[unix-history] / usr / man / cat1 / tar.0



TAR(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   TAR(1)


N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
     tar - tape archiver

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
     t\bta\bar\br [ key ] [ name ... ]

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
     _\bT_\ba_\br saves and restores multiple files on a single file (usu-
     ally a magnetic tape, but it can be any file). _\bT_\ba_\br's actions
     are controlled by the _\bk_\be_\by argument.  The _\bk_\be_\by is a string of
     characters containing at most one function letter and possi-
     bly one or more function modifiers.  Other arguments to _\bt_\ba_\br
     are file or directory names specifying which files to dump
     or restore.  In all cases, appearance of a directory name
     refers to the files and (recursively) subdirectories of that
     directory.

     The function portion of the key is specified by one of the
     following letters:

     r\br	     The named files are written on the end of the tape.
	     The c\bc function implies this.

     x\bx	     The named files are extracted from the tape.  If the
	     named file matches a directory whose contents had
	     been written onto the tape, this directory is
	     (recursively) extracted.  The owner, modification
	     time, and mode are restored (if possible).  If no
	     file argument is given, the entire content of the
	     tape is extracted.  Note that if multiple entries
	     specifying the same file are on the tape, the last
	     one overwrites all earlier.

     t\bt	     The names of the specified files are listed each
	     time they occur on the tape.  If no file argument is
	     given, all of the names on the tape are listed.

     u\bu	     The named files are added to the tape if either they
	     are not already there or have been modified since
	     last put on the tape.

     c\bc	     Create a new tape; writing begins on the beginning
	     of the tape instead of after the last file.  This
	     command implies r\br.

     The following characters may be used in addition to the
     letter which selects the function desired.

     o\bo	       On output, tar normally places information speci-
	       fying owner and modes of directories in the
	       archive.  Former versions of tar, when encounter-
	       ing this information will give error message of


Printed 7/9/88		  May 23, 1988				1


TAR(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   TAR(1)


	       the form
		    "<name>/: cannot create".
	       This modifier will suppress the directory informa-
	       tion.

     p\bp	       This modifier says to restore files to their ori-
	       ginal modes, ignoring the present _\bu_\bm_\ba_\bs_\bk(2).
	       Setuid and sticky information will also be
	       restored to the super-user.

     0\b0,\b, .\b..\b..\b.,\b, 9\b9 This modifier selects an alternate drive on which
	       the tape is mounted.  The default is drive 0 at
	       1600 bpi, which is normally /dev/rmt8.

     v\bv	       Normally _\bt_\ba_\br does its work silently.  The v\bv (ver-
	       bose) option makes _\bt_\ba_\br print the name of each file
	       it treats preceded by the function letter.  With
	       the t\bt function, the verbose option gives more
	       information about the tape entries than just their
	       names.

     w\bw	       _\bT_\ba_\br prints the action to be taken followed by file
	       name, then wait for user confirmation. If a word
	       beginning with `y' is given, the action is done.
	       Any other input means don't do it.

     f\bf	       _\bT_\ba_\br uses the next argument as the name of the
	       archive instead of /dev/rmt?. If the name of the
	       file is `-', tar writes to standard output or
	       reads from standard input, whichever is appropri-
	       ate. Thus, _\bt_\ba_\br can be used as the head or tail of
	       a filter chain.	_\bT_\ba_\br can also be used to move
	       hierarchies with the command
		 cd fromdir; tar cf - . | (cd todir; tar xf -)

     b\bb	       _\bT_\ba_\br uses the next argument as the blocking factor
	       for tape records. The default is 20 (the maximum).
	       This option should only be used with raw magnetic
	       tape archives (See f\bf above).  The block size is
	       determined automatically when reading tapes (key
	       letters `x' and `t').

     s\bs	       tells tar to strip off any leading slashes from
	       pathnames.

     l\bl	       tells _\bt_\ba_\br to complain if it cannot resolve all of
	       the links to the files dumped.  If this is not
	       specified, no error messages are printed.

     m\bm	       tells _\bt_\ba_\br not to restore the modification times.
	       The modification time will be the time of extrac-
	       tion.


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TAR(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   TAR(1)


     h\bh	       Force _\bt_\ba_\br to follow symbolic links as if they were
	       normal files or directories.  Normally, _\bt_\ba_\br does
	       not follow symbolic links.

     B\bB	       Forces input and output blocking to 20 blocks per
	       record.	This option was added so that _\bt_\ba_\br can
	       work across a communications channel where the
	       blocking may not be maintained.

     C\bC	       If a file name is preceded by -\b-C\bC, then _\bt_\ba_\br will
	       perform a _\bc_\bh_\bd_\bi_\br(2) to that file name.  This allows
	       multiple directories not related by a close common
	       parent to be archived using short relative path
	       names.  For example, to archive files from
	       /usr/include and from /etc, one might use
		    tar c -C /usr include -C / etc

     Previous restrictions dealing with _\bt_\ba_\br's inability to prop-
     erly handle blocked archives have been lifted.

F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
     /dev/rmt?
     /tmp/tar*

S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
     tar(5)

D\bDI\bIA\bAG\bGN\bNO\bOS\bST\bTI\bIC\bCS\bS
     Complaints about bad key characters and tape read/write
     errors.
     Complaints if enough memory is not available to hold the
     link tables.

B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
     There is no way to ask for the _\bn-th occurrence of a file.
     Tape errors are handled ungracefully.
     The u\bu option can be slow.
     The current limit on file name length is 100 characters.
     There is no way selectively to follow symbolic links.
     When extracting tapes created with the r\br or u\bu options,
     directory modification times may not be set correctly.


Printed 7/9/88		  May 23, 1988				3
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	4	TAR(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual TAR(1)
	5
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	8	N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
	9	tar - tape archiver
	10
	11	S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
	12	t\bta\bar\br [ key ] [ name ... ]
	13
	14	D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
	15	_\bT_\ba_\br saves and restores multiple files on a single file (usu-
	16	ally a magnetic tape, but it can be any file). _\bT_\ba_\br's actions
	17	are controlled by the _\bk_\be_\by argument. The _\bk_\be_\by is a string of
	18	characters containing at most one function letter and possi-
	19	bly one or more function modifiers. Other arguments to _\bt_\ba_\br
	20	are file or directory names specifying which files to dump
	21	or restore. In all cases, appearance of a directory name
	22	refers to the files and (recursively) subdirectories of that
	23	directory.
	24
	25	The function portion of the key is specified by one of the
	26	following letters:
	27
	28	r\br The named files are written on the end of the tape.
	29	The c\bc function implies this.
	30
	31	x\bx The named files are extracted from the tape. If the
	32	named file matches a directory whose contents had
	33	been written onto the tape, this directory is
	34	(recursively) extracted. The owner, modification
	35	time, and mode are restored (if possible). If no
	36	file argument is given, the entire content of the
	37	tape is extracted. Note that if multiple entries
	38	specifying the same file are on the tape, the last
	39	one overwrites all earlier.
	40
	41	t\bt The names of the specified files are listed each
	42	time they occur on the tape. If no file argument is
	43	given, all of the names on the tape are listed.
	44
	45	u\bu The named files are added to the tape if either they
	46	are not already there or have been modified since
	47	last put on the tape.
	48
	49	c\bc Create a new tape; writing begins on the beginning
	50	of the tape instead of after the last file. This
	51	command implies r\br.
	52
	53	The following characters may be used in addition to the
	54	letter which selects the function desired.
	55
	56	o\bo On output, tar normally places information speci-
	57	fying owner and modes of directories in the
	58	archive. Former versions of tar, when encounter-
	59	ing this information will give error message of
	60
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74	the form
75	"<name>/: cannot create".
76	This modifier will suppress the directory informa-
77	tion.
78
79	p\bp This modifier says to restore files to their ori-
80	ginal modes, ignoring the present _\bu_\bm_\ba_\bs_\bk(2).
81	Setuid and sticky information will also be
82	restored to the super-user.
83
84	0\b0,\b, .\b..\b..\b.,\b, 9\b9 This modifier selects an alternate drive on which
85	the tape is mounted. The default is drive 0 at
86	1600 bpi, which is normally /dev/rmt8.
87
88	v\bv Normally _\bt_\ba_\br does its work silently. The v\bv (ver-
89	bose) option makes _\bt_\ba_\br print the name of each file
90	it treats preceded by the function letter. With
91	the t\bt function, the verbose option gives more
92	information about the tape entries than just their
93	names.
94
95	w\bw _\bT_\ba_\br prints the action to be taken followed by file
96	name, then wait for user confirmation. If a word
97	beginning with `y' is given, the action is done.
98	Any other input means don't do it.
99
100	f\bf _\bT_\ba_\br uses the next argument as the name of the
101	archive instead of /dev/rmt?. If the name of the
102	file is `-', tar writes to standard output or
103	reads from standard input, whichever is appropri-
104	ate. Thus, _\bt_\ba_\br can be used as the head or tail of
105	a filter chain. _\bT_\ba_\br can also be used to move
106	hierarchies with the command
107	cd fromdir; tar cf - . \| (cd todir; tar xf -)
108
109	b\bb _\bT_\ba_\br uses the next argument as the blocking factor
110	for tape records. The default is 20 (the maximum).
111	This option should only be used with raw magnetic
112	tape archives (See f\bf above). The block size is
113	determined automatically when reading tapes (key
114	letters `x' and `t').
115
116	s\bs tells tar to strip off any leading slashes from
117	pathnames.
118
119	l\bl tells _\bt_\ba_\br to complain if it cannot resolve all of
120	the links to the files dumped. If this is not
121	specified, no error messages are printed.
122
123	m\bm tells _\bt_\ba_\br not to restore the modification times.
124	The modification time will be the time of extrac-
125	tion.
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140	h\bh Force _\bt_\ba_\br to follow symbolic links as if they were
141	normal files or directories. Normally, _\bt_\ba_\br does
142	not follow symbolic links.
143
144	B\bB Forces input and output blocking to 20 blocks per
145	record. This option was added so that _\bt_\ba_\br can
146	work across a communications channel where the
147	blocking may not be maintained.
148
149	C\bC If a file name is preceded by -\b-C\bC, then _\bt_\ba_\br will
150	perform a _\bc_\bh_\bd_\bi_\br(2) to that file name. This allows
151	multiple directories not related by a close common
152	parent to be archived using short relative path
153	names. For example, to archive files from
154	/usr/include and from /etc, one might use
155	tar c -C /usr include -C / etc
156
157	Previous restrictions dealing with _\bt_\ba_\br's inability to prop-
158	erly handle blocked archives have been lifted.
159
160	F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
161	/dev/rmt?
162	/tmp/tar*
163
164	S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
165	tar(5)
166
167	D\bDI\bIA\bAG\bGN\bNO\bOS\bST\bTI\bIC\bCS\bS
168	Complaints about bad key characters and tape read/write
169	errors.
170	Complaints if enough memory is not available to hold the
171	link tables.
172
173	B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
174	There is no way to ask for the _\bn-th occurrence of a file.
175	Tape errors are handled ungracefully.
176	The u\bu option can be slow.
177	The current limit on file name length is 100 characters.
178	There is no way selectively to follow symbolic links.
179	When extracting tapes created with the r\br or u\bu options,
180	directory modification times may not be set correctly.
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