permissions,  --preserve-permissions  ]  [  -P,  --absolute-names  ]  [ --pax-option KEYWORD-LIST ] [ --posix ] [ --preserve ] [ -R,
       --block-number ] [ --record-size SIZE ] [ --recursion ] [ --recursive-unlink ] [ --remove-files ] [ --rmt-command CMD ] [ --rsh-command CMD
       ] [ -s, --same-order, --preserve-order ] [ -S, --sparse ] [ --same-owner ] [ --show-defaults ] [ --show-omitted-dirs ] [ --strip-components
       NUMBER, --strip-path NUMBER (1) ] [ --suffix SUFFIX ] [ -T, --files-from F ] [ --totals	 ] [ -U, --unlink-first ] [ --use-compress-program
       PROG  ]	[  --utc  ]  [	-v, --verbose ] [ -V, --label NAME ] [ --version  ] [ --volno-file F ] [ -w, --interactive, --confirmation ] [ -W,
       --verify ] [ --wildcards ] [ --wildcards-match-slash ] [ --exclude PATTERN ] [ -X, --exclude-from FILE ] [ -Z, --compress, --uncompress ] [
       -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip ] [ -[0-7][lmh] ]

       (1) tar-1.14 uses --strip-path, tar-1.14.90+ uses --strip-components

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 directo-
       ries which should be archived.  The use of a directory name always implies that the subdirectories below should be included in the archive.

EXAMPLES

       tar -xvf foo.tar
	      verbosely extract foo.tar

       tar -xzf foo.tar.gz
	      extract gzipped foo.tar.gz

       tar -cjf foo.tar.bz2 bar/
	      create bzipped tar archive of the directory bar called foo.tar.bz2

       tar -xjf foo.tar.bz2 -C bar/
	      extract bzipped foo.tar.bz2 after changing directory to bar

       tar -xzf foo.tar.gz blah.txt
	      extract the file blah.txt from foo.tar.bz2

FUNCTION LETTERS

       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

       -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 the existing in archive

       -x, --extract, --get
	      extract files from an archive

       --delete
	      delete from the archive (not for use on mag tapes!)

COMMON OPTIONS

       -C, --directory DIR
	      change to directory DIR

       -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
	      use archive file or device F (default "-", meaning stdin/stdout)

       -j, --bzip2
	      filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files

       -p, --preserve-permissions
	      extract all protection information

       -v, --verbose
	      verbosely list files processed

       -z, --gzip, --ungzip
	      filter the archive through gzip

ALL OPTIONS

       --atime-preserve
	      don't change access times on dumped files

       -b, --blocking-factor N
	      block size of Nx512 bytes (default N=20)

       -B, --read-full-blocks
	      reblock as we read (for reading 4.2BSD pipes)

       --backup BACKUP-TYPE
	      backup files instead of deleting them using BACKUP-TYPE simple or numbered

       --block-compress
	      block the output of compression program for tapes

       -C, --directory DIR
	      change to directory DIR

       --check-links
	      warn if number of hard links to the file on the filesystem mismatch the number of links recorded in the archive

       --checkpoint
	      print directory names while reading the archive

       -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
	      use archive file or device F (default "-", meaning stdin/stdout)

       -F, --info-script F --new-volume-script F
	      run script at end of each tape (implies --multi-volume)

       --force-local
	      archive file is local even if has a colon

       --format FORMAT
	      selects output archive format
	      v7 - Unix V7
	      oldgnu - GNU tar <=1.12
	      gnu - GNU tar 1.13
	      ustar - POSIX.1-1988
	      posix - POSIX.1-2001

       -g, --listed-incremental F
	      create/list/extract new GNU-format incremental backup

       -G, --incremental
	      create/list/extract old GNU-format incremental backup

       -h, --dereference
	      don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to

       --help like this manpage, but not as cool

       -i, --ignore-zeros
	      ignore blocks of zeros in archive (normally mean EOF)

       --ignore-case
	      ignore case when excluding files

       --ignore-failed-read
	      don't exit with non-zero status on unreadable files

       --index-file FILE
	      send verbose output to FILE instead of stdout

       -j, --bzip2
	      filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 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

       --keep-newer-files
	      do not overwrite files which are newer than 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, --touch, --modification-time
	      don't extract file modified time

       -M, --multi-volume
	      create/list/extract multi-volume archive

       --mode PERMISSIONS
	      apply PERMISSIONS while adding files (see chmod(1))

       -N, --after-date DATE, --newer DATE
	      only store files newer than DATE

       --newer-mtime DATE
	      like --newer, but with a DATE

       --no-anchored
	      match any subsequenceof the name's components with --exclude

       --no-ignore-case
	      use case-sensitive matching with --exclude

       --no-recursion
	      don't recurse into directories

       --no-same-permissions
	      apply user's umask when extracting files instead of recorded permissions

       --no-wildcards
	      don't use wildcards with --exclude

       --no-wildcards-match-slash
	      wildcards do not match slashes (/) with --exclude

       --null --files-from reads null-terminated names, disable --directory

       --numeric-owner
	      always use numbers for user/group names

       -o, --old-archive, --portability
	      like --format=v7; -o exhibits this behavior when creating an archive (deprecated behavior)

       -o, --no-same-owner
	      do not attempt to restore ownership when extracting; -o exhibits this behavior when extracting an archive

       -O, --to-stdout
	      extract files to standard output

       --occurrence NUM
	      process only NUM occurrences of each named file; used with --delete, --diff, --extract, or --list

       --overwrite
	      overwrite existing files and directory metadata when extracting

       --overwrite-dir
	      overwrite directory metadata when extracting

       --owner USER
	      change owner of extraced files to USER

       -p, --same-permissions, --preserve-permissions
	      extract all protection information

       -P, --absolute-names
	      don't strip leading `/'s from file names

       --pax-option KEYWORD-LIST
	      used only with POSIX.1-2001 archives to modify the way tar handles extended header keywords

       --posix
	      like --format=posix

       --preserve
	      like --preserve-permissions --same-order

       -R, --record-number
	      show record number within archive with each message

       --record-size SIZE
	      use SIZE bytes per record when accessing archives

       --recursion
	      recurse into directories

       --recursive-unlink
	      remove existing directories before extracting directories of the same name

       --remove-files
	      remove files after adding them to the archive

       --rmt-command CMD
	      use CMD instead of the default /usr/sbin/rmt

       --rsh-command CMD
	      use remote CMD instead of rsh(1)

       -s, --same-order, --preserve-order
	      list of names to extract is sorted to match archive

       -S, --sparse
	      handle sparse files efficiently

       --same-owner
	      create extracted files with the same ownership

       --show-defaults
	      display the default options used by tar

       --show-omitted-dirs
	      print directories tar skips while operating on an archive

       --strip-components NUMBER, --strip-path NUMBER
	      strip NUMBER of leading components from file names before extraction

	      (1) tar-1.14 uses --strip-path, tar-1.14.90+ uses --strip-components

       --suffix SUFFIX
	      use SUFFIX instead of default '~' when backing up files

       -T, --files-from F
	      get names to extract or create from file F

       --totals
	      print total bytes written with --create

       -U, --unlink-first
	      remove existing files before extracting files of the same name

       --use-compress-program PROG
	      access the archive through PROG which is generally a compression program

       --utc  display file modification dates in UTC

       -v, --verbose
	      verbosely list files processed

       -V, --label NAME
	      create archive with volume name NAME

       --version
	      print tar program version number

       --volno-file F
	      keep track of which volume of a multi-volume archive its working in FILE; used with --multi-volume

       -w, --interactive, --confirmation
	      ask for confirmation for every action

       -W, --verify
	      attempt to verify the archive after writing it

       --wildcards
	      use wildcards with --exclude

       --wildcards-match-slash
	      wildcards match slashes (/) with --exclude

       --exclude PATTERN
	      exclude files based upon PATTERN

       -X, --exclude-from FILE
	      exclude files listed in FILE

       -Z, --compress, --uncompress
	      filter the archive through compress

       -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip
	      filter the archive through gzip

       --use-compress-program PROG
	      filter the archive through PROG (which must accept -d)

       -[0-7][lmh]
	      specify drive and density

BUGS

       The GNU folks, in general, abhor man pages, and create info documents instead.  The maintainer of tar falls into this category.	Thus  this
       man page may not be complete, nor current.

SEE ALSO

       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 complete manual.

AUTHORS

       Debian Linux http://www.debian.org/
       Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>

GNU
								     Oct 2004								    TAR(1)