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Linux tar Command

Learn Linux tar Command with examples


Linux tar Command

In Linux we use “tar” command for creating & extracting archive files. It’s short for Tape Archive.

An archive file is a compressed file containing one or multiple files bundled together for more accessible storage and portability.

tar Command Syntax

~$  tar [options][archive-file] [file or dir to be archived]
Argument Description
-c We use this flag whenever we need to create a new archive.
-z When we specify this flag; it means that archive will be created using gzip compression.
-v Providing the -v flag shows details of the files compressed.
-f Archive file names are mapped using the -f flag.
-x We use this flag when files need to be extracted from an archive.

tar -czvf to Compress log files Example

~$  tar -czvf logs.tar.gz *

tar -czvf step by step guide

~$ mkdir logs

~$ cd logs
~$ touch log1
~$ touch log2
~$ touch log3

~$  tar -czvf logs.tar.gz *

~$ ls -l

#  tar -czvf will create logs.tar.gz.

Let’s break down this command and look into each flag.

Argument Description
-c to creating and archive.
-z for using gzip compression.
-v for providing details of the files that have been archived.
-f for creating an archive with the name 'logs_archive.tar.gz' as supplied in the command above.

Remove files after tar archieve compression

Let’s say we don’t want to keep the original files after creating an archive. For that, we can use the –remove-files flag.

~$ tar -czvf logs.tar.gz * --remove-files

tar -tvf to view tar file content

If you need to view the contents of an tar archieve file without actually extracting it then Use -t flag.

~$ tar -tvf logs.tar.gz

# -t flag specifies that we need to only view the contents of the archive. 
# -f specifies the filename 
# -v displays the detailed contents.

Extract a tar file archive

To extract files from an archive, you use the -x flag like this:

~$ tar -xzvf logs.tar.gz
Argument Description
-x extracting and archive.
-z specifies that the archive is gzip.
-v providing details of the files that have been archived.
-f extracting from the archive named 'logs_archive.tar.gz'.

Use “&” with tar command to make sure that a long time to execute can continue in the background

~$ tar -xzvf logs.tar.gz &

Adding files to an archive and extracting an archive can take a while. To keep the commands running in the background while you keep working, pair the command with & like this.

zgrep Command to Search Inside tar File without Decompress

You might still need to access certain files once they’re archived. We can search for a string in an archive using the below command.

~$ zgrep -Hna 'string-content-to-search' logs.tar.gz
Argument Description
-H lists the file name that contains the match.
-n displays the line number that contains the matched string.
-a treats all files as text files.

Usage of tar files

One of main advantage we take from tar archieve file is to schedule file compression via cron jobs to automate disk cleaning. File compression helps us save time and resources when sharing files. Servers can utilize to rotating and archiving huge log files.

NAME
       tar - an archiving utility

SYNOPSIS
   Traditional usage
       tar {A|c|d|r|t|u|x}[GnSkUWOmpsMBiajJzZhPlRvwo] [ARG...]

   UNIX-style usage
       tar -A [OPTIONS] ARCHIVE ARCHIVE

       tar -c [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar -d [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar -t [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [MEMBER...]

       tar -r [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar -u [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar -x [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [MEMBER...]

   GNU-style usage
       tar {--catenate|--concatenate} [OPTIONS] ARCHIVE ARCHIVE

       tar --create [--file ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar {--diff|--compare} [--file ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar --delete [--file ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [MEMBER...]

       tar --append [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar --list [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [MEMBER...]

       tar --test-label [--file ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [LABEL...]

       tar --update [--file ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar --update [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [FILE...]

       tar {--extract|--get} [-f ARCHIVE] [OPTIONS] [MEMBER...]

NOTE
       This  manpage  is  a short description of GNU tar.  For a detailed
       discussion, including examples and usage recommendations, refer to
       the  GNU  Tar  Manual  available  in  texinfo format.  If the info
       reader and the tar documentation are properly  installed  on  your
       system, the command

           info tar

       should give you access to the complete manual.
 You  can  also view the manual using the info mode in emacs(1), or
       find it in various formats online at

           http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual

       If any discrepancies occur between this manpage and  the  GNU  Tar
       Manual, the later shall be considered the authoritative source.

DESCRIPTION
       GNU  tar  is an archiving program designed to store multiple files
       in a single file (an archive), and to  manipulate  such  archives.
       The  archive can be either a regular file or a device (e.g. a tape
       drive, hence the name  of  the  program,  which  stands  for  tape
       archiver), which can be located either on the local or on a remote
       machine.

   Option styles
       Options to GNU tar can be given in  three  different  styles.   In
       traditional  style, the first argument is a cluster of option let‐
       ters and all subsequent arguments supply arguments  to  those  op‐
       tions that require them.  The arguments are read in the same order
       as the option letters.  Any command line words that  remain  after
       all  options  has been processed are treated as non-optional argu‐
       ments: file or archive member names.
 For example, the c option requires creating the archive, the v op‐
       tion requests the verbose operation, and the f option takes an ar‐
       gument that sets the name of the archive  to  operate  upon.   The
       following command, written in the traditional style, instructs tar
       to store all files from the directory /etc into the  archive  file
       etc.tar verbosely listing the files being archived:

       tar cfv a.tar /etc

       In UNIX or short-option style, each option letter is prefixed with
       a single dash, as in other command line utilities.  If  an  option
       takes argument, the argument follows it, either as a separate com‐
       mand line word, or immediately following the option.  However,  if
       the  option  takes  an optional argument, the argument must follow
       the option  letter  without  any  intervening  whitespace,  as  in
       -g/tmp/snar.db.

       Any  number  of  options not taking arguments can be clustered to‐
       gether after a single dash, e.g. -vkp.  Options  that  take  argu‐
       ments  (whether  mandatory  or optional), can appear at the end of
       such a cluster, e.g. -vkpf a.tar.

       The example command above written in the short-option style  could
       look like:

       tar -cvf a.tar /etc
       or
       tar -c -v -f a.tar /etc
 In  GNU  or  long-option style, each option begins with two dashes
       and has a meaningful name, consisting of  lower-case  letters  and
       dashes.  When used, the long option can be abbreviated to its ini‐
       tial letters, provided that this does not create ambiguity.  Argu‐
       ments  to  long  options are supplied either as a separate command
       line word, immediately following the option, or separated from the
       option by an equals sign with no intervening whitespace.  Optional
       arguments must always use the latter method.

       Here are several ways of  writing  the  example  command  in  this
       style:

       tar --create --file a.tar --verbose /etc
       or (abbreviating some options):
       tar --cre --file=a.tar --verb /etc

       The  options in all three styles can be intermixed, although doing
       so with old options is not encouraged.

   Operation mode
       The options listed in the table below tell GNU tar what  operation
       it  is to perform.  Exactly one of them must be given.  Meaning of
       non-optional arguments depends on the operation mode requested.

       -A, --catenate, --concatenate
 Append archive to the end of another  archive.   The  argu‐
              ments  are treated as the names of archives to append.  All
              archives must be of the same format as the archive they are
              appended to, otherwise the resulting archive might be unus‐
              able with non-GNU implementations of tar.  Notice also that
              when  more  than one archive is given, the members from ar‐
              chives other than the first one will be accessible  in  the
              resulting archive only if using the -i (--ignore-zeros) op‐
              tion.

              Compressed archives cannot be concatenated.

       -c, --create
              Create a new archive.  Arguments supply the  names  of  the
              files  to  be  archived.   Directories  are archived recur‐
              sively, unless the --no-recursion option is given.

       -d, --diff, --compare
              Find differences between archive and file system.  The  ar‐
              guments  are  optional  and specify archive members to com‐
              pare.  If not given, the current working directory  is  as‐
              sumed.

       --delete
              Delete from the archive.  The arguments supply names of the
              archive members to be removed.  At least one argument  must
              be given.
 This option does not operate on compressed archives.  There
              is no short option equivalent.

       -r, --append
              Append files to the end of an archive.  Arguments have  the
              same meaning as for -c (--create).

       -t, --list
              List  the  contents of an archive.  Arguments are optional.
              When given, they specify the names of the members to list.

       --test-label
              Test the archive volume label and exit.  When used  without
              arguments,  it  prints  the volume label (if any) and exits
              with status 0.  When one or more command line arguments are
              given.   tar  compares the volume label with each argument.
              It exits with code 0 if a match is found, and with  code  1
              otherwise.   No  output  is displayed, unless used together
              with the -v (--verbose) option.

              There is no short option equivalent for this option.

       -u, --update
              Append files which are newer than the corresponding copy in
              the  archive.   Arguments  have the same meaning as with -c
              and -r options.  Notice, that  newer  files  don't  replace
              their  old  archive copies, but instead are appended to the
              end of archive.  The resulting  archive  can  thus  contain
 several  members of the same name, corresponding to various
              versions of the same file.

       -x, --extract, --get
              Extract files from an  archive.   Arguments  are  optional.
              When given, they specify names of the archive members to be
              extracted.

       --show-defaults
              Show built-in defaults for various tar  options  and  exit.
              No arguments are allowed.

       -?, --help
              Display  a short option summary and exit.  No arguments al‐
              lowed.

       --usage
              Display a list of available options and exit.  No arguments
              allowed.

       --version
              Print program version and copyright information and exit.

OPTIONS
   Operation modifiers
       --check-device
              Check  device  numbers  when  creating incremental archives
              (default).
-g, --listed-incremental=FILE
              Handle new GNU-format incremental  backups.   FILE  is  the
              name of a snapshot file, where tar stores additional infor‐
              mation which is used to decide which  files  changed  since
              the  previous  incremental  dump and, consequently, must be
              dumped again.  If FILE does not exist when creating an  ar‐
              chive,  it  will  be created and all files will be added to
              the resulting archive (the level 0 dump).  To create incre‐
              mental  archives  of non-zero level N, create a copy of the
              snapshot file created during the level N-1, and use  it  as
              FILE.

              When  listing or extracting, the actual contents of FILE is
              not inspected, it is needed only  due  to  syntactical  re‐
              quirements.    It  is  therefore  common  practice  to  use
              /dev/null in its place.

       --hole-detection=METHOD
              Use METHOD to detect holes in sparse  files.   This  option
              implies  --sparse.   Valid  values  for METHOD are seek and
              raw.  Default is seek with fallback to raw when not  appli‐
              cable.

       -G, --incremental
              Handle old GNU-format incremental backups.

       --ignore-failed-read
              Do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files.
 --level=NUMBER
              Set  dump  level  for  created  listed-incremental archive.
              Currently only --level=0 is meaningful: it instructs tar to
              truncate  the snapshot file before dumping, thereby forcing
              a level 0 dump.

       -n, --seek
              Assume the archive is seekable.   Normally  tar  determines
              automatically  whether  the  archive  can be seeked or not.
              This option is intended for use in cases when such recogni‐
              tion  fails.   It  takes effect only if the archive is open
              for reading (e.g. with --list or --extract options).

       --no-check-device
              Do not check device numbers when creating  incremental  ar‐
              chives.

       --no-seek
              Assume the archive is not seekable.

       --occurrence[=N]
              Process  only  the  Nth  occurrence of each file in the ar‐
              chive.  This option is valid only when used with one of the
              following   subcommands:  --delete,  --diff,  --extract  or
              --list and when a list of files is given either on the com‐
              mand line or via the -T option.  The default N is 1.

       --restrict
              Disable the use of some potentially harmful options.
  --sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]
              Set version of the sparse format to use (implies --sparse).
              This option implies --sparse.  Valid  argument  values  are
              0.0,  0.1,  and  1.0.   For a detailed discussion of sparse
              formats, refer to the GNU Tar Manual, appendix  D,  "Sparse
              Formats".   Using  info  reader, it can be accessed running
              the following command: info tar 'Sparse Formats'.

       -S, --sparse
              Handle sparse files efficiently.  Some files  in  the  file
              system  may have segments which were actually never written
              (quite often these are database files created by such  sys‐
              tems  as DBM).  When given this option, tar attempts to de‐
              termine if the file is sparse prior to archiving it, and if
              so,  to  reduce  the  resulting archive size by not dumping
              empty parts of the file.

   Overwrite control
       These options control tar actions when extracting a file  over  an
       existing copy on disk.

       -k, --keep-old-files
              Don't replace existing files when extracting.

       --keep-newer-files
              Don't  replace existing files that are newer than their ar‐
              chive copies.
 --keep-directory-symlink
              Don't replace existing symlinks  to  directories  when  ex‐
              tracting.

       --no-overwrite-dir
              Preserve metadata of existing directories.

       --one-top-level[=DIR]
              Extract  all  files into DIR, or, if used without argument,
              into a subdirectory named by the base name of  the  archive
              (minus   standard   compression  suffixes  recognizable  by
              --auto-compress).

       --overwrite
              Overwrite existing files when extracting.

       --overwrite-dir
              Overwrite metadata of existing directories when  extracting
              (default).

       --recursive-unlink
              Recursively  remove all files in the directory prior to ex‐
              tracting it.

       --remove-files
              Remove files from disk after adding them to the archive.
 --skip-old-files
              Don't replace existing files when extracting, silently skip
              over them.

       -U, --unlink-first
              Remove each file prior to extracting over it.

       -W, --verify
              Verify the archive after writing it.

   Output stream selection
       --ignore-command-error

       Ignore subprocess exit codes.

       --no-ignore-command-error
              Treat non-zero exit codes of children as error (default).

       -O, --to-stdout
              Extract files to standard output.

       --to-command=COMMAND
              Pipe extracted files to COMMAND.  The argument is the path‐
              name of an external program, optionally with  command  line
              arguments.  The program will be invoked and the contents of
              the file being extracted supplied to  it  on  its  standard
              output.  Additional data will be supplied via the following
              environment variables:
TAR_FILETYPE
                     Type of the file. It is a  single  letter  with  the
                     following meaning:

                             f           Regular file
                             d           Directory
                             l           Symbolic link
                             h           Hard link
                             b           Block device
                             c           Character device

                     Currently only regular files are supported.

              TAR_MODE
                     File mode, an octal number.

              TAR_FILENAME
                     The name of the file.

              TAR_REALNAME
                     Name of the file as stored in the archive.

              TAR_UNAME
                     Name of the file owner.

              TAR_GNAME
                     Name of the file owner group.
 TAR_ATIME
                     Time  of last access. It is a decimal number, repre‐
                     senting seconds since the  Epoch.   If  the  archive
                     provides   times   with  nanosecond  precision,  the
                     nanoseconds are appended to the  timestamp  after  a
                     decimal point.

              TAR_MTIME
                     Time of last modification.

              TAR_CTIME
                     Time of last status change.

              TAR_SIZE
                     Size of the file.

              TAR_UID
                     UID of the file owner.

              TAR_GID
                     GID of the file owner.

              Additionally,  the  following variables contain information
              about tar operation mode and the archive being processed:

              TAR_VERSION
                     GNU tar version number.
 TAR_ARCHIVE
                     The name of the archive tar is processing.

              TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR
                     Current blocking factor,  i.e.  number  of  512-byte
                     blocks in a record.

              TAR_VOLUME
                     Ordinal  number of the volume tar is processing (set
                     if reading a multi-volume archive).

              TAR_FORMAT
                     Format of the archive being processed.  One of: gnu,
                     oldgnu,  posix,  ustar,  v7.  TAR_SUBCOMMAND A short
                     option (with a leading dash) describing  the  opera‐
                     tion tar is executing.

   Handling of file attributes
       --atime-preserve[=METHOD]
              Preserve  access times on dumped files, either by restoring
              the times after reading (METHOD=replace, this  is  the  de‐
              fault)  or  by  not  setting  the  times in the first place
              (METHOD=system)

       --delay-directory-restore
              Delay setting modification times  and  permissions  of  ex‐
              tracted  directories until the end of extraction.  Use this
              option when extracting from an archive  which  has  unusual
member ordering.

       --group=NAME[:GID]
              Force  NAME  as  group for added files.  If GID is not sup‐
              plied, NAME can be either a user name or numeric  GID.   In
              this  case  the missing part (GID or name) will be inferred
              from the current host's group database.

              When used with --group-map=FILE, affects only  those  files
              whose owner group is not listed in FILE.

       --group-map=FILE
              Read  group translation map from FILE.  Empty lines are ig‐
              nored.  Comments are introduced with # sign and  extend  to
              the  end  of  line.   Each  non-empty  line in FILE defines
              translation for a single group.  It  must  consist  of  two
              fields, delimited by any amount of whitespace:

              OLDGRP NEWGRP[:NEWGID]

              OLDGRP  is either a valid group name or a GID prefixed with
              +.  Unless NEWGID is supplied, NEWGRP must also be either a
              valid  group  name  or  a +GID.  Otherwise, both NEWGRP and
              NEWGID need not be listed in the system group database.

              As a result, each input file with owner group  OLDGRP  will
              be  stored  in  archive  with  owner  group  NEWGRP and GID
              NEWGID.
  --mode=CHANGES
              Force symbolic mode CHANGES for added files.

       --mtime=DATE-OR-FILE
              Set mtime  for  added  files.   DATE-OR-FILE  is  either  a
              date/time in almost arbitrary format, or the name of an ex‐
              isting file.  In the latter case the  mtime  of  that  file
              will be used.

       -m, --touch
              Don't extract file modified time.

       --no-delay-directory-restore
              Cancel  the  effect  of the prior --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[:UID]
              Force  NAME  as  owner for added files.  If UID is not sup‐
              plied, NAME can be either a user name or numeric  UID.   In
              this  case  the missing part (UID or name) will be inferred
              from the current host's user database.

              When used with --owner-map=FILE, affects only  those  files
              whose owner is not listed in FILE.

       --owner-map=FILE
              Read  owner translation map from FILE.  Empty lines are ig‐
              nored.  Comments are introduced with # sign and  extend  to
              the  end  of  line.   Each  non-empty  line in FILE defines
              translation for a single  UID.   It  must  consist  of  two
              fields, delimited by any amount of whitespace:

              OLDUSR NEWUSR[:NEWUID]

              OLDUSR  is  either a valid user name or a UID prefixed with
              +.  Unless NEWUID is supplied, NEWUSR must also be either a
              valid  user  name  or  a  +UID.  Otherwise, both NEWUSR and
              NEWUID need not be listed in the system user database.

              As a result, each input file owned by OLDUSR will be stored
              in archive with owner name NEWUSR and UID NEWUID.
 -p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions
              extract information about file permissions (default for su‐
              peruser)

       --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

       --sort=ORDER
              When  creating an archive, sort directory entries according
              to ORDER, which is one of none, name, or inode.

              The default is --sort=none, which stores archive members in
              the same order as returned by the operating system.

              Using  --sort=name  ensures the member ordering in the cre‐
              ated archive is uniform and reproducible.

              Using --sort=inode reduces the number of  disk  seeks  made
              when  creating  the archive and thus can considerably speed
              up archivation.  This sorting order is  supported  only  if
              the underlying system provides the necessary information.
 Extended file attributes
       --acls Enable POSIX ACLs support.

       --no-acls
              Disable POSIX ACLs support.

       --selinux
              Enable SELinux context support.

       --no-selinux
              Disable SELinux context support.

       --xattrs
              Enable extended attributes support.

       --no-xattrs
              Disable extended attributes support.

       --xattrs-exclude=PATTERN
              Specify  the  exclude pattern for xattr keys.  PATTERN is a
              POSIX regular expression,  e.g.  --xattrs-exclude='^user.',
              to exclude attributes from the user namespace.

       --xattrs-include=PATTERN
              Specify  the  include pattern for xattr keys.  PATTERN is a
              POSIX regular expression.
 Device selection and switching
       -f, --file=ARCHIVE
              Use archive file or device ARCHIVE.  If this option is  not
              given,  tar  will  first  examine  the environment variable
              `TAPE'.  If it is set, its value will be used  as  the  ar‐
              chive name.  Otherwise, tar will assume the compiled-in de‐
              fault.  The default value can be inspected either using the
              --show-defaults  option,  or  at  the end of the tar --help
              output.

              An archive name that has a colon in it specifies a file  or
              device  on  a remote machine.  The part before the colon is
              taken as the machine name or IP address, and the part after
              it as the file or device pathname, e.g.:

              --file=remotehost:/dev/sr0

              An optional username can be prefixed to the hostname, plac‐
              ing a @ sign between them.

              By default, the remote host is accessed via the rsh(1) com‐
              mand.   Nowadays  it  is common to use ssh(1) instead.  You
              can do so by giving the following command line option:

              --rsh-command=/usr/bin/ssh
 The remote machine  should  have  the  rmt(8)  command  in‐
              stalled.  If its pathname does not match tar's default, you
              can  inform  tar  about  the  correct  pathname  using  the
              --rmt-command option.

       --force-local
              Archive file is local even if it has a colon.

       -F, --info-script=COMMAND, --new-volume-script=COMMAND
              Run COMMAND at the end of each tape (implies -M).  The com‐
              mand can include arguments.  When started, it will  inherit
              tar's environment plus the following variables:

              TAR_VERSION
                     GNU tar version number.

              TAR_ARCHIVE
                     The name of the archive tar is processing.

              TAR_BLOCKING_FACTOR
                     Current  blocking  factor,  i.e.  number of 512-byte
                     blocks in a record.

              TAR_VOLUME
                     Ordinal number of the volume tar is processing  (set
                     if reading a multi-volume archive).

              TAR_FORMAT
 Format of the archive being processed.  One of: gnu,
                     oldgnu, posix, ustar, v7.

              TAR_SUBCOMMAND
                     A short option (with a leading dash) describing  the
                     operation tar is executing.

              TAR_FD File descriptor which can be used to communicate the
                     new volume name to tar.

              If the info script fails, tar exits; otherwise,  it  begins
              writing the next volume.

       -L, --tape-length=N
              Change  tape  after writing Nx1024 bytes.  If N is followed
              by a size suffix (see the subsection Size suffixes  below),
              the  suffix  specifies the multiplicative factor to be used
              instead of 1024.

              This option implies -M.

       -M, --multi-volume
              Create/list/extract multi-volume archive.

       --rmt-command=COMMAND
              Use COMMAND instead of rmt when accessing remote  archives.
              See the description of the -f option, above.

       --rsh-command=COMMAND
 Use  COMMAND instead of rsh when accessing remote archives.
              See the description of the -f option, above.

       --volno-file=FILE
              When this option is used in conjunction  with  --multi-vol‐
              ume,  tar will keep track of which volume of a multi-volume
              archive it is working in FILE.

   Device blocking
       -b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS
              Set record size to BLOCKSx512 bytes.

       -B, --read-full-records
              When listing or extracting, accept incomplete input records
              after end-of-file marker.

       -i, --ignore-zeros
              Ignore  zeroed blocks in archive.  Normally two consecutive
              512-blocks filled with zeroes mean EOF and tar stops  read‐
              ing  after  encountering them.  This option instructs it to
              read further and is useful when  reading  archives  created
              with the -A option.

       --record-size=NUMBER
              Set record size.  NUMBER is the number of bytes per record.
              It must be multiple of 512.  It can can be suffixed with  a
              size suffix, e.g. --record-size=10K, for 10 Kilobytes.  See
              the subsection Size suffixes, for a list of valid suffixes.
 Archive format selection
       -H, --format=FORMAT
              Create archive of the given format.  Valid formats are:

              gnu    GNU tar 1.13.x format

              oldgnu GNU format as per tar <= 1.12.

              pax, posix
                     POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format.

              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 when creating PAX archives  (-H  pax).
              This   option  is  equivalent  to  the  -o  option  of  the
              pax(1)utility.

       --posix
              Same as --format=posix.

       -V, --label=TEXT
              Create archive with volume name TEXT.  If  listing  or  ex‐
tracting, 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=COMMAND
              Filter data through COMMAND.  It must accept the -d option,
              for decompression.  The argument can contain  command  line
              options.

       -j, --bzip2
              Filter the archive through bzip2(1).

       -J, --xz
              Filter the archive through xz(1).

       --lzip Filter the archive through lzip(1).

       --lzma Filter the archive through lzma(1).

       --lzop Filter the archive through lzop(1).

       --no-auto-compress
              Do not use archive suffix to determine the compression pro‐
              gram.

       -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip
              Filter the archive through gzip(1).
  -Z, --compress, --uncompress
              Filter the archive through compress(1).

       --zstd Filter the archive through zstd(1).

   Local file selection
       --add-file=FILE
              Add FILE to the archive (useful if its name starts  with  a
              dash).

       --backup[=CONTROL]
              Backup  before removal.  The CONTROL argument, if supplied,
              controls the backup policy.  Its valid values are:

              none, off
                     Never make backups.

              t, numbered
                     Make numbered backups.

              nil, existing
                     Make numbered backups  if  numbered  backups  exist,
                     simple backups otherwise.

              never, simple
                     Always make simple backups

              If  CONTROL  is not given, the value is taken from the VER‐
SION_CONTROL environment variable.  If it is not  set,  ex‐
              isting is assumed.

       -C, --directory=DIR
              Change  to  DIR before performing any operations.  This op‐
              tion is order-sensitive, i.e. it affects all  options  that
              follow.

       --exclude=PATTERN
              Exclude  files  matching  PATTERN, a glob(3)-style wildcard
              pattern.

       --exclude-backups
              Exclude backup and lock files.

       --exclude-caches
              Exclude   contents   of   directories    containing    file
              CACHEDIR.TAG, except for the tag file itself.

       --exclude-caches-all
              Exclude  directories  containing  file CACHEDIR.TAG and the
              file itself.

       --exclude-caches-under
              Exclude    everything    under    directories    containing
              CACHEDIR.TAG

       --exclude-ignore=FILE
              Before  dumping  a  directory, see if it contains FILE.  If
 so, read exclusion patterns from this file.   The  patterns
              affect only the directory itself.

       --exclude-ignore-recursive=FILE
              Same  as  --exclude-ignore,  except that patterns from FILE
              affect both the directory and all its subdirectories.

       --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.

       --exclude-vcs-ignores
              Exclude  files  that  match patterns read from VCS-specific
              ignore files.  Supported files are: .cvsignore, .gitignore,
              .bzrignore, and .hgignore.

       -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
              Begin at the given member in the archive.

       --newer-mtime=DATE
              Work on files whose data changed after the DATE.   If  DATE
              starts with / or . it is taken to be a file name; the mtime
              of that file is used as the date.

       --no-null
              Disable the effect of the previous --null option.

       --no-recursion
              Avoid descending automatically in directories.

       --no-unquote
              Do not unquote input file or member names.

       --no-verbatim-files-from
              Treat each line read from a file list as if  it  were  sup‐
              plied  in  the  command  line.   I.e., leading and trailing
              whitespace is removed and, if the resulting  string  begins
              with a dash, it is treated as tar command line option.

              This is the default behavior.  The --no-verbatim-files-from
              option is provided as a way to restore  it  after  --verba‐
              tim-files-from option.
 This  option is positional: it affects all --files-from op‐
              tions that occur after it in,  until  --verbatim-files-from
              option or end of line, whichever occurs first.

              It is implied by the --no-null option.

       --null Instruct  subsequent  -T  options  to  read null-terminated
              names verbatim (disables special  handling  of  names  that
              start with a dash).

              See also --verbatim-files-from.

       -N, --newer=DATE, --after-date=DATE
              Only store files newer than DATE.  If DATE starts with / or
              . it is taken to be a file name; the ctime of that file  is
              used as the date.

       --one-file-system
              Stay in local file system when creating archive.

       -P, --absolute-names
              Don't  strip  leading slashes from file names when creating
              archives.

       --recursion
              Recurse into directories (default).

       --suffix=STRING
 Backup before removal, override usual suffix.  Default suf‐
              fix  is  ~,  unless overridden by environment variable SIM‐
              PLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.

       -T, --files-from=FILE
              Get names to extract or create from FILE.

              Unless specified otherwise, the FILE must contain a list of
              names  separated by ASCII LF (i.e. one name per line).  The
              names read are handled the same way as command  line  argu‐
              ments.   They undergo quote removal and word splitting, and
              any string that starts with a - is handled as  tar  command
              line option.

              If this behavior is undesirable, it can be turned off using
              the --verbatim-files-from option.

              The --null option instructs tar that the names in FILE  are
              separated  by  ASCII  NUL  character, instead of LF.  It is
              useful if the list is generated by find(1)  -print0  predi‐
              cate.

       --unquote
              Unquote file or member names (default).
  --verbatim-files-from
              Treat  each  line obtained from a file list as a file name,
              even if it starts with a dash.   File  lists  are  supplied
              with the --files-from (-T) option.  The default behavior is
              to handle names supplied in file  lists  as  if  they  were
              typed  in  the command line, i.e. any names starting with a
              dash are treated as tar options.  The --verbatim-files-from
              option disables this behavior.

              This option affects all --files-from options that occur af‐
              ter it in the command line.  Its effect is reverted by  the
              --no-verbatim-files-from} option.

              This option is implied by the --null option.

              See also --add-file.

       -X, --exclude-from=FILE
              Exclude files matching patterns listed in FILE.

   File name transformations
       --strip-components=NUMBER
              Strip  NUMBER leading components from file names on extrac‐
              tion.

       --transform=EXPRESSION, --xform=EXPRESSION
              Use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file names.

   File name matching options
 These 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[=N]
              Display progress messages every Nth record (default 10).

       --checkpoint-action=ACTION
              Run ACTION on each checkpoint.

       --clamp-mtime
              Only set time when the file is more recent  than  what  was
              given with --mtime.

       --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  quoting style for file and member names.  Valid values
              for STYLE are literal, shell, shell-always, c, c-maybe, es‐
              cape, locale, clocale.

       -R, --block-number
 Show block number within archive with each message.

       --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 by  --strip
              and --transform options.

       --totals[=SIGNAL]
              Print  total bytes after processing the archive.  If SIGNAL
              is given, print total bytes when this signal is  delivered.
              Allowed  signals are: SIGHUP, SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1, and
              SIGUSR2.  The SIG prefix can be omitted.

       --utc  Print file modification times in UTC.

       -v, --verbose
              Verbosely list files processed.

       --warning=KEYWORD
              Enable or disable warning messages identified  by  KEYWORD.
              The messages are suppressed if KEYWORD is prefixed with no-
              and enabled otherwise.

              Multiple --warning messages accumulate.

              Keywords controlling general tar operation:
  all    Enable all warning messages.  This is the default.

              none   Disable all warning messages.

              filename-with-nuls
                     "%s: file name read contains nul character"

              alone-zero-block
                     "A lone zero block at %s"

              Keywords applicable for tar --create:

              cachedir
                     "%s: contains a cache directory tag %s; %s"

              file-shrank
                     "%s: File shrank by %s bytes; padding with zeros"

              xdev   "%s: file is on a different filesystem; not dumped"

              file-ignored
                     "%s: Unknown file type; file ignored"
                     "%s: socket ignored"
                     "%s: door ignored"

              file-unchanged
                     "%s: file is unchanged; not dumped"
ignore-archive
                     "%s: file is the archive; not dumped"

              file-removed
                     "%s: File removed before we read it"

              file-changed
                     "%s: file changed as we read it"

              failed-read
                     Suppresses warnings about unreadable files or direc‐
                     tories.  This  keyword applies only if used together
                     with the --ignore-failed-read option.

              Keywords applicable for tar --extract:

              existing-file
                     "%s: skipping existing file"

              timestamp
                     "%s: implausibly old time stamp %s"
                     "%s: time stamp %s is %s s in the future"

              contiguous-cast
                     "Extracting contiguous files as regular files"

              symlink-cast
                     "Attempting extraction of  symbolic  links  as  hard
                     links"
 unknown-cast
                     "%s:  Unknown  file  type  '%c', extracted as normal
                     file"

              ignore-newer
                     "Current %s is newer or same age"

              unknown-keyword
                     "Ignoring unknown extended header keyword '%s'"

              decompress-program
                     Controls verbose description of  failures  occurring
                     when  trying  to  run  alternative decompressor pro‐
                     grams.  This warning is disabled by default  (unless
                     --verbose  is  used).   A common example of what you
                     can get when using this warning is:

                     $ tar --warning=decompress-program -x -f archive.Z
                     tar (child): cannot run compress: No such file or directory
                     tar (child): trying gzip

                     This means that tar first tried  to  decompress  ar‐
                     chive.Z  using  compress,  and,  when  that  failed,
                     switched to gzip.

              record-size
                     "Record size = %lu blocks"
Keywords controlling incremental extraction:

              rename-directory
                     "%s: Directory has been renamed from %s"
                     "%s: Directory has been renamed"

              new-directory
                     "%s: Directory is new"

              xdev   "%s: directory is on a different device:  not  purg‐
                     ing"

              bad-dumpdir
                     "Malformed dumpdir: 'X' never used"

       -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.

   Size suffixes
               Suffix    Units                   Byte Equivalent
               b         Blocks                  SIZE x 512
               B         Kilobytes               SIZE x 1024
               c         Bytes                   SIZE
               G         Gigabytes               SIZE x 1024^3
               K         Kilobytes               SIZE x 1024
               k         Kilobytes               SIZE x 1024
               M         Megabytes               SIZE x 1024^2
               P         Petabytes               SIZE x 1024^5
               T         Terabytes               SIZE x 1024^4
               w         Words                   SIZE x 2

RETURN VALUE
       Tar exit code indicates whether it was able to  successfully  per‐
       form  the  requested operation, and if not, what kind of error oc‐
       curred.

       0      Successful termination.

       1      Some files differ.  If tar was invoked with  the  --compare
              (--diff,  -d)  command  line  option,  this means that some
              files in the archive differ from their  disk  counterparts.
              If  tar was given one of the --create, --append or --update
              options, this exit code means that some files were  changed
              while  being archived and so the resulting archive does not
              contain the exact copy of the file set.

       2      Fatal error.  This means that some fatal, unrecoverable er‐
              ror occurred.

       If a subprocess that had been invoked by tar exited with a nonzero
       exit code, tar itself exits with that code as well.  This can hap‐
       pen,  for  example, if a compression option (e.g. -z) was used and
       the external compressor program failed.  Another  example  is  rmt
       failure during backup to a remote device.
Created with love and passion.