Create an archive To create an archive of the entire test directory, issue the following command:
tar cvf my_arch.tar /home/oracle/alex/test
Compress the Files or Directory with gzip
tar cvf - filenames | gzip > file.tar.gz
Compress the Files or Directory with bzip2
tar cvf - directorypath | bzip2 > file.tar.bz2
If you want to include into your archive several different directories you might use the following command:
tar cvf my_arch.tar -I include.lst
where the -I option specifies the name of a file with a list of directories and files that you want to include into your archive.
Also, it’s possible to exclude certain files and directories from your archive:
tar cvfX my_arch.tar exclude.lst -I include.lst
List an archive contents To list the contents of your archive issue the following command:
tar tf my_arch.tar
Extract from an archive To extract the contents of your archive:
tar xvfp my_arch.tar
Note, that everything will be extracted exactly at the same location from where it was taken. If some directories do no exist then they will be created.
Legend of tar’s options c – add to archive, using an absolute path x – extract from archive t – read the contents of an archive f – you work with a file, otherwise it’s a tape p – preserve file’s permissions and modes v – verbose, display the result -I – use an include list X – use an exclude list
> tar –help
Usage: tar [OPTION...] [FILE]...
GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can
restore individual files from the archive.
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.
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
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 archive; 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
--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
-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 setting 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 archive (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 superuser)
--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
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 xz
--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
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 overridden 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 patterns):
--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 for exclusion)
--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 signals are: SIGHUP,
SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2; the names
without SIG prefix are also accepted
--utc print file modification times 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
-?, --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 SIMPLE_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
*This* tar defaults to:
--format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape --rmt-command=/usr/sbin/rmt
--rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh
Report bugs to .
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