(tar.info)Top

* Introduction
* Tutorial
* tar invocation
* operations
* Backups
* Choosing
* Date input formats
* Formats
* Media
* Index


 -- The Detailed Node Listing --

Introduction


* Book Contents
What this Book Contains
* Definitions
Some Definitions
* What tar Does
What `tar' Does
* Naming tar Archives
How `tar' Archives are Named
* posix compliance
* Authors
GNU `tar' Authors
* Reports
Reporting bugs or suggestions


Tutorial Introduction to `tar'


* assumptions
* stylistic conventions
* basic tar options
Basic `tar' Operations and Options
* frequent operations
* Two Frequent Options
* create
How to Create Archives
* list
How to List Archives
* extract
How to Extract Members from an Archive
* going further


Two Frequently Used Options


* file tutorial
* verbose tutorial
* help tutorial


How to Create Archives


* prepare for examples
* Creating the archive
* create verbose
* short create
* create dir


How to List Archives


* list dir


How to Extract Members from an Archive


* extracting archives
* extracting files
* extract dir
* failing commands


Invoking GNU `tar'


* Synopsis
* using tar options
* Styles
* All Options
* help
* verbose
* interactive


The Three Option Styles


* Mnemonic Options
Mnemonic Option Style
* Short Options
Short Option Style
* Old Options
Old Option Style
* Mixing
Mixing Option Styles


All `tar' Options


* Operation Summary
* Option Summary
* Short Option Summary


GNU `tar' Operations


* Basic tar
* Advanced tar
* extract options
* backup
* Applications
* looking ahead


Advanced GNU `tar' Operations


* Operations
* current state
* append
* update
* concatenate
* delete
* compare


How to Add Files to Existing Archives: `--append'


* appending files
Appending Files to an Archive
* multiple


Updating an Archive


* how to update


Options Used by `--extract'


* Reading
Options to Help Read Archives
* Writing
Changing How `tar' Writes Files
* Scarce
Coping with Scarce Resources


Options to Help Read Archives


* read full records
* Ignore Zeros
* Ignore Failed Read


Changing How `tar' Writes Files


* Prevention Overwriting
* Keep Old Files
* Unlink First
* Recursive Unlink
* Modification Times
* Setting Access Permissions
* Writing to Standard Output
* remove files


Options to Prevent Overwriting Files


* Keep Old Files
* Unlink First
* Recursive Unlink


Coping with Scarce Resources


* Starting File
* Same Order


Performing Backups and Restoring Files


* Full Dumps
Using `tar' to Perform Full Dumps
* Inc Dumps
Using `tar' to Perform Incremental Dumps
* incremental and listed-incremental
The Incremental Options
* Backup Levels
Levels of Backups
* Backup Parameters
Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration
* Scripted Backups
Using the Backup Scripts
* Scripted Restoration
Using the Restore Script


Setting Parameters for Backups and Restoration


* backup-specs example
An Example Text of `Backup-specs'
* Script Syntax
Syntax for `Backup-specs'


Choosing Files and Names for `tar'


* file
Choosing the Archive's Name
* Selecting Archive Members
* files
Reading Names from a File
* exclude
Excluding Some Files
* Wildcards
* after
Operating Only on New Files
* recurse
Descending into Directories
* one
Crossing Filesystem Boundaries


Reading Names from a File


* nul


Excluding Some Files


* problems with exclude


Crossing Filesystem Boundaries


* directory
Changing Directory
* absolute
Absolute File Names


Date input formats


* General date syntax
Common rules.
* Calendar date item
19 Dec 1994.
* Time of day item
9:20pm.
* Timezone item
EST, DST, BST, UCT, AHST, ...
* Day of week item
Monday and others.
* Relative item in date strings
next tuesday, 2 years ago.
* Pure numbers in date strings
19931219, 1440.
* Authors of getdate
Bellovin, Salz, Berets, et al.


Controlling the Archive Format


* Portability
Making `tar' Archives More Portable
* Compression
Using Less Space through Compression
* Attributes
Handling File Attributes
* Standard
The Standard Format
* Extensions
GNU Extensions to the Archive Format
* cpio
Comparison of `tar' and `cpio'


Making `tar' Archives More Portable


* Portable Names
Portable Names
* dereference
Symbolic Links
* old
Old V7 Archives
* posix
POSIX archives
* Checksumming
Checksumming Problems


Using Less Space through Compression


* gzip
Creating and Reading Compressed Archives
* sparse
Archiving Sparse Files


Tapes and Other Archive Media


* Device
Device selection and switching
* Remote Tape Server
* Common Problems and Solutions
* Blocking
Blocking
* Many
Many archives on one tape
* Using Multiple Tapes
Using Multiple Tapes
* label
Including a Label in the Archive
* verify
* Write Protection


Blocking


* Format Variations
Format Variations
* Blocking Factor
The Blocking Factor of an Archive


Many Archives on One Tape


* Tape Positioning
Tape Positions and Tape Marks
* mt
The `mt' Utility


Using Multiple Tapes


* Multi-Volume Archives
Archives Longer than One Tape or Disk
* Tape Files
Tape Files